Germans Celebrate 25 Years of the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Germans celebrated the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall Sunday. It was an event that marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
The 15 km stretch looked spectacular as 8,000 helium balloons were lit on the course of the barrier, BBC reports. They were released one after the other into the sky later to symbolize the fall.
As part of the celebration, the Berlin Staatskapelle orchestra played Beethoven's 9th Symphony "Ode to Joy" in front of the Brandenburg Gate, Reuters reports.
"We're the happiest people in the world and we're thrilled that you brought the Berlin Wall down 25 years ago. Nothing and no one can stand in the way of freedom," Berlin's Mayor Klaus Wowereit said as the first balloons were released in the air.
In 1961, the German Democratic Republic constructed the Berlin Wall that completely separated (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany, defining the cold relationship between the Communist and the Democratic worlds.
Apart from keeping the people of the East in, the division was also aimed at preventing ideas of the West out, ABC.net reports.
German Chancellor Merkel, who grew up in East Germany, said: "We can change things for the better. This is the message for...Ukraine, Iraq and other places where human rights are threatened. The fall of the Wall showed us that dreams can come true. Nothing has to stay as it is."
Until its fall in 1989, numerous U.S. Presidents including John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan criticized the construction of the wall. Crowds of protesters had breached the barrier in 1989. Pope Francis, referring to the event, said that a wall symbolizes "closing of hearts." "We need bridges, not walls."
