The Fall of the Berlin Wall
Learn about the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 — the iconic moment that symbolized the end of the Cold War and the collapse of communism in Europe.
The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, was one of history's most dramatic and unexpected events — the moment when the Cold War's most visible symbol crumbled, not from military force but from the accumulated pressure of popular protest, economic failure, and the loss of will by those who maintained it.
The Wall had divided Berlin since August 13, 1961, when East German authorities erected it overnight to stop the hemorrhage of citizens fleeing to the West. For 28 years, it stood as the physical embodiment of the Iron Curtain — families divided, people shot trying to cross, a city and a continent split in two. By 1989, the Wall seemed permanent.
But Gorbachev's reforms in the Soviet Union had unleashed forces across Eastern Europe. Poland's Solidarity movement forced free elections. Hungary opened its border with Austria. Mass protests swept East Germany. On the evening of November 9, overwhelmed East German border guards opened the checkpoints. Thousands of Berliners, East and West, streamed through and began physically dismantling the Wall. The scenes of joy, disbelief, and reunion were broadcast worldwide. Within a year, Germany was reunified. Within two years, the Soviet Union itself had dissolved. The Cold War was over.