25th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Yesterday, November 9th, marked an important date for us Germans. It was the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Since I was born in East Berlin, I experienced first hand the collapse of the communist regime in 1989. The fall of the Wall did not only reunite East and West Germany as one country again but it also signaled the end of the cold war.

"The fall of the Berlin Wall showed us that dreams can come true - and that nothing has to stay the way it is, no matter how high the hurdles might seem to be, "said Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor since 2005. She added that its collapse offered hope to regions where “freedom and human rights are threatened or even trampled on.”

To mark this historic date, organizers put up 7,000 illuminated helium balloons perched on 3.6m (11.8 ft) high poles - matching the height of the barrier built in 1961 by East Germany- along the 15km (9 miles) long "death stripe" where the Wall once stood.  The artistic display of balloons dramatically illustrated how the Wall cut thru the entire city and past historic landmarks such as the Brandenburger Gate, Checkpoint Charlie and the Reichstag. More than 300,000 spectators came  to celebrate this event and watched when on Sunday night one balloon after another was released into the night sky. The timing of the release of the balloons roughly coincided with the historical moment, at 6:57 pm, when on November 9, 1989, then-East German Politburo member Günter Schabowski replied to a journalist’s question at a news conference to the effect that the Communist state was to open its borders immediately. His response prompted hoards of Berliners to flock to and breach border crossings as East German guards stood by.

The Berlin Wall had its origins in an attempt to stop people from fleeing East Berlin in search of political freedom and a chance for a better life in the West. Once an East German citizen made it into West Berlin he or she could apply for asylum, and many of those who defected were educated professionals, which caused a "brain drain." By 1961, the crisis became so acute that it prompted Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, along with his East German allies, to order the Berlin Wall to be built as a means of stemming the tide. Thus, during the night hours of August 13th, 1961  the German Democratic Republic started putting up temporary barriers that completely cut off (by land)  West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. Over the next few days and weeks, the coils of barbed wire strung along the border to West Berlin were replaced by a wall of concrete slabs, hollow blocks and guard towers. From one day to the next, the Wall separated streets, squares, and neighborhoods from each other and severed public transportation links but worst of all, it separated entire families for more than 28 years.

Yesterdays celebrations also paid tribute to those who died trying to flee Communism for the West. At least 138 people were killed trying to escape  to West Berlin and many who were captured ended up in jail. Altogether, around a thousand people died attempting to cross the 856-mile border between the former West and East Germany. Today, there are several pieces of the Wall remaining and are used as an art gallery or for tourists to see.

East Side Gallery

In all fairness, I have to say that even though I was born in East Germany, I was only 8 years old when the Wall came down. I do remember the tumult, anxiety and excitement of the aftermath of the collapse and I can vividly recall our first walk thru the Wall openings a few days later to visit West Berlin. It for sure was one historic and memorable event (my little brother, 1.5 years old at that time, totally missed it because he slept in his stroller). Even though as East Germans we were deprived of many things such as  freedom of speech, opportunities, and bananas (and we had no idea what pineapples were either), my childhood was still great and memorable. My family made the most of what they had and lived their lives as normal as possible (we did had family members living in West Germany, who my parents were allowed to visit once in a while- no children were allowed to go to make sure that the parents will return to East Germany). 

References: Sun Sentinel, November 9th, 2014 edition.  
                    Huffington Post, November 10th, 2014 edition.
                    Online WSJ, November 9th, 2014 edition.
                    www.berlin.de/mauer