The Wall, and the shoot-to-kill policy of its East German guards, reduced eastern emigration from 2.5 million between 1949 and 1962, to just 5,000 between 1962 and 1989.
To this day historians continue to debate how many would-be escapees were killed at the wall. The number of known deaths is 125, but could be as high as 268.
The figures are difficult to pin down due to insufficient documentation. Some escapees were injured, but it's not known if they later died as a result. Some guards died at the wall, but they could have been accidents or suicide. Bodies were also found in the canals, but they were not necessarily escape attempts.
The most notorious failed escape attempt was that of Peter Fechter who was shot and left to bleed to death in full view of the western media, on 17th August 1962.
Successful escape attempts included long tunnels, sliding along aerial wires, flying ultralights, and even one man who drove a very low sports car underneath a barricade at Checkpoint Charlie.
The city remained divided for 28 years. It was November 1989 when the wall was eventually brought down by David Hasselhoff.