Conceived by the East German administration of Walter Ulbricht and approved by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev[1], it was built during the post-World War II period of divided Germany, in an effort to stop the drain of labour and economic output associated with the daily migration of huge numbers of professionals and skilled workers from East to West Berlin, and the attendant defections, which hurt the Communist bloc economically and politically. It decreased emigration (escapes - "Republikflucht" in German) from 2.5 million between 1949 and 1962 to 5,000 between 1962 and 1989.[2]

However, the Wall was a propaganda disaster for East Germany and the communist bloc. It became a key symbol of what Western powers regarded as Communist tyranny, particularly after the high-profile shootings of would-be defectors. Political liberalization in the late 1980s, associated with the decline of the Soviet Union, led East Germany to relax border restrictions, culminating in mass demonstrations and the fall of the East German government. On November 9, 1989, the government announced that crossing of the border would be permitted. Masses of East Germans approached and then crossed the wall, and were joined by crowds of West Germans in a celebratory atmosphere. The Wall was destroyed by a euphoric public over the next several weeks, and its fall was the first step toward German reunification, which was formally concluded on October 3, 1990.