Berlin Wall: The Night the Iron Curtain Closed

On the morning of 13th of August 1961 the citizens of Berlin wake to a chorus of pneumatic drills and tanks and discover their capital has been split in two by a barbed wire fence. In the dead of night, one of Europe's largest cities has been divided by the beginnings of what the world will come to know as the Berlin Wall: a structure that will define the European landscape and world politics for the next 30 years. The events of that fateful night were witnessed first hand by Reuters journalist Adam Kellet-Long. Based in East Berlin, he had seen tensions rise across the city throughout the summer of 61. After a tip off from a contact in the regime, he was the man who broke the news to the Western media.