Berlin celebrated 20th anniversary – Fall of Berlin Wall (Update 2)
November 9, 2009 marks twenty years to the day since the Berlin Wall fell, ending the Cold War face-off between the East and West. With events throughout the city, Berlin commemorated this 20th anniversary of the Wall’s fall which paved the way for German reunification. Last Friday, artists unveiled restored murals on the longest-surviving stretch of the 155-kilometre-long Wall known as the “East Side Gallery.” Leaders from across Europe and the United States joined a reported estimate of 200,000 revellers Monday evening in the freezing rain at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, now a symbol of a reunified Germany.
“Together we brought down the Iron Curtain, and I am convinced this can give us the strength for the 21st century,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany and had crossed the Wall herself the night of November 9, 1989.
German Chancellor Merkel hosted leaders including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Thousands of people braved the pouring rain to line side streets to watch the leaders as they strode through the Brandenburg Gate from East to West, retracing the steps of Berliners who stormed the Wall 20 years ago. Following speeches from the leaders, the former head of the Polish Solidarity movement and ex-Polish president Lech Walesa toppled the first of a chain of 1,000 giant decorated dominoes set up along a 1.5-kilometre stretch where the Berlin Wall once stood.
During the Wall’s existence from 1961 to 1989, the barrier stopped almost all emigration and separated the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from West Berlin for more than a quarter of a century. Backed by the Soviet Union, the East German (GDR) government on August 13, 1961, had erected a barrier to end a mass flight of its citizens into West Berlin. The barrier was initially a makeshift fence of barbed wire and became an imposing 156-km concrete wall (”Mauer” in German) that encircled West Berlin, separating it from East Germany, including East Berlin, and was guarded by guard dogs, minefields, and patrolling East German guards with orders to shoot anyone trying to escape to West Berlin.
Twenty years ago on the night of November 9, 1989, following weeks of pro-democracy protests, the East German authorities suddenly opened the border. Euphoric East Germans flooded the checkpoints and rushed past bewildered guards into West Berlin. Not a single shot was fired that night. On that night of November 9, 1989, Berlin was transformed into a city-wide party with East Berliners roaming the streets of West Berlin in disbelief and euphoria and residents from both sides hugging and embracing each other. After 28 years of dividing the city, the country and the people, it was a peaceful revolution that tore down the Wall in 1989.
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said that he expected the Berlin Wall to fall, but both he and German ex-chancellor Helmut Kohl were caught off guard and surprised by how quickly it happened. German Chancellor Merkel thanked Mikhail Gorbachev for letting events unfold without interference. Merkel told the Bild newspaper yesterday: “The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall should remind us all what incredible luck we had with the reunification of Europe and Germany.”
“Together we brought down the Iron Curtain, and I am convinced this can give us the strength for the 21st century.” — German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit said that the 1,000 giant colorful dominoes project–in which 15,000 school children from different parts of the world were among those who had decorated the huge 2.3-metre-tall foam tiles–helped to underscore the significance of the anniversary for those too young to remember the fall of the Berlin Wall. He said, “History is palpable and alive here. The peaceful revolution of the fall of the Wall 20 years ago paved the way to an unprecedented transformation of Berlin.” Many of the decorated dominoes carried the message: “We are one people.”
Further revolutionary changes to extend the unification and reshaping of Europe came just six days ago when Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus, who himself in 1989 was a key figure in the democratic movement, finally agreed to become the last of 27 European Union heads of state to sign the Lisbon Treaty, a new constitution for the continent-wide bloc. The new Europe will be like a national federation with a president and a foreign minister, both appointed by the leaders of all 27 countries. The task now is for the European leaders to come to a consensus as to the chosen ones to fill these two positions.
See excerpts of video news reports from around the world as Berlin celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Wall’s fall.
Domino effect: Symbolic Wall falls again in Berlin – video report from Russia Today:
Fall of the Berlin Wall – ITN News report. The 20th anniversary of the moment. The scenes of jubilation on the 9th November 1989 as the divided German city united.
The End of the Wall – Mark Phillips reports for CBS. The fall of the Berlin Wall was a defining moment in history.
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