This story is free to read.

5 things to know about the Berlin Wall

FILE - The Nov. 19, 1961 file photo shows a view from top of the old Reichstag’s building to the Brandenburg Gate, which marks the border in this divided city. The semi-circled wall around the Brandenburg Gate was erected by East German police. (AP Photo/E.Worth, file) FILE - The Nov. 19, 1961 file photo shows a view from top of the old Reichstag’s building to the Brandenburg Gate, which marks the border in this divided city. The semi-circled wall around the Brandenburg Gate was erected by East German police. (AP Photo/E.Worth, file)

By Associated Press November 9, 2014 3 min read

BERLIN (AP) – The Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago on Sunday, a key event in the collapse of communism and the preface to Germany’s reunification in 1990.

The anniversary is being celebrated in Berlin with concerts, speeches and the release in the evening of thousands of balloons illuminating a 15-kilometer (nine-mile) stretch of the former Cold War barrier.

Here are five things to know about the Berlin Wall:

___

PROTECTION AGAINST ‘FASCISM’