"The Berlin Wall 1961 - 1989" Families separated by the Wall. Following the marriage of a young German couple in West Berlin, the mother and aunt of the bride congratulate the newly weds from the window of a building in Bernauer Strasse, East Berlin on 8 September 1961. The construction of the Wall and closure of crossing points a few weeks earlier, meant that the bride's family in East Berlin could not attend the wedding. This was the closest they could get.