Berlin November 1989

The fall of the Berlin Wall came as a surprise to the whole world on the night of Thursday, November 9th, to Friday, November 10th, 1989, after over 28 years of its existence. The opening of the wall was a result of mass demonstrations during the period of the German reunification and the demand for freedom of travel. As a young woman who had often been in West Berlin, I immediately made my way to Berlin upon hearing the announcement of the wall's opening.

It was overwhelming for me to finally be connected to the other part of Germany and to meet the people who had been separated from us by a murderous border for as long as I could remember. It has always seemed absurd to me that Germany was divided and that it was only under very difficult circumstances that we were allowed to visit the friends my mother had in the former GDR. Even today, tears come to my eyes when I see the television images of the first days of the fall of the wall in Berlin.