After World War II the city of Berlin was divided into two sectors, the West controlled by the western allies (British, French and U.S. forces) and the East controlled by the Soviet Union.  Because economic conditions in the West were better than that of communist East Germany, thousands of people began to defect across the border.

On Aug. 13, 1961, in an effort to stop the depletion of the skilled labor force to the capitalist West which threatened East Germany with economic collapse, the Communist leadership of the former German Democratic Republic built the Berlin Wall with support of Soviet Premier Khrushchev. The Berlin Wall negatively effected the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union and became a symbol of the Cold War.

West Berliners demonstrated against the wall, led by their mayor Willy Brandt, who strongly criticized the United States for failing to respond.   In June 1963 President Kennedy made a speech to the people of Berlin calling the Wall “an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity”.    He stated “Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades.”

Finally, on November 9, 1989 the East German authorities with the approval of Soviet ruler Mikhail Gorbachev allowed open traffic between East and West and the wall was dismantled by 1990.  This section of Berlin Wall was donated by the German government and brought to the Museum in 1989 with the help of Jean Kennedy Smith, the President’s sister.