As Berlin marks the 65th anniversary of the start of the Berlin Wall’s construction on August 13th, 1961, we look at the history behind the barrier that split communist East Germany from the West until its fall on November 9th, 1989. Sixty-five years after East Germany began erecting the Berlin Wall, Berlin is hosting a wide-ranging programme of commemorative events that explore the impact of a border fortification built to stop people fleeing to the West. As the map below shows, the wall divided the city but also travelled round West Berlin which was on the border to Brandenburg in East Germany.