Email. The Berlin Wall came down 25 years ago today. Built in the middle of the night Aug. 13, 1961, the wall divided East and West Germany for 28 years to stop East Germans from leaving the Soviet Union-occupied country for the capitalist western state. SLIDESHOW: 'Tear Down This Wall!'. Over the years, what began as a simple fence turned into a concrete wall that separated the capital and became a focal point of the Cold War. On Nov. 9, 1989, the East German government announced its citizens could move west.