The Wall was the central monument of the Cold War and a symbol of the division of the world. Edgar Wolfrum describes the background of its creation, shows what it meant to live in its shadow, and brings to life the dramatic events of the fall of the Wall 20 years ago. The idea of building a wall around Berlin to imprison 16 million people was outrageous. Why did the Western powers react so laxly while the Germans were shocked? Why didn’t the Berliners tear down the Wall? What did the encirclement mean for life in the GDR? Who got used to the Wall? People who wanted to go from Germany to Germany risked their lives; many escapes failed, but some succeeded. From West Berlin, the Wall resembled a brightly painted canvas since the 1980s, but in the East, the death strip was secured with the most modern electronic means.