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151Responsibility for building the Wall

The GDR had the Berlin Wall built.

The barriers were intended to stop people leaving the GDR through West Berlin. The SED leadership made the decision.

About 4 min readReviewed: 20 October 2026
AI-generated plain closed metal gate on a present-day garden path.
Berlin Wall FoundationThe Berlin Wall
Symbol of a blocked connection, not a depiction or reconstruction of the Berlin Wall.
The short answer

The GDR.

On 13 August 1961, GDR forces began sealing the border with West Berlin. The GDR leadership acted with Soviet approval. The initial barriers developed into the extensive Berlin Wall border system.

Try it for yourselfExam question · No. 151
Who built the Berlin Wall?

Choose one answer. Your result stays on this page only.

Who ordered the border closure?

The question asks which state was responsible. The answer is the German Democratic Republic, abbreviated GDR or DDR in German. Its SED leadership wanted to close the route through West Berlin that many people used to leave the GDR. The population’s freedom of movement was restricted as a result.

The first barriers included barbed wire. Solid walls and further security installations followed. Seeing later pictures of a high concrete wall should therefore not suggest that the entire border system was completed on the first night.

Two fictional adults with short silver hair and short copper hair discuss history at a library table.
AI-generated present-day learning scene, not historical witnesses.

The other three answers

The Western states did not order this border closure.

Great Britain

Britain was one of the Western powers in Berlin. It did not close the border around West Berlin by building the Berlin Wall.

the Federal Republic of Germany

The Federal Republic was the West German state. Construction was initiated by the GDR leadership, not the Federal Republic’s government.

the USA

The USA was a Western power in Berlin. Its role in the divided city does not make it the state responsible for building the Wall.

The Wall surrounded West Berlin.

The Berlin Wall did not run only between East and West Berlin. The border system also surrounded West Berlin along its boundary with the surrounding GDR territory. A single wall segment inside the city therefore shows only part of the system.

Soviet approval was essential to the decision. This does not change the test answer: the GDR had the barriers built. Historical responsibility can be explained without treating every citizen of a state as equivalent.

The Berlin Wall · Berlin Wall Foundation ↗
Your memory cue

GDR → border closure → 13 August 1961.

Connect the state with the start of construction. The later opening of the Wall is a different event belonging to 1989.

Three words for this question

die DDRthe GDR
Abbreviation for the German Democratic Republic, the former East German state.
abriegelnseal off
To close access or a border with barriers.
die SED-Führungthe SED leadership
The leadership of the Socialist Unity Party that ruled the GDR.
Stiftung Berliner Mauer · Die Berliner Mauer ↗

Construction and opening of the Wall are separate learning points.

188In what year was the Berlin Wall built?
Catalogue answer

1961

The start of construction belongs to 1961.

191When was the Berlin Wall opened for everyone?
Catalogue answer

1989

The opening of the Wall belongs to 1989.

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Sources & context

An independently written study guide, not an official BAMF publication or advice for an individual case. The sources below were reviewed on 20 October 2026 for the claims explained here; the test question comes from the existing question bank.

The two editorial pictures are AI-generated illustrations. They do not document real events or official proceedings.