In photos: The Berlin Wall

A barbed-wire barrier that became a 155-kilometer network of concrete walls, the Berlin Wall divided democratic West Berlin from Soviet-controlled East Berlin from 1961 until 1989.

Despite the Communist regime’s claim that the heavily guarded wall was a defensive measure, it effectively prevented East Germans from seeking freedom in the West. Nearly 200 people died trying to cross over to West Berlin.

On the 30th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down, these photos illustrate both the brutal repression of Eastern Europe under the Communist regime and the exultation of freedom regained in 1989.

Uniformed guards holding man climbing fence (© AP Images)
(© AP Images)

East German border guards carry 18-year-old Peter Fechter, whom they shot and killed when he tried to flee to West Berlin on August 17, 1962.


 

Couple walking away with soldier (© Edwin Reichert/AP Images)
(© Edwin Reichert/AP Images)

Turned away from the border by armed soldiers, an elderly couple retreat from a checkpoint on the East German side of the wall, August 13, 1961.


 

Workers fortifying wall (© Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
(© Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

East German workers fortify the Berlin Wall with concrete blocks and metal bars. The Communist regime called it an “anti-fascist bulwark” to keep Westerners from entering East Germany and undermining its government. Instead, it became a symbol of Communist tyranny.


 

Woman mourning at pile of flowers in street (© Paul Schutzer/LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
(© Paul Schutzer/LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)

A West Berliner mourns at the grave marker of an East German woman who died in an attempt to escape East Berlin, August 1961.


 

Large crowd celebrating at wall, with members standing on top (© Wolfgang Kumm/picture alliance via Getty Images)
(© Wolfgang Kumm/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Within hours of the East German government’s decision to allow its citizens passage to the West, people gather to celebrate near the Brandenburg Gate, November 9, 1989.


 

Woman climbing wall, crowd below her (© Eberhard Klöppel/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
(© Eberhard Klöppel/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

A woman climbs the Berlin Wall on November 10, 1989.


 

Person chipping at wall (© Roger Hutchings/In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)
(© Roger Hutchings/In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)

A man takes a hammer and chisel to the Berlin Wall, a monument of oppression for almost three decades.


 

People celebrating around car (© Ann-Christine Jansson/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
(© Ann-Christine Jansson/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

West Berliners welcome East German citizens crossing the border on November 9, 1989. Less than a year later, the Communist government collapsed, and East Germany became a part of the Federal Republic of Germany that reunited the divided Germany.