Berlin Wall
Iron Curtain's concrete
The Berlin Wall was a fortified barrier dividing East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, built by East Germany to prevent citizens from fleeing to the West.
Its fall in November 1989 symbolized the end of the Cold War and communist control in Eastern Europe.
Figuratively, a Berlin Wall is any barrier that rigidly separates people or ideas: There's a Berlin Wall between management and staff.
Solid building mixture
- barbed wireSpiked metal fence material
- fortificationStrengthening defenses or nutrients
- watchtowerElevated structure for surveillance
- checkpointInspection station on route
border crossing · perimeter · blockade · partition · obstacle · security · guard dog · searchlight
Cold War's political divide
- East GermanyFormer communist German state
- West GermanyPostwar democratic German state
- Checkpoint CharlieEast-West Berlin transit point
- StasiEast German secret police
GDR · Soviet Union · NATO · Warsaw Pact · Khrushchev · Reagan · Gorbachev · No Man's Land
Barrier separating spaces
- separationState of being apart
- segregationForced separation by group
- family separationKin kept apart
- isolationComplete separation from others
estrangement · rift · schism · demarcation · bifurcation · polarization · divided city
Restoring divided unity
- escapeFlight from captivity
- liberationRelease from constraint
- defectorOne who abandons allegiance
- dissidentOpposer of established systems
exodus · democracy · human rights · solidarity · resistance · protest · self-determination · peaceful revolution
concrete
Solid building mixture
- barbed wireSpiked metal fence material
- fortificationStrengthening defenses or nutrients
- watchtowerElevated structure for surveillance
checkpoint · border crossing · perimeter · blockade · partition · obstacle · security · guard dog · searchlight · death strip
Iron Curtain
Cold War's political divide
- East GermanyFormer communist German state
- West GermanyPostwar democratic German state
- Checkpoint CharlieEast-West Berlin transit point
Stasi · GDR · Soviet Union · NATO · Warsaw Pact · Khrushchev · Reagan · Gorbachev · No Man's Land
partition
Barrier separating spaces
- separationState of being apart
- segregationForced separation by group
- family separationKin kept apart
isolation · estrangement · rift · schism · demarcation · bifurcation · polarization · divided city
reunification
Restoring divided unity
- escapeFlight from captivity
- liberationRelease from constraint
- defectorOne who abandons allegiance
dissident · exodus · democracy · human rights · solidarity · resistance · protest · self-determination · peaceful revolution
Brandenburg Gate
Triumphal arch in Berlin
- graffiti artSpray-painted urban imagery
- European HistoryFrench Revolution, Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Industrial Revolution
- German cultureOktoberfest, Bavaria, Bavarian, Munich, Autobahn
- GermanyMunich, Hamburg, Germany, German, Cologne
- 80sbig hair, mullets, shoulder pads, new wave, synth-pop
- BerlinBrandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, Reichstag, U-Bahn
- Cold WarIron Curtain, arms race, Warsaw Pact, Cuban Missile Crisis, Eastern Bloc
Berlin WallGerman reunification
Merging of divided nation
fall of the Berlin Wall · European Union · Brandenburg Gate · unity · integration
Berlin Wallnatural border
Terrain-created division between regions
mountain range · natural barrier · ocean · Rhine · Alps
Berlin Wallglasnost
Soviet transparency reform
freedom · perestroika · liberation · fall of the Berlin Wall · Statue of Liberty