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FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL
20 Years of a Reunited Berlin

“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” American President Ronald Reagan famously demanded in 1987 in front of the Brandenburg Gate. The Soviet leader didn’t exactly rush forward at the controls of a bulldozer, and whether the speech had an effect or was simply an example of surfing on the tides of history, with the collapse of other soviet satellite states and mass demonstrations for reform in East Germany, the Berlin Wall did come down, marked on November 9 of 1989. The Berlin Wall wouldn’t be officially demolished until the summer of 1990, but an off-hand answer to the question of an Italian journalist by a GDR Public Information Officer that “free passage” through all border crossings would be allowed, sent Berliners to test the barriers that evening. The answer was a response to Hungary ending border restrictions, effectively opening a back door to the west. East German hardliner Erich Honecker had resigned after mass public demonstrations a month before and a temporary crossing through the wall was opened at the Brandenburg Gate on December 22, just before Christmas. The wall separating east and west Berlin was first constructed in 1961, went through four generations of reconstruction, but today is almost entirely vanished except for a sometimes recognizable path marked by information stands and a few remaining sections left as an art project.

In 2009 , a series of special events and exhibitions in Berlin celebrated the November 9th, Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the “peaceful revolution” that lead to the reunification of Germany and a divided Berlin. Under the banner “The New Berlin: 20 years of Change”, the celebration year climaxed with a great public party at Brandenburg Gate which brought hundreds of thousands out to fill the street festivals in one giant party.

The history and remaining legacy of the Berlin Wall can be exlored at museums such as the House at Checkpoint Charlie Museum (see Mauer Museum at Checkpoint Carlie), the German Historical Museum, the Kennedys Museum (see Berlin Kennedys Museum) the Allied Museum, the Berlin Film Museum (see Film and Television Museum Berlin), the Stasi Museum, and the DDR Museum (see DDR East German Life Museum), the Berlin Technik Museum (see Berlin Airlift at Technik Museum), and the only full remaining saction of the wall next to the Topography of Terror Documentaion Center (see Topography of Terror) each featuring parts of the story of this important era of German History, allowing visitors to explore all aspects of the division and reunification on Berlin and Germany.

Berlin visitors have a number of ways to actively experience the history of the Wall and what it meant to Berlin and its inhabitants. Take a GPS-guided walking tours on the trail of the Berlin Wall (MauerGuide.com). Even without the audio guide, you can follow the wall where information columns can be found along the former path of the Berlin Wall. Press the button for audio information in eight languages regarding the history of the wall and events related to the specific location of each column. Take a guided or self-guided bicycle tours on the Wall path (see Berlin Fat Tire Bike Tours), visit the hidden underground Berlin (Berliner-Unterwelten.de), or take a drive into the east of the city in original GDR Trabant cars. © Bargain Travel Europe

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