The future division of Germany was implicit in the creation of the four military occupation zones in 1945: it was made explicit with the launch of the US sponsored and Soviet sponsored "German Federal Republic" and "German Democratic Republic" in, respectively, May and October 1949. There was no sudden erection of barriers in 1949, however, and through the first part of the 1950s it remained possible for people to pass between West and East Germany. After 1952 the physical barriers became more impenetrable, but for most of the decade it remained possible to cross the border between the "two halves" of Berlin, although movement restrictions, chiefly from the eastern side, became progressively more obstructive. Neither his high public profile nor the candour of his preaching did anything to earn Landwehr any special travel privileges. Like (almost) all East German citizens, the unexpected appearance of the Berlin Wall during the week of 13 August 1961 meant that for many years he was unable to visit the west. It would be a source of enduring regret that he was not even allowed out in order to be with his mother while she died or for her burial. The authorities also prevented him from attending his brother's funeral in the west.