“Nobody cheers when you build a wall, everyone cheers when you tear one down.“
-Sir George Kibble (via SuperForester Jackson)
The Cold War is history to us now, but just 20 years ago this was a reality: the division of Germany into the communist East and capitalist West, the concrete wall encircling West Berlin a physical divide to match the political. Two countries within one city, one people divided.
On 9 November 1989 the government of East Germany announced that East Berliners would be able to cross the border and visit their West Berlin brothers. Thereafter, the wall was chipped away at and then demolished and Germany eventually reunified in 1990. To get a sense of the reality of it, here’s some fascinating news footage from the opening of the checkpoint at “Bornholmer Strasse” on the night of 9 November 1989:
As Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union, who was awarded the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the peaceful conclusion of the Cold War, writes in The Times today:
“Not many events can claim their place in the collective memory as a watershed that divides two distinct periods. The dismantling of the Berlin Wall – that stark, concrete symbol of a world divided into hostile camps – is such an event. It brought incredible hope and opportunity to people everywhere, and provided the 1980s with a truly jubilant finale.”
And to end on an appropriately celebratory note here’s David Hasselhoff’s historic performance of Looking For Freedom atop the Berlin Wall, New Years Eve 1989 :)
To breaking down the walls between us, and Happy ReBirthday Berlin!
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