The Berlin Wall was a physical barrier that divided East and West Berlin from August 13, 1961, to November 9, 1989. Erected by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), the wall was a symbol of the Cold War and the division between the communist East and capitalist West. Its primary purpose was to prevent East Berliners and East Germans from fleeing to the West, as the border had been open before 1961. The Wall, which included guard towers, barbed wire, and heavily fortified checkpoints, became a stark representation of the "Iron Curtain." The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 marked the beginning of the end of communist rule in Eastern Europe and paved the way for German reunification in 1990. Its demolition remains a powerful symbol of the triumph of freedom over oppression.