The heavily fortified border —the Berlin Wall— plugged the last gap between East and West. On Nov. 9, 1989, the border was opened, and the Berlin Wall ceremoniously came down as the world watched.

East Germany closed the border in Berlin on Aug. 13, 1961, and expanded the Wall into an increasingly elaborate fortification snaking through the city and around the capitalist enclave of West Berlin.

France has consistently opposed East-West talks about Berlin. During a one-day trip to Paris last week, West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer did not change stiff-backed Charles de Gaulle's ...

East Germany closed the border in Berlin on Aug. 13, 1961, and expanded the Wall into an increasingly elaborate fortification snaking through the city and around the capitalist enclave of West Berlin.