Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall
World leaders are gathering in Berlin, Germany today to mark the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago.
The fall of the Berlin Wall expedited the collapse of communism across eastern Europe, the end of the Cold War, and led to German reunification within a year
9th November 1989 ~ News Breaks of The Fall of the Berlin Wall
9th November 1989 ~ Celebrations at the Fall of the Berlin Wall
10th November 1989 ~ Celebration at the Berlin Wall
Today, 9th November 2009, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are among those expected to be at the Brandenburg Gate. A speech will be made by Angela Merkel, who grew up in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
Thousands of tourists have arrived in the city for an occasion which Angela Merkel has described as, “A celebration of the happiest day in postwar German history”.
The Brandenburg Gate once loomed over the barbed wire barrier that divided East and West Berlin for 28 years until the night of 9th of November 1989.
239 people were shot trying to escape from East Berlin to a new life in the West. Over the years many people attempted to flee East Berlin, by various means including strapping themselves underneath cars and one man even manged to fly his family to freedom in a home-made hot air balloon.
5,000 people successfully managed to make it to freedom in the West.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to descend on the centre of Berlin today to recapture the euphoria that was felt across Europe when the Berlin Wall fell two decades ago.
The commemoration Fest der Freiheit (freedom festival) which is reportedly costing £4.6m (€5.1m) commences events over the following days and weeks to commemorate the collapse of communism across Germany and central and eastern Europe.
The festivities in Berlin, which will be attended by European leaders and other world dignitaries, are expected to climax this evening with the falling of a line of 1,000 huge dominoes, which represent the chain effect of the events of 1989. This will be followed by a huge display of fireworks.
The conductor Daniel Barenboim, who was in Berlin at the fall of the wall in 1989, will conduct a concert on an outdoor stage at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate with his Staatskapelle orchestra.
The music of Beethoven and Wagner aims to capture the joyous mood of the 9th of November 1989, when at approximately 8:27 p.m. East Germans started to squeeze through checkpoints before falling into the arms of West Germans on the other side of the wall.
As well as the Staatskapelle orchestra concert, the descent of a swarm of human angels adorned with huge white wings, from some of the rooftops of the buildings which were constructed along the former line of the wall will help mark the anniversary.
The descending angels will be reminiscent of Wim Wenders 1987 film, Wings of Desire.
In churches across Germany services of thanksgiving are being held, as well as ceremonies remembering the 136 people killed whilst attempting to flee the GDR.
At offices of the East German secret police, the Stasi, candlelit vigils are planned to highlight the plight of all those people who were persecuted by what was once one of the world’s most sophisticated intelligence organisations.
Todays party is being backed by corporate sponsors. Images of Trabant cars driving across the borders will be projected on to huge screens at the Brandenburg Gate. The Trabant images are provided courtesy of German car manufacturer Audi whose logo ‘Vorsprung Durch Technik’ will also be flashing in large letters.
Not everyone is using this momentous occasion to cash-in, British artist Martin Butler has organised a flash mob via the internet. He wants to put the Berlin Wall back up, using bodies instead of concrete and barbed wire. Martin Butler hopes to gather 33,000 people to recreate the entire path of the Berlin Wall, which was about 100 miles in length.
Martin Butler’s project, ‘Mauer Mob 2009: Recreating the Berlin Wall’ intends to ‘reconstruct’ the Berlin Wall using a human chain. The Mauer Mob (Mauer means ‘wall’ in German) flash mob will see thousands of people will descending on the former route of the Berlin Wall to form a temporary monument from 8:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Speaking about his idea Martin Butler said, “It’s a very simple gesture. I’m not taking a strong political stance. It’s more about asking people to think about division.”
Martin Butler, who stages performance projects with an Amsterdam-based group called the Liminal Institute, has divided the route into 330 segments and is aiming for a total of 33,000 participants.
Apparently over the past few months about 9,000 people have already expressed their interest in taking part via social networking websites Facebook and Twitter etc.
According to reports approximately 4,000 people have said they will show up at event.
Will Martin Butlers idea work? I think it just might, and even if it’s not a complete success it will definitely be a great opportunity to take part in a very unique commemoration for the people of Berlin and visitors to Germany.
Posted on ZEITGEIST
