Around 5,000 people are estimated to have successfully crossed the Berlin Wall between 1961 and 1989.

Ghost stations. Geisterbahnhöfe in German, were underground railway stations in East Berlin through which West Berlin trains passed without stopping.

The Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989 after a botched press conference by East German spokesman Günter Schabowski, a major mistake.

After Germany’s surrender in May 1945, Berlin was divided into four sectors, each controlled by one of the Allied powers: the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.

Very little of the original Berlin Wall remains. Of the 155km of Wall that once encircled West Berlin, only about 3km of original segments survive in various locations around the city.

Life in East Berlin was defined by the tension between the state’s promise of socialist equality and the reality of surveillance, shortages, and restricted freedom.

The Berlin Wall was guarded by the Grenztruppen der DDR (Border Troops of the GDR), a military force of around 47,000 soldiers dedicated solely to preventing escape from East Germany.

The Berlin Wall went through four major construction phases between 1961 and 1989, evolving from hasty barbed wire into a heavily fortified border system.