From 1961 to 1989, the Berlin Wall divided the city, with its western part completely surrounded by the Wall. The result was a historical oddity, a city with a special political status that resulted in a very unique way of life. The name alone is problematic, at least in German: officially, it was known as Berlin (West); the East Germans, if they referred to it at all, wrote it as Westberlin; whilst in West Germany, they wrote it with a hyphen in German: West-Berlin. As you can see, even the spelling was a political matter.
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