Since 1952, the leadership of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) had sealed off the Soviet occupation zone to the west. The inner German border had a several kilometer wide exclusion zone and reached almost 1400 kilometers from Bavaria to the Baltic Sea. It divided settlements and landscapes, cut up roads and railway lines, and shaped the lives of millions of people.
For traffic between the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR and West Berlin only six railway crossings and five road or motorway crossings were open. In and around Berlin 200 streets were blocked, the telephone connections in the western part of the city were cut.
From the immediate vicinity of the inner German border, the residents were forcibly relocated. Nevertheless, West Berlin was still a loophole for reckless refugees. With the construction of the Berlin Wall from 13.08.1961 it was stuffed.