Berlin Wall

Discover the history of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall stood between 1961 and 1989 and separated the western part of the city from the eastern part. Numerous people were killed whilst attempting to cross the 167.8-kilometre-long border fortifications.

The fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 went down in world history. Immerse yourself in the history of the division of Germany, the Cold War and reunification. Here you will find all the facts, authentic locations, memorial sites and exhibition recommendations relating to the Berlin Wall.

We have compiled information on the Berlin Wall in Easy Language and in sign language for you.

East Side Gallery

Once it was the Berlin Wall. Now it’s the longest open-air gallery in the world.

Tickets & activities about the Cold War & Berlin Wall

East Side Gallery - Theodor Tehzik "Big Kremlin\ — © visitBerlin, Foto: Philip Koschel

Berlin Wall bike tour

On the Trail of the Wall

Berlin Wall, section of the Wall after 1989 — © GettyImages, Foto: 7000

The Berlin Wall and the “Cold War”

Living in two worlds

Former border at Berlin Wall Memorial — © visitBerlin, Foto: Dagmar Schwelle

The Berlin Wall Memorial

Former border fortifications

Wall locations

Mauer - Schauplätze

The Berlin Wall Memorial

Bernauer Straße 111, 13355 Berlin Learn more

East Side Gallery

Mühlenstraße 70-71, 10243 Berlin Learn more

Checkpoint Charlie

Friedrichstraße 43-45, 10969 Berlin Learn more

Brandenburg Gate

Pariser Platz, 10117 Berlin Learn more

The Parliament of Trees

Schiffbauerdamm, 10117 Berlin Learn more

Tränenpalast

Reichstagufer 17, 10117 Berlin Learn more

Mauerpark

Bernauer Straße/Eberswalder Straße, 10437 Berlin Learn more

White Crosses

Reichstagsufer , 10117 Berlin Learn more

Günter Litfin Memorial

Kieler Straße 2, 10155 Berlin Learn more

Berlin Wall Memorial in Berlin-Reinickendorf

Provinzstraße , 13409 Berlin Learn more

Blick vom Havelufer auf den Grunewald — © visitberlin, Foto: Wolfgang Scholvien

Follow the Berlin Wall - by bike

Unique cycle tour along the former course of the Wall

What you can expect:

Wonderful landscapes
Exciting and moving discoveries
Steps of history along the entire cycle route

In the night from 12 to 13 August 1961, the East German army began sealing off the streets and railway lines providing access to West Berlin. Then the East German regime erected a wall along the sector border: The construction of the Berlin Wall begins! The Wall stood for more than 28 years. Berlin commemorates the victims of the division at numerous authentic sites, such as the East Side Gallery, the Tränenpalast, the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße and the Hohenschönhausen Memorial.

The sights and attractions our visitors love

Discover the greatest places to visit from other visitors! Here, you can find tickets for the sights and attractions that our Berlin visitors love! Our travel service offers the ideal way to enjoy a stress-free holiday in Berlin. Buy your tickets for the Berlin Wall tour, the GDR Museum and the Brandenburg Gate Museum easily and conveniently online here. And it’s fast – so you can find the right ticket in just three minutes!

Skyline of Berlin — © iStock.com, Foto: bluejayphoto

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The fall of the Berlin Wall

On the evening of 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall came down! Countless East and West Berliners made history that night – together! They climbed over the concrete walls towards one another, streamed through the narrow passageways, attacked the Wall with hammers and reclaimed their city as a whole. Experience the images of this historic event that were seen around the world.

Description

The video on the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Wall from 2019 shows historical footage of the construction and fall of the Wall as well as current footage of memorial sites in Berlin. The VisitBerlin logo can be seen at the end. For a transcription, the video should be watched directly on YouTube

Follow the timeline

On 9 November 1989, the Wall came down after more than 28 years. Here you will find the events that led to the fall of the Wall:

7/10/89

The beginning of the end: The final anniversary of the GDR

The 40th anniversary of the GDR was long in the planning and meticulously prepared by the SED leadership. Despite Monday demonstrations and a mass exodus, the anniversary of the GDR was celebrated with a military parade. While the citizens demonstrated and demanded reforms, Erich Honecker invited numerous foreign state guests to the Palace of the Republic.

Weiterlesen

4/11/89

Demonstration at Alexanderplatz: "We are the people"

A few days before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the largest demonstration in GDR history took place. Artists and functionaries gathered at Alexanderplatz, demanding a fresh political start. No-one was thinking of reunification at this point, as the belief in socialism still remained. But the GDR politicians were booed by the people at the rally.

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9/11/89 7 p.m.

A slip of the tongue opens the border

It was just before 7pm on November 9, 1989 and Günter Schabowski, the "Secretary for Information", put on his glasses at the International Press Centre of the GDR and read out a statement with which he was supposed to announce solely the new travel law, but instead opened the wall. The extended freedom for GDR citizens to travel applied "immediately, without delay". This certainly attracted the attention of everyone in the room.

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9/11/89 11.30 p.m.

The night of the fall of the Wall

The German-German border ran through the middle of the Bösebrücke in Berlin between Wedding and Prenzlauer Berg. Here – on the east side of the border – a huge crowd gathered on the night of 9 and 10 November 1989. The new travel regulations had brought people here – and more and more were coming. Finally the border guards opened the border barrier and the jubilant people streamed over the bridge to the west.

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Nov. 89

"Wallpeckers" at the Brandenburg Gate

Knocking, hammering, clanking, rattling and crumbling: shortly after the fall of the Wall, the "wallpeckers" set to work. Among them were souvenir hunters, tourists and traders, but also GDR opponents. Little by little, piece by piece, they removed the façade of the Berlin Wall – not even the loudspeaker announcements of the West Berlin police could stop them, since here souvenirs of freedom were to be found.

Weiterlesen

Fahrradtour an der East Side Gallery — © visitBerlin, Foto: Philip Koschel

Mauerradtour

Cycling along the remains of the Wall

See bike tour