Berlin Wall:

The Berlin wall was constructed around West Berlin in 1961 in order to keep disgruntled East Germans from fleeing to West Berlin for asylum. Following the construction of the wall, very few were able to leave East Germany, and dozens of people were killed trying to cross the border. The wall was approximately 12 feet high and 103 miles long. It was supposedly constructed to prevent interference from West Germany, but it was heavily guarded on the eastern side, which would suggest that the government did not want anyone crossing out of East German, and not the other way around. The wall remained standing until 1989, when Hungary announced that East Germans could pass through Hungary to get to West Germany. As a result, the wall became useless. Since the East German regime was already in turmoil, when citizens began destroying the wall in the fall of 1989, they were not met with government resistance. Finally, the wall was officially destroyed by the East German government, and Germany was reunited in 1990 as one nation.

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