Twenty years ago today, on November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came down.  The wall, separating East and West Berlin, was a symbol of the Cold War between the free world and the Soviet Union.  Google has a great selection of images from Life Magazine detailing the history of the wall, and there’s also a time line of Cold War-era Germany.  There, you can read of the wall, how it came to be, and how it came to be destroyed.

I don’t remember a whole lot from the 80’s, but I do remember watching as the wall came down.  I remember what a big deal it was, not to my parents, but to the German people I saw on television, cheering each strike of the sledge hammer and dancing on top of the symbol of their former oppression.  I remember the two groups of strangers meeting in the middle, hugging and shaking hands.  Even as an 8-year-old kid, I knew I was witnessing something incredible.

It’s only in hindsight that I realize just how special a night that was for everyone who witnessed it, either live or on television.  That Wall was a part of the lives of every German (not just the woman who married the Berlin Wall) for nearly 30 years.  I can’t fathom living with that very visible reminder of governmental oppression.

Tags: Berlin, Berlin Wall, Fall of the Berlin Wall, Life Magazine, photo galleries, 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, world events, communism, Cold War

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