As an ideological divide between the two fronts of the Cold War, and as physical divide between the two halves of Berlin, the Wall stood for 28 years until November 9, 1989, when the first hammer struck. It completely fell by 1992.
On August 13, 1961, the border between East and West Berlin was effectively closed. The Wall was built on East German territory. Overnight, East Germans could not travel to the West. Families were split up and East Berliners employed in the West could not go their jobs. Over a 100 people died trying to cross the wall.
The Berlin Wall extended around West Berlin for a length of 156 km. There were nine border crossings between East and West Berlin. West Berliners needed permits to visit the Eastern side.
Checkpoint Charlie became a symbol of the Cold War, featured in many movies. It was the vehicle and pedestrian crossing restricted to Allied personnel and foreigners.
Western artists rode on growing anti-Wall sentiment. David Bowie, David Hasselhoff and Bruce Springsteen performed near the Wall on both sides.
22 months after the erection of the Wall, U.S. President John F. Kennedy stated his support for West Berliners.
On July 12, 1987, U.S. President Ronald Raegan challenged the then General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev to take down the Wall. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall!" he said.
After a press conference on November 9, 1989, a huge horde of East Germans made their way through the Wall. The breaking of the Wall began that very evening with people using handheld tools to chip off pieces of the structure.
A month later, citizens could travel without visas. This event was the first step towards the unification of Germany, a country which had seen tumult during and after the Second World War.