Life Along the Berlin Wall

(via Retronaut) Twenty-five years after its rapid construction, the Berlin Wall had settled into a seemingly permanent place in the landscape of the divided German capital.

Following the end of World War II, Germany had been divided into four occupation zones under the control of an allied nation — France, Britain, the U.S. and the USSR. The capital of Berlin, which lay in the middle of the USSR’s occupation zone, was further divided among the four powers. The zones controlled by Britain, France and the U.S. (West Berlin), were thus completely surrounded by the new Soviet state of East Germany.

The series of photos at Retronaut were taken in 1986 to cover the Berlin Wall’s 25th anniversary, and reflect the resigned sense of normalcy around a barrier that many feared would stand for another 25 years or more.  The wall came down in 1989… and Germany officially unified in 1990.