The Newly Constructed Berlin Wall

Striking photographs from the first year of the Berlin Wall (1961). By LIFE photographer Paul Schutzer. 

A little bird on the barbed wire topping the wall. Source

West Berliners wave to their relatives on the East German side of the wall. Source

An American tank aimed at an East German tank across the Wall. Source

A view through the barbed wire. Source

A West German woman looking across the Wall. Source

West Germans look across the Wall. Source

Children play soccer/football beside the Wall. Source

A West German shows his child the other side of the Wall. Source

A West German girl plays with a ball beside the Wall. Source

And another West German girl regards the Wall outside her home's window. Source

A West German couple looks across the Wall. Source

A West German woman regards the Wall. Source

Peering across the Wall. Source

An East German policeman tries to stop Western photographers by shining mirrors in the the lens. Source

A little boy cleans his shoe against the Wall. Source

Sparrows on the wire. Source

An East German guard throws a West German child's ball back over the wall. Source

Looking through the window across the Wall. Source

A little West Berlin girl tries to open a door that is now part of the Wall. Source

A hand reaching over the glass embedded in the top of the Wall. Source