when did the berlin wall go up

The Berlin Wall went up on the night of 12–13 August 1961, with border closures and barriers starting just after midnight on 13 August 1961.

Quick Scoop

• Date it went up: The East German government began sealing the border and putting up barbed wire barriers in Berlin in the early hours of 13 August 1961.

• Where it happened: The first barriers appeared right through the middle of Berlin, cutting off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and East Berlin.

• Why it was built: The main goal was to stop people leaving communist East Germany for the more prosperous West via Berlin.

A Night That Changed Berlin

In the days before, East German leaders secretly prepared a massive operation to close the border, stockpiling barbed wire and posts while denying they planned any “wall.” Just after midnight on 13 August, police and army units rolled out, tore up streets along the sector borders, and stretched barbed wire and fences around West Berlin in a single night. Over the following weeks and months, these temporary obstacles were replaced by the concrete structure that became known worldwide as the Berlin Wall.

In short: when people ask “when did the Berlin Wall go up,” the key date is 13 August 1961 —the night Berlin woke up to a divided city.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.