The picture above was taken when the border was reopened. Behind the wall you can see one of Berlin's most famous sights, Brandenburger Tor.
It's been a couple weeks since I've updated my blog, and for that I apologize. Also, I stupidly forgot my camera for this event, so any pictures/videos I upload are not mine. I found them on the internet.
November 9th was an important day for Berlin, which celebrated 20 years of reunification. On the date of November 9th, 1989 the border was finally reopened and the wall was torn down. It took until well into 1990 to completely tear the wall down (except for the parts of the wall that were left standing as a reminder of history).
On November 9th, 2009 thousands of people from all over the world stood before the Brandenburger Tor to take part in the Mauerfall (which literally means wall fall) celebration. I was lucky enough to be standing quite close to the front, so I didn't miss much. It was a miserable night because it was cold, rainy, and I had no umbrella. But nonetheless, everyone's spirits were high.
Here are some pictures that demonstrate the closing and reopening of the border:
As you can see here, the wall was being constructed. This would have been around August 1961.
Slowly, piece by piece and blow by blow, the wall came down. East and West German people were allowed to see their families again.
Die Grenze war nicht mehr geschlossen.
Emotions ran high on November 9th 2009. It was a very neat experience. I feel so blessed to have been able to be a part of that celebration.
The night started with a performance from the Berlin Orchestra. And shortly thereafter, we listened to speeches from many important people including: the Russian president, The British Prime Minister, the French president, Hilary Clinton (in place of Obama), and Angela Merkel (the German Chancellor). Bon Jovi then played in front of the Brandenburger Tor, which was cool to see. But I think my favorite part of the night were the dominoes (pictured above). As a symbol for the wall falling, artists and children designed and constructed life size dominoes that were placed where the wall used to be. At the signal, the dominoes were pushed over and the wall was symbolically torn down. It was quite an experience.
To watch a documentary on the closing of the border, copy and paste the first link into the browser. To watch a documentary on the reopening, copy and paste the second link. But I am warning you, they are both intense and highly emotional. Each one is about 10 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nch5MbnvTqY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM2qq5J5A1s&feature=related
To watch a short video of the dominoes falling, copy and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG97uKKdwyY&feature=related
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