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Twenty years on

It's been 20 years since the Berlin Wall came down. It stood for nearly three decades, as the most potent symbol of Cold War divisions. Its collapse helped herald the wider collapse of Communism across eastern Europe.

The East began construction of the barrier on August 13, 1961 in an attempt to stop the flight of people (an estimated 2.5 million fled between 1949 and 1961) to the West. By 1989, the wall stretched nearly 100 miles (155 km) around West Berlin, including 30 miles (43 km) through the city itself. Nearly 12 feet (3.6 meters) high in places, the barrier featured hundreds of watch towers, miles (km) of anti-vehicle trenches, bunkers, barbed wire, signal fences and other obstacles. East and West Germany were reunited in 1990.

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