Berlin Wall

Cold War barrier around West Berlin (1961–1989)

War & ConflictPolitics & Government

Berlin Wall — Image via Wikimedia Commons or Wikipedia.

Overview

What happened

President Reagan demands Soviet Union tear down the Berlin Wall in Berlin, Germany on June 12, 1987, in a speech at the Brandenburg Gate, marking a major…

Date

June 12, 1987

Key people

Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Peter Robinson, Michael Beschloss

Why it matters

This article offers a unique perspective on the speech at the Brandenburg Gate by examining its specific impact on the collapse of the Soviet Union, with a focus on the speech's role...

What was Berlin Wall?

The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer, pronounced [bɛʁˌliːnɐ ˈmaʊɐ] ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government of the GDR on 13 August 1961. It included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, accompanied by a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, beds of nails and other defenses. The primary intention for the Wall's construction was to prevent East German citizens from fleeing to the West.

Satellite image of Berlin, with the wall location marked in yellow

Background and consequences

The Soviet Bloc propaganda portrayed the Wall as protecting its population from "fascist elements conspiring to prevent the will of the people" from building a communist state in the GDR. The authorities officially referred to the Berlin Wall as the Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart (Antifaschistischer Schutzwall, pronounced [antifaˌʃɪstɪʃɐ ˈʃʊtsval] ). Conversely, West Berlin's city government sometimes referred to it as the "Wall of Shame", a term coined by Mayor Willy Brandt in reference to the Wall's restriction on freedom of movement. Along with the separate and much longer inner German border, which demarcated the border between East and West Germany, it came to symbolize physically the Iron Curtain that separated the Western Bloc and Soviet satellite states of the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War.

Why it matters

Before the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans (20% of the population) circumvented Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and defected from the GDR, many by crossing over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin; from there they could then travel to West Germany and to other Western European countries. After 1961, the deadly force associated with the Wall prevented almost all such emigration. During this period, over 100,000 people attempted to escape, and over 5,000 people succeeded in escaping over the Wall, with an estimated death toll of those killed by East German authorities ranging from 136 to more than 200 in and around Berlin.

Related on thisDay

Cold War: At the Brandenburg Gate, U.S — June 12, 1987

President Reagan demands Soviet Union tear down the Berlin Wall in Berlin, Germany on June 12, 1987, in a speech at the Brandenburg Gate, marking a major…

Sources and further reading

Use the dated article for the day-specific account; use these references to check the event record and explore its wider historical context.

Date article: Cold War: At the Brandenburg Gate, U.S — June 12, 1987 Wikipedia source

Cite this page

MLA

“Berlin Wall.” thisDay, thisday.info/history/berlin-wall/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

APA

Berlin Wall. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 26, 2026, from https://thisday.info/history/berlin-wall/

Chicago

“Berlin Wall.” thisDay. Accessed October 26, 2026. https://thisday.info/history/berlin-wall/.

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