Twenty years ago tomorrow: the day the Berlin Wall "Came down." What it was like.

[DFW]

No, the Wall wasn't physically torn down that day, but it might just as well have been.

It was a day my wife, who is German, and I will never forget. We had parked the girls, then 6 and 4, with friends in the neighborhood near Düsseldorf, and taken a weekend up in Hamburg, where I had to work on the 11th (Sunday). We arrived at our hotel, and had turned on the TV to watch the news, and our mouths dropped open. East Germany had been bleeding citizens for months now, with the Czechs allowing passage to the West for the East Germans camped out at the West German embassy in Prague, plus the Hungarians opening the border to Austria (East Germans were allowed to to travel to Hungary), effectively providing a safe route to the West there as well. But the events in East Berlin still took us, and all of Germany, on both sides of the wall, by complete surprise. As it turned out, it was complete chaos on the East German side as well. At a press conference in East Berlin, one of the members of the East German Politburo was reading aloud something that had not been intended to be made public until later. When he said that all East Germans would be allowed to travel to the West, he was asked if that included West Berlin, and as of when? He looked at his documents, and, in an unsure voice, said, "yes, and as far as I can tell, that is effective immediately." My wife and I watched this on the German news and turned to each other with "did-you-hear-what-I think-I-just-heard?" looks.

The East German border guards, who were out on patrol or at official border crossings, and NOT watching the news on TV, had no idea of what was going on, and the ones at the Wall in East Berlin were in complete panic when thousands of East Berliners appeared at crossing points and demanded to be allowed to walk over to West Berlin that instant. Commanders who had every authority to order a massacre wisely decided not to do so, having the presence of mind to realize that if thousands of East Berliners were storming the wall claiming they were allowed to go over, that their information had to come from somewhere high up. Panicked border guards called up their superiors looking for guidance, and were told something was up, and not to harm anyone. Not harming anyone with a few thousand civilians pushing and shoving at the border gates amounted to letting them through, and so they did. The East German border guards became helpless onlookers to the spectacle of tens of thousand of East Berliners walking across what used to be the "death strip" just a day before. They were totally bewildered, getting high fives from people they had, for their whole professional lives, been told to shoot dead if they ever tried to do exactly what they were all now doing.

The next morning, a Saturday, we expected an onrush of East Germans in Hamburg, which was just 30 miles from the old East German border. Sure enough, they poured into Hamburg, gawking at just about everything. Having been to East Berlin during the days as a Soviet colony, I knew the contrast between the dull drab place that was East Germany and a dynamic city like Hamburg. I can imagine the shock of the East Germans, and indeed, they stared in total wonder at just about everything. The West German government had long ago set up a "greeting money" for East German visitors. It was 100DM, about $60 back then. Of course, the offices handing out this money were totally overwhelmed, used to maybe a couple dozen people a day, and not ten thousand. After the initial euphoria, the more practical, and more sobering "what happens now?" thoughts came up, but for that one amazing day, anyone with more presence of mind than a mushroom felt the electricity in the air, and knew that history had turned a very, very big page.

[endless october]

1. fascinating.

i was 14 and watched it on TV, but of course, i couldn't really grasp the enormity of it at the time. thanks for posting this.

[DFW]

4. It had worldwide repercussions, of course

But to have actually been here and watch it unfold was an experience difficult to describe (I did my best).
The mood here was both euphoric and apprehensive at the same time. As it turned out, the euphoria was
unjustified, and the apprehension very justified, predictably enough.

[AllieB]

2. I'm headed to Berlin this month.

I was last there in 1991 and not much had changed by then. I can't wait to see the difference between then and now.

[DFW]

3. You will be absolutely blown away

I have to be there a couple of times a year for work, so I have seen the change gradually.

Even so, when you see what has become of the East, it's impressive, and you MUST see and take a tour of Potsdam!!
When you go, there is a Turkish restaurant in the Hackische Höfe called Hasır (with that peculiar Turkish undotted "i").
As an appetizer, get the humus and for the main course, get either the spicy lamb shishkabob or the grilled chicken.
Now, there's a whole generation who practically has no recollection of the division, which for us is impossible to
fathom. Time marches on.

