The Fall of the Berlin Wall 25 Years Ago

Up, Up and Away

En español | Marking the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Wall, 8,000 helium balloons were released at the culmination of events at the Brandenburg Gate. Release of the balloons, perched on poles at the height of the wall and tracing its path for nine miles, symbolized the breaching of the Wall by protesters in 1989.

The Wall

En español | Erected in 1961, the Berlin Wall quickly became a symbol of the Cold War struggle between democracy and Soviet-style communism. And watching the barrier crumble 25 years ago survives as an uplifting memory. Revisit key moments in the Wall’s saga.

From the Sky

When the Allies divide postwar Germany, the United States, Britain and France insist on continued control of western Berlin, even though the entire capital lies well within Soviet-controlled East Germany. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin blocks transportation routes in 1948, so the United States and its allies begin airlifting supplies to West Berliners.

Penned In

For years, Berliners enjoy access between East and West, and hordes of East Germans emigrate. To stop the flow, East German troops and workers tear up streets on Aug. 13, 1961, and erect more than 100 miles of barbed-wire fences along West Berlin’s entire perimeter. Several days later, the concrete divide between East and West Berlin begins to go up.

No-Man’s Land

In 1962, East Germany adds a second wire fence (far left) parallel to the concrete wall, creating the infamous gravel “death strip” where would-be escapees are shot down. Over the next couple of decades, they introduce other intimidating features, such as snipers in towers, attack dogs and beds of nails.

Shoot to Kill

On Aug. 17, 1962, 18-year-old Peter Fechter makes a run for West Berlin. As he scales the Wall, guards shoot him and he tumbles back into the death strip. Onlookers on both sides watch Fechter bleed to death, one of 136 who die trying to reach West Berlin between 1961 and 1989. Many others succeed.

Underground Railroad

A woman is pulled to freedom from a tunnel under the Wall in 1964. There were at least 70 such clandestine tunnels, 14 of which East Germans passed through successfully.

‘Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall’

Commemorating Berlin’s 750th anniversary on June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan’s speech at the base of the famous Brandenburg Gate challenges the Soviet leader. Reagan’s amplified words reverberate on the communist side.

Born to Run

Hoping to placate alienated youth, East Germany allows American rocker Bruce Springsteen to perform in East Berlin on July 19, 1988. The ploy backfires when the crowd of 300,000 plus TV viewers hear the Boss proclaim in German his hope that “one day all the barriers will be torn down.”

Groundswell

On Nov. 4, 1989, 500,000 protesters rally for change in the Alexanderplatz, East Berlin’s biggest public square. It’s part of a surge of demonstrations across the country as the East German regime totters with fading Soviet support.

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A Drive to Freedom

When East Germany prematurely announces relaxed travel restrictions on Nov. 9, 1989, West Berliners mass at checkpoints along the Wall and Communist guards stand down. Here, crowds welcome emigrants fleeing in an East German-made Trabant car.

Up and Over

Thousands of young East Berliners crowd atop the Wall near the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, offering dramatic television images that transfixed the world. The end of separate Berlins sounded a death knell for the Soviet Bloc.

A New Passageway

West Berliners swarm the Wall defaced by defiant graffiti, as East German border guards begin opening a new crossing point.

Fast Friends

Less than a week after the Wall’s demise, West Berlin children walking to school stop to talk with East German border guards. Formerly intimidating security forces and the free West Berliners quickly set aside their differences.

Falling Apart

An East German policeman gazes through a hole punched through the rapidly deteriorating Wall, a potent symbol of democracy’s triumph over totalitarianism.

Gone but Not Forgotten

Five years ago, approaching the 20^th anniversary of the Wall’s destruction, cobblestones in the middle of the street approaching the German Reichstag building, which houses the lower house of the German parliament, mark the line that once divided the city.

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