Posters spread across Berlin to celebrate 35 years since Wall’s fall

BERLIN, GERMANY - NOV. 8: During the week of the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, thousands of posters were placed along a section of the wall's former path as part of the event titled "Haltet die Freiheit hoch" (Hold Freedom Up High) on Friday, Nov. 8. Some of the posters are original ones from the period following the wall's destruction, while the majority were designed in recent months by Berliners. The posters blend the desires, dreams, and hopes of the past with those of today. The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. The wall was sometimes referred "Wall of Shame" - a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt in reference to the Wall's restriction on freedom of movement. After World War II, Germany was defeated and Allied forces entered the country. The country was divided amongst the US, the UK, France, and the Soviet Union. Even though Berlin, the capital, was in the Soviet zone, it too was also divided into four sectors. On October 7, 1949, The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was established and the two Germanies began to evolve in different ways. The Berlin Wall wouldn’t be built until 1961. After an estimated 3.7 to 4 million Easterners escaped to the West, the border was closed and a wall was erected that would tear the country apart for 28 years. (Footage by Omer Sercan Karkus/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)