188. In which year was the Berlin Wall built?

Answer options

1. 1953
2. 1956
3. 1959
4. 1961

Explanation

The Wall was erected on 13 August 1961 by the GDR’s SED leadership with Soviet acquiescence and was propagandized as an "anti-fascist protective barrier"; in reality it aimed to halt mass emigration (Republikflucht). Its construction conflicted with Berlin’s Four-Power status and severely curtailed fundamental and human rights such as freedom of movement and family life; the GDR later codified the border regime in the Regulation on the Protection of the State Border and the 1982 Border Law, backed by rules on the use of firearms. In the Federal Republic, the constitutional mandate for unity (former Art. 23 and Art. 146 of the Basic Law) remained in force, and Four-Power rights over Berlin persisted. Its fall in 1989 paved the way for unification in 1990 and reaffirmed the primacy of human dignity and liberty in the German constitutional order.