This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/berliners-party-like-its-nov-9-1989/2014/11/09/c5995d91-3fce-42c8-b550-e9338fb51ec9_story.html?wprss=rss_world
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Berlin Wall fall anniversary: Partying like it’s Nov. 9, 1989 | Berlin Wall fall anniversary: Partying like it’s Nov. 9, 1989 |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| BERLIN — With moments both solemn and playful, this city put on a festival of music and lights on Sunday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall — with hundreds of thousands jamming the streets to remember a day that marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War. | BERLIN — With moments both solemn and playful, this city put on a festival of music and lights on Sunday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall — with hundreds of thousands jamming the streets to remember a day that marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War. |
| Celebrants gathered around the Brandenburg Gate and across a nine-mile stretch of the wall’s former route to watch 7,000 illuminated balloons released into the night sky. Argentine-Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim led an orchestra playing Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” as the white orbs drifted above the cold city like bubbles of light. | Celebrants gathered around the Brandenburg Gate and across a nine-mile stretch of the wall’s former route to watch 7,000 illuminated balloons released into the night sky. Argentine-Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim led an orchestra playing Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” as the white orbs drifted above the cold city like bubbles of light. |
| The mass of balloons — toting personal messages about the wall’s fall — were meant to symbolize the end of division in this once-split metropolis. Afterward, though, Berliners threw solemnity to the wind, reveling in an open-air mega party as the sounds of techno music thumped through the streets. | The mass of balloons — toting personal messages about the wall’s fall — were meant to symbolize the end of division in this once-split metropolis. Afterward, though, Berliners threw solemnity to the wind, reveling in an open-air mega party as the sounds of techno music thumped through the streets. |
| It was first and foremost a day of emotion, particularly for residents of former East Berlin who still vividly recall the repression of the old German Democratic Republic. Heike Legler, one of the thousands of volunteers who released the balloons on Sunday, had been celebrating her 29th birthday on the night of Nov. 9, 1989, with her husband in a restaurant near their East Berlin home. It ended with an unexpected birthday present — a walk through West Berlin after the couple heard the spreading news about the fall of the wall and rushed to join other East Berliners bravely crossing the border. | It was first and foremost a day of emotion, particularly for residents of former East Berlin who still vividly recall the repression of the old German Democratic Republic. Heike Legler, one of the thousands of volunteers who released the balloons on Sunday, had been celebrating her 29th birthday on the night of Nov. 9, 1989, with her husband in a restaurant near their East Berlin home. It ended with an unexpected birthday present — a walk through West Berlin after the couple heard the spreading news about the fall of the wall and rushed to join other East Berliners bravely crossing the border. |
| “We weren’t afraid. There were so many people that we knew nothing [bad] would happen. It was incredible,” said Legler, whose message accompanying the balloon began: “Freedom is the only thing that matters.” | “We weren’t afraid. There were so many people that we knew nothing [bad] would happen. It was incredible,” said Legler, whose message accompanying the balloon began: “Freedom is the only thing that matters.” |
| The fall of the wall heralded not only the last days of communism in Eastern Europe, but also the emergence of a reunified and reinvigorated Germany — a country that is now Europe’s undisputed economic leader. Yet across the city on Sunday, there were signs of Germans’ still-uncomfortable relationship with patriotism seven decades after the end of World War II. | The fall of the wall heralded not only the last days of communism in Eastern Europe, but also the emergence of a reunified and reinvigorated Germany — a country that is now Europe’s undisputed economic leader. Yet across the city on Sunday, there were signs of Germans’ still-uncomfortable relationship with patriotism seven decades after the end of World War II. |
| Yes, there were stands selling steaming currywurst — a local speciality — and a German organ grinder or two. But there were remarkably few in the throngs who waved German flags. | Yes, there were stands selling steaming currywurst — a local speciality — and a German organ grinder or two. But there were remarkably few in the throngs who waved German flags. |