[AllieB]

5. I'm not sure if I will have time to get out to Potsdam.

I'm only there for 3 full days. I assume the weather will be cold and I'll spend most of my time in museums. I am staying near Potsdamer Platz in Mitte in the former East. I can't wait to try Turkish food-it sounds a lot like Lebanese or Greek, but I'm sure it has its own twist. :-)

[DFW]

7. Potsdamer Platz! That's where I stay, too!

It's only a 15 minute taxi ride from the Hackische Höfe. Hasır is on Oranienburger Strasse. Great walking neighborhood, too.
Postdam is only a half hour train ride from Berlin. You can get a train from the underground Potsdamer Platz to Berlin Hbf,
which is one station and 2 minutes, and then change to local to Potsdam. The whole trip takes 35 minutes. Potsdam has what
is called "The Dutch Quarter," which has a part of town that looks like it was swiped right out of 17th century Antwerp.

Turkish food is the best of the best of what Middle Eastern food has to offer. Worth checking out if at all you have the time.

[AllieB]

8. Have you ever seen 'Wings of Desire'?

I think of the scene where an old man (actor Curt Bois) is walking around a divided Berlin looking for the Potsdamer Platz, which back before WW2 was the Times Square of Berlin. It was old buildings, vacant lots, and weeds. I am looking the most forward to visiting the German Film museum, which is nearby my hotel. I will definitely check out Potsdam-so much to do (and eat), so little time!

[DFW]

9. You won't regret the time taken for Postdam

While at the Berlinale, even Brangelina chose to stay in Potsdam instead of in Berlin itself.

The Dutch Quarter is called "Das Holländische Viertel." If you have time for the Sans Souci castle, take it in, but
if not, definitely get a bus tour around town. You'll see the "forbidden zone," where the Soviets were the ones allowed
to live there. They even point out the building where political prisoners were executed. A little eerie, but fascinating.
This is where Putin lived when he was KGB-Berlin.

If you can, see the film "The Lives of Others" before you go. It is a starkly realistic portrayal of East Berlin and the
whole system, acted by many actors who are from the former East. Ulrich Mühe was brilliant. I only saw it in the west, but
my wife saw it in Dresden, and she said when the film was over, the audience sat there in stunned silence, completely immobile.

[AllieB]

10. I own 'Das Leben Der Anderen'. It's one of the best movies in years.

So sad. Unfortunately Ulrich Muhe passed away not too long after the film was released. I've always liked Sebastian Koch as an actor (so handsome!). If you haven't seen the Dutch movie 'Black Book', he was in that movie too. It's well worth renting.

I've been to Sans Souci. You'll love this-typical bad Berlin weather when we were there in March of '91: They were expecting light rain but instead it was snowing! It kind of made the visit enchanting, but with that cold wind from Russia, it was very uncomfortable even with long underwear and several layers.

[Call Me Wesley]

6. Great post.

Although I've watched it only on tv, I quite remember the wonder in their eyes about everything, especially the ones stepping over the border for the first time. It was like they couldn't believe it and would be called back in just a second, but then, they stepped further. This was in Berlin, and the people from West Berlin welcomed them with open arms.

[DFW]

20. I have friends in Berlin

The mood there was unique.

People were streaming over the border crossings, westerners banging on the cars of the East Germans who drove through,
easterners bear-hugging westerners, either friends they knew (westerners were allowed day trips to the East), or
complete strangers, it didn't seem to matter.

The scenes that got to me most were the one with the East German border guards. They were just staring at the whole thing
looking like fish out of water--total bewilderment, especially when their former adversaries (i.e. their own citizens)
were high-fiving them, shaking their hands, and patting them on the back like old friends.

