The word “built” determines what the question asks.
Reading only “Wall” may first bring to mind images of its opening. Here, however, the question concerns building the border. In 1961, the GDR leadership had transport routes blocked and initially used measures including barbed wire.
The barriers were subsequently expanded into an extensive border system. The year 1961 marks its beginning. The border did not run only between the city’s two halves: it also separated West Berlin from the surrounding GDR territory.
The other three answers
The alternatives belong to other periods of German history.
1919
1919 belongs to the Weimar Constitution and the early Weimar Republic. The GDR did not yet exist, so it could not have built a Berlin Wall in 1919.
1933
Nazi rule began in 1933. This year also precedes the GDR’s founding and construction of the Wall during the Cold War.
1990
1990 is the year of German reunification. The Wall had already opened in November 1989, so 1990 cannot be the year construction began.
A construction history cannot be reduced to one day.
The date 13 August 1961 marks the start of sealing the border. Not every installation visible in later photographs existed that day. The correct year for the catalogue question is nevertheless clearly 1961.
The answer identifies a decision by the GDR leadership. It does not mean that everyone in the GDR wanted the Wall. Prevented escapes and separated families were among its consequences.
Wall construction in 1961 · House of History ↗1961 build — 1989 open — 1990 German unity.
Pay attention to the action word in the question. It determines which year is needed.
Three words for this question
- errichtento erect / build
- To construct a building or installation.
- die Wiedervereinigungreunification
- Here: Germany’s state unity in 1990.
- die Zeitleistetimeline
- An ordered representation linking events with dates.