On 14 August 1961, the East German daily newspaper Berliner Zeitung condemns the imperialist policies of the West and welcomes the decision taken by the Government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) to build a wall preventing movement between the eastern and western zones of the capital.

On 14 August 1961, the West Berlin newspaper Der Abend lambastes the decision taken by the East German Government to close off militarily the border between the Eastern and Western zones of the capital on the night of 12 and 13 August 1961.

On 14 August 1961, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung paints an alarming picture of the situation in Berlin after the decision by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) to erect an impassable border between East and West Berlin during the night of 12 to 13 August.

On 15 August 1961, the French daily newspaper Le Monde publishes statements by Konrad Adenauer, the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, criticising the closure of the East German border posts in Berlin.

On 15 August 1961, the French daily newspaper Le Monde describes the reactions of Willy Brandt, the Mayor of West Berlin, to the closure of the East German border in Berlin during the night of 12–13 August 1961.

On 15 August 1961, commenting on the construction of the Berlin Wall, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera deplores the strike carried out by East German and Soviet leaders and expresses concern over the fate of the citizens of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

In August 1961, in an article in the French monthly publication Le Monde diplomatique, the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Willy Brandt, gives his reaction to the unilateral decision taken by the Soviet authorities to construct a wall in Berlin separating the eastern and western zones of the city.

On 16 August 1961, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung condemns the decision taken by the East German authorities to erect an impassable wall between East and West Berlin and emphasises the importance of diplomatic talks to resolve the German question.

On 16 August 1961, the cartoonist Lang deplores the attitude of Walter Ulbricht, the First Secretary of the East German Communist Party, who ordered the construction of the Berlin Wall during the night of 12–13 August in order to prevent large numbers of East Germans from escaping to West Germany. Lang describes this as ‘The Cutting’.

‘Quick Comrades, another wall — there are swarms of public enemies and spies!’ In August 1961, Walter Ulbricht, Secretary-General of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), orders the closure of crossing points to the West and the building of a wall to stem the exodus of East German nationals to the FRG.

‘The balance of terror'. In October 1961, facing the risk of military escalation in Berlin, the cartoonist Abu portrays, in the British left-wing Sunday newspaper The Observer, a world that is prey to human folly.

On 24 August 1962, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera condemns the death of a young man, Peter Fechter, shot down by East German border guards at the foot of the Berlin Wall, and deplores the political and economic situation in East Berlin.

On 27 June 1963, commenting on the visit of US President, John F. Kennedy, to West Berlin the previous day, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung considers the German question and the division of Berlin.