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(CNN) - The Berlin Wall surrounded West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, in an attempt to prevent East Germans from fleeing to the West. It became a symbol of East / West relations during the Cold War.
30 years after its fall, which are celebrated on November 9, these are some facts you should know about the Berlin Wall:
More than a wall
The Berlin Wall began as a border of barbed wire fences and became a fortified concrete barrier with armed border guards from East Germany.
East Germany militarized the entire border with the West, with more than one million land mines and the deployment of around 3,000 attack dogs.
The wall between east and west Berlin was almost 3.6 meters high and approximately 43 km long, with 302 watchtowers and 55,000 explosive anti-personnel devices (land mines).
To avoid attempts to climb the wall or escape by digging underneath, the wall was reinforced with barbed wire, stakes, metal grilles, bunkers and vehicles turned into obstacles.
An open area of land and sand, a buffer zone between the two walls, became known as "no man's land" or "strip of death", where guards on watchtowers could shoot anyone trying to escape.
In border areas, at least 140 people died from gunshots or fatal accidents while trying to escape or by suicide.
The most famous border crossing was known as Checkpoint Charlie.
Chronology
February 4-11, 1945 - Before the defeat of Germany in World War II, the Yalta Conference of the Allies agrees to divide Germany into four occupation zones: Britain, France and the United States occupy the west, the northwest and southern portions, and the Soviet Union occupies the east. Berlin, located in Soviet territory, is also divided into east and west areas.
1949 - The areas occupied by Great Britain, France and the United States become West Germany (formally known as the Federal Republic of Germany). The Soviet zone becomes East Germany (formally known as the German Democratic Republic, GDR). West Germany is a democratic republic. East or East Germany is a communist country aligned with the Soviet Union.
1949-1961 - More than 2.7 million East Germans escape to the west. Foreign citizens, West Germans, West Berliners and allied military personnel can enter East Berlin, but East Berliners need a special pass to get out.
August 12, 1961 - The leader of the Communist Party of East Germany, Walter Ulbricht, signs the order to lift a barricade that separates East and West Berlin.
August 13, 1961 - The head of East German security forces, Erich Honecker, orders the police and troops to lift a barbed wire fence and begin the construction of concrete barricades.
August 18, 1961 - U.S. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and retired General Lucius Clay fly to Berlin as a sign of US support for West Germany.
August 20, 1961 - The United States sends a working group of 1,500 troops to Berlin as tensions increase along the border.
August 23, 1961 - Western Berliners without permission are prohibited from entering East Berlin.
June 26, 1963 - The president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, speaks to a crowd in West Berlin at the Rathaus Schöneberg (town hall) in Rudolph Wilde Platz: “Today in the world of freedom, the greatest pride is' Ich bin ein Berliner '(' I am Berliner '), all free men, wherever they live, are citizens of Berlin. And therefore, as a free man, I am proud of the words 'Ich bin ein Berliner' ”.
September 12-13, 1964 - Martin Luther King Jr. visits Berlin at the invitation of West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt. King delivers a speech on both sides of the wall entitled "East and West: God's children."
September 3, 1971 - Conversations between the US The United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union lead to the Four Powers Agreement on Berlin, a decree to improve conditions for West Berliners and facilitate travel to and from West Germany and West Berlin, as well as trips by Berliners Western to the east. It also normalizes the state of Berlin as a divided city.
December 21, 1972 - Western and Eastern Germany sign the Basic Treaty, which normalizes diplomatic relations and recognizes the sovereignty of each.
June 12, 1987 - In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate, the president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, calls on the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the USSR, to "tear down this wall" .
April 1989 - The GDR border guards are instructed to stop "using firearms to avoid border violations."
October 18, 1989 - The head of the Communist Party, Honecker, is expelled and replaced by Egon Krenz.
November 2, 1989 - Krenz announces extensive political and economic reforms.
November 4, 1989 - More than half a million people participate in a demonstration for freedom in East Berlin, demanding free elections.
November 6, 1989 - A preliminary law is passed that grants all citizens travel and emigration rights, with restrictions. Travel time is still limited and authorities can arbitrarily deny permission to travel.
November 7, 1989 - The East German cabinet resigns. Almost half of the Politburo members are removed and replaced the next day.
November 9, 1989 - East Germany lifts travel restrictions to the West. Politburo member Guenter Schabowski announces that the citizens of East Germany can "leave the country through the border crossings of East Germany", effective immediately.
November 9-10, 1989 - Jubilant crowds tear down the wall piece by piece using their hands, spikes, mallets and shovels.
November 10-11, 1989 - Several new crossing points are opened. Tens of thousands of people cross west of Berlin.
October 3, 1990 - East and West Germany officially reunite under the name of the Federal Republic of Germany.
August 14, 2018 - A member of the Berlin council announces that an unknown section of the wall was recently discovered in a residential section of the city. The wall had been covered by bushes covered with weeds, and that is how it had remained hidden for so long.
November 2019 - 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Berlin Wall