Highlights of Fall of Berlin Wall’s 20th Anniversary
November 10th, 2009 by Kristina May
The past few weeks have been full of spectacular displays to commemorate this year’s anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. 20 years ago today, the heavily-guarded wall separating East and West Berlin was shut down, met with joyous celebrations as East Berliners crossed over to the West. Last month we blogged about the Royal de Luxe marionette performance of epic proportions, but that’s just one part of the festivities this year. Check out more highlights here.
“Scale These City Walls”
U2 performed a free concert last week in Berlin in honor of the 20th anniversary of the fall, but a 12-foot barrier was erected to keep out those who didn’t get a ticket to the show. Understandably, many were upset by the irony of this decision. The concert was organized by MTV Europe, who raffled a limited number of tickets to the event and urged fans to watch from home to prevent overcrowded streets. Still, looks like it was worth climbing up a post to take a peek at.
East-Side Gallery
Restoration of the largest remaining section of the wall began in April this year. Chunks that had been chipped away by weathering and “Mauerspechte” (wall woodpeckers) were filled in, and graffiti tags sandblasted away. Artists who had painted murals on the wall were invited to repaint their creations. This part of the wall was protected until the unveiling at today’s anniversary celebration.
Potsdamer Platz by Wolfgang Staudt on flickr (booth not pictured)
Infobox
A red information booth stands in Potsdamer Platz. A flight of stairs leads up to a platform granting a panoramic view of the square, which had a central role in Berlin before the division. This booth is the starting point for an interactive display that travels the city. Its mobile component visits 15 historically important places in Berlin, and displays photographs indicative of change in Berlin over the last 20 years. Called the “infobox,” it is followed by a red helium-filled arrow floating above, which points to the historic locations it visits. The bright red color is needed to attract attention to the sites, as there was such haste to tear down the wall after November 9, 1989, that it’s hard for tourists and even locals to tell what stood there before.
From Goethe-Institut's website about the project.
Journey of the Wall
Mauerrise, “Journey of the Wall,” is a project started earlier this year. Twenty symbolic blocks representing the Berlin Wall were sent to artists around the world, including Germany, Mexico, Korea, Yemen, China, Cyprus, Israel, and Palestine. The blocks became a canvas for expressing the daily life in a place characterized by division, and were sent back to Berlin for the November 9 anniversary to be part of the giant domino display.
From the Mauer Mob official website
Mauer Mob
Of course there’s a flash mob component to the day’s festivities. Called “Mauer Mob” (the German word for “wall” being “Mauer”), the idea is to recreate a wall of people along the wall’s original path. From approximately 8:15 PM – 8:30 PM in Berlin, the people will begin to fall down, symbolizing the moment Easterners were allowed to cross into West Berlin. Thousands have signed up to participate in the event.
From Berlintwitterwall's website
Berlin Twitter Wall
A wonderful little website set up to stream twitter messages about the 20th anniversary of the fall. The Chinese twitterverse found this a great way to protest The Great Firewall of China, though it was quickly discovered and blocked by the Chinese government. Still, a nice way for the world to show solidarity for Germans on this historic day.
Festival of Freedom
Finally, a symbolic toppling ceremony of 1,000 dominoes painted to look like the original wall is perhaps the most anticipated event of the celebration. The first block reads, “It began in Poland,” and features former Polish President Lech Walesa’s signature. In addition to resembling the wall’s colorful graffiti-style murals, the dominoes visually tell the story of the peaceful revolution that eventually led to the fall of communism in Germany 20 years ago. The dominoes are made of styrofoam and are aligned along the route where the wall once stood. Definitely spectacular.
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