Construction of the Berlin Wall began on the night of 12–13 August 1961, when East German authorities erected barriers to halt the mass emigration of citizens to the West. The Wall physically divided Berlin for twenty-eight years, separating families and becoming the defining symbol of the Cold War's Iron Curtain. Its construction and eventual fall in 1989 generated enduring metaphors in the poetry and literature of both East and West.

The construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 became a powerful symbol of Cold War division, inspiring poetry that addressed themes of separation, freedom, and ideology. Poets like Wislawa Szymborska and others used the wall as a backdrop for exploring the human condition and the longing for unity.