The Fall of the Berlin Wall

[Tueuse de Vampires]

I just remembered that not too long from now, roughly in a month, it will be the 20th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Wall!
I'm German, born in East Germany (actually not too far from Berlin, in Brandenburg) so for me it is really something special, as I view it as one of the greatest event in our contemporary world history. Of course I was only a baby back then (born in June 1989), so it's not like I can really talk out of first-and experience, but from what I've heard from parents, grandparents, teachers at school, the media etc., it was really the most moving moment for Germans, both in the GDR and West Germany.
And it's not like this was only significant to the Germans, the fall of the Berlin Wall sort of triggered a lot of stuff in general, leading to the independence of many eastern European countries and to the end of the Cold War!

The boyfriend of one of my cousins told me earlier this year that he, 6 years old back then, living in West Berlin, was taken to the Berlin Wall by his mother that night with the comment that he should really pay attention to what was happening around him, because history was written that night.
I think we (as the people living in this age) can be very lucky to be able to look at historical events like that. I mean, here in Europe (and North America), we live in an era of peace, with a pretty darn good standard of life!

I opened this thread because I think that this is just something everyone in our generations should be aware of and celebrate, as the fall of the Berlin Wall was truly a cornerstone of the world as we know it nowadays!

 

[Professor Walsh]

The boyfriend of one of my cousins told me earlier this year that he, 6 years old back then, living in West Berlin, was taken to the Berlin Wall by his mother that night with the comment that he should really pay attention to what was happening around him, because history was written that night.

I was twelve, and I can vividly remember watching the news thinking something along those lines.

 

[InsaneMystic]

Way to make me feel old, Tine. ^^ I was 15 when the Wall fell, but I only dimly remember seeing it on TV... around when I was 13-16, my personal life was hell, so I didn't care much about what happened out in the world back then.

Looking back, though, it was a great moment in history. I make no secret of the fact that I'm solidly leftist in my political views, but there can be no doubt that socialism/communism the way the (post-)Stalinist Eastern states handled it was horrible and inhumane, and that the world is much better off without it. It's also great that the end of a dictatorial system like the GDR, that cost many lives and ruined many others over its 40-year run, came more or less peacefully in the end. The GDR (and other Eastern Block states) had a bloody history of quenching earlier attempts at unrest, it's wonderful that history did not repeat itself there in '89 (and kudos to two men of power who had a lot to do with it - Mikhail Gorbachov and John Paul II).

 

[Mumrik]

You know, it's moments like these that I regret that I cannot even say "I was only a few months old back then" because I was born exactly a month after the Fall. And I think it does make a difference, being German, whether you were born before or after, even if it was only a few months, even weeks. I don't even know why I think that - none of my family even lived in East Germany so I have no real connection to the GDR - but I just feel like that. It's hard to describe.

I don't even know what I wanted to say with this post. Sigh.

 

[XDruX]

Yes it was indeed. I also was quite small at that time. I only remember being happy that a country got together again...
This great event inspired also a lot of people...
On this page you got a few exemple of movies in which the fall of the wall plays a big role..
The fall of the Berlin Wall on the silver screen / The fall of Communism / Dossier / Start - Euranet

Now I am living in Germany, in Bonn former capital of the Federal State. I bet there will be a lot of events organized for that commemoration. I have to look it up... But I wish I could be in Berlin!!

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Fond memories Uncle Ronnie and "Tear down this wall!"

that was one good speech he gave..

and we cant forget the Hoff, who singly-handled chopped that sumbitch down!

 

[StuckinTraffic]

When the Berlin Wall fell, I was stationed in Germany. We watched it on the news and I remember thinking that history was being made. It was really an emotional moment to see the first of the people who were then East Germans walk across a space that had been a no-man's-land, machine guns and barbed wire. I wonder what they felt like, experiencing our brand of freedom for the first time. My dad, who had been living in Germany since 1981, and lived there for many years after, couldn't believe it. That was one of those times in history that you remember for the rest of your life for him, like JFK's assassination, or where you were when the Space Shuttle blew up.