Communist East Germany closed its border in Berlin on Aug. 13, 1961, when it erected a wall that eventually turned into an increasingly elaborate fortification snaking through the city and around ...

Reporting from Venice, Italy — In 1962, two men from East Berlin attempted a daring escape to the West. Peter Fechter and Helmut Kulbeik were young — all of 18. On Aug. 17, the pair slipped away from ...

Erika Schallert fled East Berlin on August 15, 1961, with nothing but the clothes she was wearing and her half-finished wedding dress, determined that nothing was going to stop her getting married — ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Peter Keup can still remember how it felt to hold deutsche marks in his hand. “It was special to even touch this money,” he ...

In early August 1961, a letter arrived at the Berlin Zoo’s administration office. A visitor’s annual pass had been taken away because she’d fed animals without permission. Not so very long before, ...