In 1945, almost directly after the fall of Berlin, the occupying Soviets erected a monument for the fallen soldiers of the Red Army on the north side of the current Straße des 17. Juni. Situated less than a mile away from the Reichstag, it was built at such short notice that it was located in the planned British sector. When the Berlin Wall went up around West Berlin in 1961, the monument became inaccessible to the people for whom it was built, although Soviet honour guards were allowed to be stationed at the monument, with approval from the British occupying forces.