Germans mark day of liberation
Fall of Berlin Wall 25 years ago to be celebrated with one great party
ERMANY has kicked off celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the epochal fall of the Berlin Wall, which is set to culminate in rock stars and freedom icons joining millions at an open-air party.
The East German authorities built the Wall, which they called an “Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart”, in August 1961, to halt a mass exodus to the West.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany, will lead three days of commemoration for those killed trying to flee the repressive state. Tomorrow marks the joyous breach of that dividing structure on November 9, 1989.
“I think you never forget how you felt that day – at least I will never forget it,” Merkel, 60, said in a recent podcast.
“I had to wait 35 years for that feeling of liberty. It changed my life.”
The festivities, under the banner “Courage for Freedom”, recall the peaceful revolution that led communist leaders to open the border which had imprisoned Easterners in their own country, after 28 years .
Germany would for mally reunite within the year, on October 3, 1990.
Dissident singer Wolf Biermann, who was ejected from East Germany in 1976, performed his protest song Ermu-
Gtigung (Encouragement) in the Bundestag lower house of parliament, in a tribute to those who had resisted the regime. He used the opportunity to take a swipe at the far-left Linke, which has roots in East Germany’s ruling party, and had criticised Biermann’s invitation to appear at the session.
“Your punishment is to have to listen to me here – enjoy!” he called out to heckling Linke deputies, calling them “the wretched remnants of what has fortunately been surmounted”.
Yesterday, 8 000 illuminated white balloons pegged to the ground along a 15km stretch of the Wall’s former 155km path, were illuminated.
The glowing orbs, which from above will look like a long string of pearls, are to be released into the night sky tomorrow, to the stirring strains of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.
The last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, whose “perestroika” and “glasnost” reforms helped pave the way for the Wall’s fall, will greet crowds at the former Checkpoint Charlie border crossing.
Merkel will attend a memorial concert at Bertolt Brecht’s historic Berliner Ensemble theatre opposite the for mer “Palace of Tears”, where Easterners said goodbye to visitors returning to West Germany.
Tomorrow she will open a major exhibition on Bernauer Strasse, a street divided by the Wall that saw harrowing scenes of families and neighbours ripped apart overnight when the Wall was built.
After a ceremony at the Gendarmenmarkt square, at least 2 million people will gather for a “citizens’ festival” at the Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of German unity.
Various political figures, including former Polish president and freedom icon Lech Walesa, will join the German head of state in marking this significant anniversary.
Entertainment will include the Berlin State Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim, techno musician Paul Kalkbrenner, the East German rock band Silly, and Peter Gabriel, who will perfor m David Bowie’s “Wall anthem” Heroes, which he recorded while living in what was then West Berlin.
At least 389 people lost their lives trying to escape East Germany, according to an official toll, although victims’ groups give a much higher figure. – Sapa-AFP