NEN Gallery

The Berlin Wall appeared literally overnight on August 13th 1961 cutting off the people of West Berlin from the rest of Germany and preventing east berliners from crossing into the western sector. It began as a wire fence and cut right through the centre of the city crossing in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Even some railway stations, such as Friedrichstrasse were divided so that they became two stations, east and west. Eventually a solid wall was built which included the infamous death strip, an area almost 15 metres wide which included watchtowers, razor wire, mines, tank traps and sensors. This section has been left standing and can be found near the intersection of Wilhelmstrasse and Niederkirchnerstrasse. The same piece of ground was previously home to the Gestapo headquarters.
The wall was finally opened in November 1989.