Why was the Berlin Wall initially created? The Berlin Wall was erected to stop all tourist traffic into the country. The Berlin Wall was erected as a form of national defense against attacks.

The Berlin Wall (in German, Berliner Mauer, pronounced / (listen)) was a security wall that formed part of the inter-German border from August 13, 1961 until November 9, 1989. It surrounded and separated the area of the Berlin city framed in the economic space of the Federal Republic of Germany (RFA), West Berlin, of the capital of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) between those years. It is the best known symbol of the Cold War and of the division of Germany. This wall was referred to in the GDR as "Antifascist Protection Wall" (Antifaschistischer Schutzwall) and by the media and part of Western public opinion as "wall of shame" (Schandmauer

The Eastern Bloc dominated by the Soviets argued that the wall was built to protect its population from fascist elements that conspired to prevent the popular will to build a socialist state in East Germany.

A 45-kilometer wall divided the city of Berlin into two, while another 115 kilometers surrounded its western part, isolating it from the GDR. That is, the Wall was the state border between the GDR and the West Berlin enclave. It was one of the best known symbols of the Cold War and the separation of Germany.