The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier separating West Berlin from East Berlin and the rest of East Germany. The longer ‘inner German border’ demarcated the remainder of the East-West German border between the two states. Both borders were part of the Iron Curtain.
The wall separated East Berlin and West Berlin for 28 years, from the day construction began on August 13, 1961 until it was dismantled in 1989. During this period at least 133 people were confirmed killed trying to cross the Wall into West Berlin, according to official figures. However, a prominent victims’ group claims that more than 200 people had been killed trying to flee from East to West Berlin. The GDR/East German government gave shooting orders to border guards dealing with defectors; such orders are not the same as shoot to kill orders which GDR officials have denied exist.
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