Back when Berlin was two very distinct cities in one, a wall and its border guards maintained the division. On Nov. 9, 1989, they stood on the wall and observed demonstrators below as the barrier between the two Berlins was opened. Over the uniting weekend, more than 2 million Berliners moved back and forth freely for the first time in nearly three decades. Slowly, over the next year, the wall was reduced to rubble. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Germany's unification and the fall of communism.
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Construction on the wall began in 1961, in order to stop the flood of migrants from East to West Berlin after World War II. Guards of the German Democratic Republic held flower bouquets when the border opened between east and west. In 1990, the two Germanies were united as one.
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A day after the two Berlins opened, a boy waved to soldiers in front of Brandenburg Gate. Before the physical barrier was erected, 2.7 million people had fled over from the east since WWII, creating a brain drain. The wall did its job: In the 28 years of its existence, only 5,000 people successfully crossed into democratic Berlin.
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Wall woodpeckers knock out pieces of Berlin Wall in December 1989. Chunks of the structure have ended up across the globe, including a section in New York City.
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Everyone pitched in to tear down the wall's barbed wire from the Berlin Wall after the border opened.
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Two days after the wall opened, East German border guards watched through the gap already pulled down.
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A fire-breathing man surrounded by onlookers makes a dramatic scene on the wall.
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An East German-made Trabant car is welcomed by people at the former inner German border after the opening.
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Unification brought hugs all around. An East Berlin citizen embraces a West Berlin woman while an East German border soldier watches on at the border checkpoint.
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Celebrations continued through the night at the Berlin Wall. Here, East German citizens climb the Brandenburg Gate a day after the official opening.
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