World marks 30 years since Berlin Wall fell
BERLIN — Germany marked the 30th anniversary Saturday of the opening of the Berlin Wall, a pivotal moment in the events that brought down communism in Eastern Europe.
Leaders from Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic attended a ceremony at Bernauer Strasse — where one of the last parts of the Berlin Wall remains — before placing roses in the once-fearsome barrier that divided the city for 28 years.
“The Berlin Wall, ladies and gentlemen, is history,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said later at a memorial service inside a small chapel near where the wall once stood. “It teaches us: No wall that keeps people out and restricts freedom is so high or so wide that it can’t be broken down.”
Noting the cruelty of the East German regime — which had torn down a previous church on the former death strip site so snipers could get a better shot at people fleeing to the West — Ms. Merkel paid tribute to those who were killed or imprisoned during the communist dictatorship and insisted that the fight for freedom worldwide isn’t over.
“We are bereft of excuses, challenged to do our part for freedom and democracy,” she said.
Speaking to the leaders at Bernauer Strasse, Axel Klausmeier, the head of the
Berlin Wall memorial site, recalled the images of delirious Berliners from East and West crying tears of joy as they hugged one another on Nov. 9, 1989.
The collapse of the Berlin Wall was brought about largely by peaceful protests and a stream of people fleeing East Germany that piled pressure on the country’s communist government to open its borders to the West and ultimately end the nation’s post-war division.
Light installations, concerts and public debates were planned throughout Berlin and wider Germany to mark the date, including a concert at the iconic Brandenburg Gate to be presided over by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.