On October 1, 1961, East Germany began constructing the Berlin Wall, a concrete barrier that would physically and ideologically divide East and West Berlin for 28 years. The wall was built to prevent the mass emigration of East Germans to the West, a direct response to the migration crisis caused by the appeal of Western democracy. The Berlin Wall became a symbol of the Cold War, representing the stark division between the communist East and the capitalist West. Families and communities were separated by the wall, and many attempted dangerous escapes across it. The wall was eventually dismantled in 1989, marking the symbolic end of the Cold War.