20 years ago, the Berlin Wall came down, symbolizing the end of a four-decade partition of Germany, with whole families split, and the suppression of a part of the German population. With that day and the reunification of Germany, the lives of many countless people were changed forever. A few of our fellow Meltwater Colleagues were directly affected by this historical event and I had the opportunity to speak to one colleague, who shares her thoughts here:
Christiane: “I was 11 years-old when the Berlin Wall fell. It completely changed everything. Living in the GDR, we weren’t allowed to travel to the Western part of Berlin or Western Germany without special permission. Only in exceptional cases people received allowance to travel to the west, usually having to leave either their partner or their children in the east to ensure they would come back. The first and only time my parents were allowed to travel to West Berlin together happened to be in November 1989 and they coincidentally came back just the day before the wall fell.
On the day of November 9th, for me being 11, the news didn’t have much meaning, but I knew things would change - you could feel it from the excitement of all the adults around. The wall coming down for them meant freedom of speech, no longer being watched, being allowed to travel whenever and wherever they wanted.
The day after the wall was opened, my parents took me and my brother to West Berlin for the first time. We crossed the border and walked past the wall that we had seen every day growing up in East Berlin. It was completely crowded with masses of people passing; all of them not having been able to cross that wall before and with little hope of ever doing so just until the day before. People from the East and the West were celebrating on the street together. A woman suddenly came up to me; she was really happy and gave me 10 Deutsch Mark as a gift. Those were my first Deutsch Mark and my first steps into the West.
What has really changed is the freedom and opportunities I’ve had. Without the wall coming down, I wouldn’t have been able to do my studies beyond 10th grade. I wouldn`t have been able to go abroad to any of the western countries. I probably wouldn`t have even had a free choice of what profession to go into. Basically I wouldn`t be who I am today.
After the wall fell, I had the chance to go to the US as an Au-pair. Afterwards I studied in the UK and neither experiences would have been possible without the political changes in Germany. I’m now free to choose the company I want to work for. The career I have today is only possible because of the people who fought for their freedom.
In the bigger picture, I know the wall coming down was a big step in changing Continental Europe. However it was only one step in a bigger puzzle. Without Michail Gorbatschow’s politic of Glasnost and Perestroika, without the fight in the other Eastern European countries, e.g. the Solidarnosc in Poland, Hungary opening their frontier towards the West, the Czech Republic allowing Eastern Germans to enter the Western German embassy, the Cold War would not have ended and Europe would probably not be what it is today.”
-Christiane is Controller for Continental Europe, based in Munich
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Dignitaries and political leaders from all over the globe came to Berlin to commemorate the anniversary of this historical event. Not only representatives from the former allies such as Dmitri Medwedew (Russian president), Hillary Clinton (US foreign minister) and Gordon Brown (British premier minister) but also significant testimonials who directly influenced the political process in those day, e.g. Michail Gorbatschow, Lech Walesa or Hans-Dietrich Genscher (former Western German foreign minister) were present.
The highlight of the celebration was when 15.000 Styrofoam dominoes lined up along the route of the old wall came toppling down, symbolizing not only the Wall coming down and reuniting Germany and Europe, but also remembering all the steps necessary to end the Cold War without any violence.
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Nora and Christiane,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences. Really touching… your thoughts inspire me to appreciate all the freedoms that I often take for granted.
It was great to read this post…I was a bit more east back then, in Romania, 9 years old, trying to understand what’s happening around me. First I just knew that we don’t have to go to school for 2 months, then we heard stories about acquaintances who have been in the army and were fighting to end the communism and Ceausescu’s regime…some of them died… these experiences help to appreciate freedom, democracy and everything we have so much more!
Great post ladies. Thank you for sharing your personal story it gives a real insight to how your lives must have changed when the wall came down. I agree with Kimling, it definitely made me think about the freedoms I have been lucky enough to have.
In 1986 my father escaped with my mom and me from East Berlin to Munich. The start in West Germany was tough but in the end everything worked out very well for us.
Everyone was surprised by the fall of the wall 3 years later. We could finally see our families back in East Germany. Not only once but anytime we wanted. That was incredible. No boundaries, no limits anymore.
All this happened by the peoples belief in a peaceful change. Today I am still impressed when I see the pictures and videos of the peaceful demonstrating crowd walking towards the wall.
The beginning of the end of the separation and even of the cold war was initiated that day and changed the peoples life not only in Germany.
It was an unfortunate experience when we tried to see the 20 years celebration of the Fall of the Wall which was called “Celebration of Freedom”. They did not let us in. Everything was closed off. Quite an ironic experience. Don´t you think?