Photo Gallery When the Wall Went Up
Historians have long argued over whether East German leader Walter Ulbricht or his Soviet counterpart Nikita Khrushchev was ultimately responsible for the construction of the Berlin Wall. A newly discovered Russian document detailing a meeting between the two men on Aug. 1, 1961 -- just days before the Wall went up -- suggests that the initiative came from Khrushchev.
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East German leader Walter Ulbricht (right) and his Soviet counterpart Nikita Khrushchev are seen at East Berlin's Schönefeld airport in this 1963 photo. According to the Soviet document, Khrushchev sent the Soviet ambassador in East Berlin to Ulbricht in order to "explain to him my idea of taking advantage of the current tensions with the West and laying an iron ring around Berlin."
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The border between East and West Berlin was closed on Aug. 13, 1961. In this photo from Aug. 18, workers build a wall at Potsdamer Platz under the protection of East German police.
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East German soldiers watch as construction proceeds on the Berlin Wall.
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Potsdamer Platz in 1962: The Berlin Wall was a 165.7-kilometer (103-mile) barrier of concrete and barbed wire, surrounding the western section of the city.
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The Wall divided families. In this Aug. 26, 1961 photo, two women in West Berlin wave to their family in East Berlin.
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A memorial to victims of the Wall: At least 136 people died in the attempt to surmount the Berlin Well.
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Peter Fechter was one of the first victims of the Berlin Wall. He bled to death in the so-called "death strip" after being shot by border guards on Aug. 17, 1962.
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The border to West Berlin was finally opened on Nov. 9, 1989. Here Germans celebrate on top of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 10.
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Only a few sections of the Berlin Wall are still preserved today.
Read the article: Who Ordered the Construction of the Berlin Wall?