It is now 11:11 AM here in Europe, so it is now THE day. I hope the German media doesn't try to dissect it to the
point of nausea. So far, luckily, they haven't. There have been some great reports on the chaos inside the East
German leadership at the time. Their right hands didn't know where their left hands were, and the opening of the
wall border crossings was not a planned, well-organized event, but a disorganized series of events, mistakes,
and missed communication. It could just have easily ended with a bloodbath somewhere. Luckily, the East German
state had been coming apart at the seams for months, and the border guards knew something was happening that they
did not know about. They were perfectly willing to shoot at their own people at the wall on an individual basis,
but when thousands showed up at once, either out of self-preservation or out of common sense, they let history
take its course peacefully for once--not your everyday occurrence if you look at the past 1500 years of German history.

[Bonobo]

11. Thanks for sharing that moment of history from a personal perspective! nt

[DFW]

18. It's just one perspective

If there's anyone on DU who was actually in Berlin, I'm sure they'd have a different one.

[Liberal_in_LA]

12. K&R. Did you bring back a chunk? I worked with a guy who brought back a chunk of the wall

[AllieB]

13. I have a chunk of the wall from my visit in '91.

:-)

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. cool!

[DFW]

15. That's one thing I never did.

I passed by, through, and under that wall while it stood more times than I cared to remember.

I had been taken into interrogation rooms on the Eastern side where I was the only one in the room without an East German
uniform, a gun, or the right to stand up without permission. I don't begrudge anyone for taking a piece as a souvenir, but
I never had any burning desire to have a piece for myself.

[RedCloud]

14. Post nazi Germany paid the West billions in damage, pennies to the East

Such thinking tends to through up walls around recovering fascists.

[Individualist]

16. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I was in my teens when the wall went up and in my 40's when it was taken down.

[DFW]

22. I was 9 when it went up, not really old enough to realize what was going on.

But I was 37 when it came down, and had by then been with my German wife for 15 years. I REALLY knew what was happening in 1989.

Sorry I didn't get back to your post earlier. I have a work week from hell, and get to respond on a VERY sporadic basis.

[Individualist]

27. No apology necessary for your delayed response

I have clear memories of when the wall went up (18 years old at the time)and looked like this -

It was heartbreaking to see TV coverage of Berliners standing at the wall, calling out and waving to friends and relatives on the other side - ;
even more heartbreaking to hear the many, many reports of people who tried to escape and were murdered by guards. You may or may not remember that there were TV shows about people who tried to tunnel their way out or tried other means of escape.

When that wall came down, I cried tears of joy.

[Raine]

19. THANKS for sharing

it's so interesting to have a first hand report. :hi:

[DFW]

21. It was heady stuff, I'll tell you that

Especially being married to a German, whom I met in (West-)Berlin during the time of the wall. You couldn't help
but feel like a surfer who was riding some huge wave at Waimea Bay, along with millions of others at the same time
on the same wave. But one thing was for sure, you definitely knew you were right in the middle of an event that
would be a landmark in history.

[Octafish]

23. Thank you, DFW.

Those days, I believed then, were the beginning of the Peace Age. I thought East and West would devote resources to making this world a veritable paradise for all humanity. There'd now be money for jobs, hospitals, schools, clean water...peace. No. Instead, the "peace dividend" went to new types of wastrels and warmongers.

Thank you for reminding us of what can be, though. If only enough people believed we can do the impossible, we may yet see those days. We need to work toward that time, if not for us, then for our children.

[DFW]

25. Interesting that you should mention our children

My own children still consider German to be their native language, even as the both of them (for now) choose to
make their homes and their careers (or studies) in the United States. They never felt that there was any more distance
between the two countries (and cultures) than it took to get to the nearest airport. They switch back and forth from
German to English in mid-sentence, depending if they are addressing me or my wife, and although they know intellectually
that their grandfathers fought (both were drafted) on opposite sides in a war, emotionally, they can't really preceive
of that ever having been the case.

And so it should be.

[Swede]

24. Great post my friend.

nt

[DFW]

26. Thanks! Even now, I still remember the initial shock of seeing the East German press conference

It took considerable effort to get our jaws back up from the floor.