| Instead, this city seemed to celebrate less as Germans than as united Berliners. Outside the Berlin Wall Memorial in the Mitte neighborhood, for instance, a chatting crowd suddenly grew silent as images were flashed on a big screen. They showed East German dissidents being dragged away from the wall in the 1970s and 1980s, some of them screaming as members of the Stasi — the notorious East German security service — took them into custody. | Instead, this city seemed to celebrate less as Germans than as united Berliners. Outside the Berlin Wall Memorial in the Mitte neighborhood, for instance, a chatting crowd suddenly grew silent as images were flashed on a big screen. They showed East German dissidents being dragged away from the wall in the 1970s and 1980s, some of them screaming as members of the Stasi — the notorious East German security service — took them into custody. |
| Inaugurating a new exhibition at the memorial on Sunday, Chancellor Angela Merkel called the historic 1989 event the “happiest moment in our recent history.” | Inaugurating a new exhibition at the memorial on Sunday, Chancellor Angela Merkel called the historic 1989 event the “happiest moment in our recent history.” |
| “The fall of the wall has shown us that dreams can come true,” she said. “Nothing needs to remain the same no matter how high the hurdles may be.” | “The fall of the wall has shown us that dreams can come true,” she said. “Nothing needs to remain the same no matter how high the hurdles may be.” |
| The joy of the moment was tempered by reflections about the dark days of division as well as foreboding about the future. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev — in town for commemoration ceremonies — warned that the world was “on the brink of a new Cold War.” | The joy of the moment was tempered by reflections about the dark days of division as well as foreboding about the future. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev — in town for commemoration ceremonies — warned that the world was “on the brink of a new Cold War.” |
| He referenced Russian action in Ukraine, where Moscow stands accused of backing rebels seeking independence in the eastern part of the country. Russia also annexed Ukraine’s autonomous Crimean Peninsula in March. Gorbachev — a sometimes-critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin — nevertheless charged the West with boxing Russia into a corner in the years after the Berlin Wall fell. | He referenced Russian action in Ukraine, where Moscow stands accused of backing rebels seeking independence in the eastern part of the country. Russia also annexed Ukraine’s autonomous Crimean Peninsula in March. Gorbachev — a sometimes-critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin — nevertheless charged the West with boxing Russia into a corner in the years after the Berlin Wall fell. |
| “Euphoria and triumphalism went to the heads of Western leaders,” he said at an event Sunday. “Taking advantage of Russia’s weakening and the lack of a counterweight, they claimed monopoly leadership and domination in the world.” | “Euphoria and triumphalism went to the heads of Western leaders,” he said at an event Sunday. “Taking advantage of Russia’s weakening and the lack of a counterweight, they claimed monopoly leadership and domination in the world.” |
| The wall, built in 1961, was meant to halt the tide of defectors from the repressive and communist East Germany into West Berlin. Over the years, at least 138 people would die trying to cross the no-man’s-land dividing the city. | |
| East German authorities, hit by massive protests and a resurgent flood of defectors, ultimately agreed to allow crossings starting Nov. 10, 1989. But an announcement a day earlier caused a flood of East Germans to rush the wall on Nov. 9, with shocked guards watching on as scores of civilians scaled its ramparts. | East German authorities, hit by massive protests and a resurgent flood of defectors, ultimately agreed to allow crossings starting Nov. 10, 1989. But an announcement a day earlier caused a flood of East Germans to rush the wall on Nov. 9, with shocked guards watching on as scores of civilians scaled its ramparts. |
| Today, only fragments of the wall remain. Much of it was smashed to smithereens, and parts of it were sold off or taken as souvenirs. But many in this city will never forget what once stood there. | Today, only fragments of the wall remain. Much of it was smashed to smithereens, and parts of it were sold off or taken as souvenirs. But many in this city will never forget what once stood there. |
| “The horror of the wall is hardly imaginable for young people today,” said Frank Ebert, a former East German dissident and one of the organizers of the balloon event, called the Lichtgrenze — or border of light. Ebert, although only 19 at the time of the fall of the wall, had already been arrested several times. | “The horror of the wall is hardly imaginable for young people today,” said Frank Ebert, a former East German dissident and one of the organizers of the balloon event, called the Lichtgrenze — or border of light. Ebert, although only 19 at the time of the fall of the wall, had already been arrested several times. |
| “Whenever I’m at the Brandenburg Gate or at Bornholmer Strasse [border crossing], I think about the wall and where it used to stand. We used to see it every day.” | “Whenever I’m at the Brandenburg Gate or at Bornholmer Strasse [border crossing], I think about the wall and where it used to stand. We used to see it every day.” |