Reasearch+Notes.

It was a barrier  that surrounded West Berlin and prevented acess to East Berlin and some areas of East Germany between 1961 to 1989. In the years between 1949 and 1961, about 2.5 million East Germans went from East to West Germany. This raised the numbers of skilled workers, professionals, and intellectuals. East Germany built a barrier to close off East Germans' access to West Berlin and West Germany. This barrier was the Berlin Wall. The original wall was built of barbed wire and cinder blocks, was replaced by concrete walls that were up to 15 feet and on top it had barbed wire and it was guarded with watchtowers, gun emplacements, and mines. By the 1980s the walls, electrified fences, and fortifications were about 28 miles through Berlin, dividing the two parts of the city, and extended a further 75 miles around West Berlin, separating it from the rest of East Germany. The Berlin Wall symbolized the Cold Wars seperation of East from West Germany and of eastern from western Europe. About 5,000 East Germans managed to cross the Berlin Wall and reach West Berlin safely, while another 5,000 were captured by East German authorities in the attempt and 191 more were killed while trying to cross the wall. On November 9 the East German government opened the country's borders with West Germany and openings were made in the Berlin Wall through which East Germans could travel freely to the West. The wall ceased to function as a political barrier between East and West Germany.