The 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Today is the 20 anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Built with barbed wire and concrete in August of 1961 by the Communist East, The Berlin Wall, stretching for about 30 miles, was a Cold War symbol which separated East and West Berlin, preventing people from leaving East Germany. According to the “August 13 Association” which specialises in the history of the Berlin Wall, at least 938 people – 255 in Berlin alone – died, shot by East German border guards, attempting to flee to West Berlin or West Germany. It stood for 28 years as a division between the Soviets and the Allies. The wall was torn down after Communism collapsed in 1989. During the summer of 1989, tens of thousands of East Germans fled the communist regime.

"East German border guards stand on a section of the Berlin wall with the Brandenburg gate in the background on November 11, 1989 in Berlin. On November 9, Gunter Schabowski, the East Berlin Communist party boss, declared that starting from midnight, East Germans would be free to leave the country, without permission, at any point along the border, including the crossing-points through the Wall in Berlin." (GUNTHER KERN/AFP/Getty Images)

"Picture taken on November 11, 1989 shows west Berliners gathering in front of the Berlin Wall as they watch people trying to demolish a section of the wall in order to open a new crossing point between East and West Berlin, near the Potsdamer Square in Berlin. During the summer of 1989, tens of thousands of East Germans fled their oppressive communist regime to a new life of freedom in the west." (GERARD MALIE/AFP/Getty Images)
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