What's happened since?
Built in August 1961 to separate East and West Berlin, the Berlin Wall was later expanded to divide all of East and West Germany. Communists erected the Wall to keep people in the East from defecting to the West. In the Fall of 1989, the Wall was ceremonially torn down during the democratization of Eastern Europe. The Berlin Wall remains one of the most famous symbols of the Cold War.

Why was the Wall built? What were the politics surrounding its construction? Read:
Divided Berlin: The Anatomy of Soviet Political Blackmail >

Read first-hand accounts of the revolutionary East Berliners who helped bring the Wall down:
We Were the People: Voices from East Germany's Revolutionary Autumn of 1989 >

Who really won the Cold War? Anyone? Read views on these and other interesting topics:
Why the Cold War Ended: A Range of Interpretations >

Learn all about the Cold War:
The Cold War: The United States and the Soviet Union, 1917 - 1991 >