[2] In 1965, Konrad Wolf and leading actor Eberhard Esche both received the Erich Weinert Medal for their work on the film.

[3] West German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung described the film as "(i)mages of strict and restrained (black and white) beauty"[4] Die Zeit's reviewer wrote "Although it was made by communists... Konrad and Christa Wolf had to break away from their belief in the party in order to make this picture... And that is why it is so convincing.

"[5] West German author Hans Helmut Prinzler called it "the first candid attempt to portray the national consciousnesses in East Germany.

"[2] The film was removed from circulation on several occasions in the following years, when the Socialist Unity Party of Germany decreed it, depending on the political situation.

"[7] In 1995, a group of historians and cinema researchers chose Der geteilte Himmel as one of the 100 most important German films ever made.