West and East Berlin borders overlaying a current road map () The Berlin Wall (: Berliner Mauer) was a guarded concrete that physically and ideologically divided from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, ), starting on 13 August 1961, the Wall cut off (by land) from virtually all of surrounding and until government officials opened it in November 1989. Its demolition officially began on 13 June 1990 and finished in 1992. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, accompanied by a wide area (later known as the 'death strip') that contained anti-vehicle trenches, ' and other defenses. Avator Box Setup Gsm Forum. The portrayed the Wall as protecting its population from elements conspiring to prevent the 'will of the people' in building a in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive that had marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.