It stood for 10,316 days. Now, as of Monday, the Berlin Wall has been gone for as long as it had divided the city.
Two years after the end of the Berlin airlift that broke the Soviet blockade of the western part of the city, construction began in the summer of 1961 by Communist East German authorities trying to stop people from escaping to the West. It sliced Berlin into an eastern Communist sector and capitalist enclave surrounded by East Germany.
The wall, perhaps the most powerful symbol of the Cold War, stood for more than 28 years until it was torn down starting Nov. 9, 1989, during the collapse of the Soviet empire.
At least 140 people had died trying to cross the wall to escape to the West.
Monday marked the 10,316th day since the wall has been gone.
Here are some scenes:
1961: Construction begins
The construction site of the Berlin Wall on June 6, 1961. The Wall was built to stanch the flow of people from the Soviet bloc to the West.
A city divided
West Berliners gather at the Berlin Wall in August 1961 while an East German soldier patrols on the other side.
West vs. East
U.S. and East German forces face off over the newly constructed wall in 1961.
'Ich bin ein Berliner'
President John F. Kennedy stands on a platform overlooking the wall during his visit to West Berlin. During this visit, he delivered his morale-boosting "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech on June 26, 1963.
Checkpoint Charlie
Western Allies at the Checkpoint Charlie, Aug. 10, 1966.
The wall comes tumbling down
West Berliners crowd in front of the wall on Nov. 11, 1989, as East German border guards open a new crossing point near Potsdamer Square.
West celebrates reunification
West Germans celebrate the unification of Berlin, Nov. 12, 1989.
Symbolic Wall
A man chisels away at the graffiti-covered wall.
Berlin Wall Memorial
People gather for the dedication of a memorial on Oct. 31, 2004. Each cross commemorates a person who died while trying to escape from the former communist East Germany.
Wall as art
Tourists photograph Russian painter Dimitri Vladimirovich Vrubel's work known as "My God, help me to survive this deadly love," on a section of the former Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery in Berlin.
Remnants of the past
People walk past an original graffiti-covered portion of the wall near Potsdamer Platz, on Oct. 29, 2014.
Feb. 5, 2018
An accordionist plays in front of a remnant of the wall at the East Side Gallery on Monday. It was the 10,316th day since the wall officially fell.