Thinking of this day still makes me teary eyed. The emotions are still raw, after 25 years. This day will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Over the next few days a long long line of "Trabis" (Trabant, an East German car) with East German residents crossed the border into West Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie... a first in our history.
This was the beginning of the end - of the Wall, of this dreadful border, of a communist Germany in the East. The end of the DDR (GDR). The beginning of a unified Germany. And pictures like this one belong to the past.
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However, we will never forget the victims of this ugly construction.
For the 25th anniversary a Lichtgrenze (lights border) was erected all through Berlin, following the original path of the Berlin Wall. They were released this evening - and the German-German border is gone.
On August 13th, 2011 - 50 years after the Berlin Wall was built - I had written about it here. Check it out if you're interested.
How I wish my father had been alive to see it fall. And how wonderful that some of the world changes have been positive. Something I need to remember more often than I do.
ReplyDeleteThis wall of lights is a beautiful reminder of something terrible that finally came to an end. What an experience to have lived this. I can't imagine
ReplyDeleteLove your story and photos. Wondering if you were native to the east of the west and how the wall coming down effected you?
ReplyDeleteWe watched how the white balloons started their fly yesterday.
ReplyDeleteIt was beautiful.
I wish we'll have peace in Europe = Putin will stop his stupid, selfish macho game.
Peace!
I remember watching the news of the wall's fall on television with disbelief, joy, and tears. It had been there all of my adult life and then some, a literal concrete symbol to me of all that was wrong in the world. Hard to believe it's been 25 years. I love the row of lights! It's a perfect reminder to believe in the possibility of transformation.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! I love all the photos! I love the light wall!!!
ReplyDeleteSome changes are for the better, like the convenience of modern technology, others get worse. But as they say, change is the only thing constant in this world.
ReplyDeleteYour pictures depict those changes well. Good job!
Very interesting post, Carola. I enjoyed this one and the other history of the Wall one, too. I wish I could see pictures of your flowers, the one from July of this year on that site were gone from"Square". I love to garden, too.
ReplyDeleteYes, still a miracle that the wall really came down. Without a single shot. I often visited the divided city of Berlin when I was a kid and watched the crosses of the people killed at the border. And I still remember the day when I walked through the Brandenburg Gate for the first time (which wasn't possible before 1989). We've come a long way since then.
ReplyDeleteThat wall changed so many people's lives. Siblings never seeing each other again before they died. Great sadness in its constgruction. Let's hope this never happens again.
ReplyDeleteIt was a glorious day when the wall fell! I know you feel such emotion for the joy of your country's triumph. I would as well!
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