The main purpose of the Berlin Wall, erected in 1961 and dismantled in 1989, was to separate East and West Berlin, effectively preventing East Germans from fleeing to the democratic West. The wall was a physical manifestation of the ideological divide between the communist East and the democratic West during the Cold War. By restricting movement, it aimed to curb the brain drain and maintain the communist regime's power. The fall of the Berlin Wall became a powerful symbol of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the desire for unification and freedom among oppressed populations.