Its the 25th anniversary of the fall of The Berlin wall

losthorizon

Its obviously huge news in Germany and close to two million people are going to visit Berlin for the anniversary. Its something I remember very clearly. Its amazing how nations we knew nothing of were suddenly opened up. One thing that helped to open up the wall was of course Gorbachev and Hungary who often had East Germans on Holiday in their country and began not to stop East Germans leaving their nation for the west.

http://www.euronews.com/2014/10/29/escapes-over-the-berlin-wall/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4KuBA72MFk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAme6EcOAf4

Cant remember it happening live as i was only 6 at the time and the significance would have most certainly went over my head even if i had seen it.

Maybe Russia will attempt to annex East Germany down the line. Nothing would surprise me with Putin

AlanS181824

I wasnt born when it fell but I'm going on holiday to Germany in a few weeks so I should get it see it, can't wait!

kneemos

Given the number of people who have a piece of it it must have been huge.

Connemara Farmer

Interesting how Gorbachev has been commenting that the world could enter a new Cold War on such an anniversary.

Chucken

kneemos wrote: »

Given the number of people who have a piece of it it must have been huge.

http://www.mauermuseum.de/index.php/en/berlin-wall-facts

I have a piece of it

This is the moment history was made, when Guenter Schabowski misread the note that was given to him at the news conference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbI0Q4X0Rxo

Chucken

AlanS181824 wrote: »

I wasnt born when it fell but I'm going on holiday to Germany in a few weeks so I should get it see it, can't wait!

You need to visit The Topography of Terror. It is located immediately adjoining a remaining section of the Berlin Wall.
A chilling place, to say the least

Egginacup

Deleted User wrote: »

Cant remember it happening live as i was only 6 at the time and the significance would have most certainly went over my head even if i had seen it.

Maybe Russia will attempt to annex East Germany down the line. Nothing would surprise me with Putin

Why would nothing surprise you with Putin?
Why would Russia have the slightest interest in colonial expansion and annexing other countries?

Can you explain what you mean?

Alun

I'm old enough to remember visiting Berlin (West and East) before the wall came down in the 80's, once by car from W. Germany where I lived at the time, and once by plane.

When driving into East Germany, you get stopped at the border and they take your passport off you, and it goes along a little conveyor belt to an office where they check it. In the meantime you have to drive up to the next window and wait for it to be returned. After that it's a long drive on crappy East German roads with no real chance to stop apart from for petrol (if you dare risk it) and when you get to the exit point to enter West Berlin, you realise they've timed you. Drive too fast, they do you for speeding, take too long and you get a grilling asking where you've been.

A similar thing with the passports happened on the way into East Berlin, where you go one by one into a room with the border guard, locked both ends like a kind of air lock. Also you had to change a certain amount of money, at a totally fictitious 1:1 exchange rate, but here's the kicker .. it was virtually impossible to actually spend all the E German money you had, as there was really nothing to spend it on, but on leaving you weren't allowed to either exchange it back again, or take it back with you. So, you had to put it into a 'special' bank account which you could then get back if/when you returned again, but only IIRC within 1 year at which point they took it all back and the account disappeared.

Great fun

Chucken

Egginacup wrote: »

Why would nothing surprise you with Putin?
Why would Russia have the slightest interest in colonial expansion and annexing other countries?

Can you explain what you mean?

Eh, Crimea?

Lapin

I remember the night it came down well. Everything happened so quickly. The months and weeks building up to it and the following emergence of east European states were very interesting times to live through. Although the world has a lot of lessons to learn from the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Berlin itself has changed beyond recognition in many parts of town since the wall came down and there is virtually no trace of the original wall still standing.

In their hurry to knock it, no one suggested retianing a small length of it as a monument for future generations to the sheer stupidity of its existance.

Its is understandable that Berliners would want no reminders of what it represented, but it is a pity too that such a powerful symbol of 20th century history is lost forever. The East Side Gallery is the closest semblance to what part of the wall once looked like.

I have a piece of it on a bookcase at home.

Donkey Oaty

Most tasteful memorial can be seen here.

Mickey H

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4RjJKxsamQ

AlanS181824

Alun wrote: »

I'm old enough to remember visiting Berlin (West and East) before the wall came down in the 80's, once by car from W. Germany where I lived at the time, and once by plane.

When driving into East Germany, you get stopped at the border and they take your passport off you, and it goes along a little conveyor belt to an office where they check it. In the meantime you have to drive up to the next window and wait for it to be returned. After that it's a long drive on crappy East German roads with no real chance to stop apart from for petrol (if you dare risk it) and when you get to the exit point to enter West Berlin, you realise they've timed you. Drive too fast, they do you for speeding, take too long and you get a grilling asking where you've been.

A similar thing with the passports happened on the way into East Berlin, where you go one by one into a room with the border guard, locked both ends like a kind of air lock. Also you had to change a certain amount of money, at a totally fictitious 1:1 exchange rate, but here's the kicker .. it was virtually impossible to actually spend all the E German money you had, as there was really nothing to spend it on, but on leaving you weren't allowed to either exchange it back again, or take it back with you. So, you had to put it into a 'special' bank account which you could then get back if/when you returned again, but only IIRC within 1 year at which point they took it all back and the account disappeared.

Great fun

I believe that's what they do now in Russia isn't it?

You can't bring Russian money out of the country, if you don't spent it it's taken off you!

AlanS181824

Chucken wrote: »

You need to visit The Topography of Terror. It is located immediately adjoining a remaining section of the Berlin Wall.
A chilling place, to say the least

I'll try and remember that!

Cheers!

Iranoutofideas

Chucken wrote: »

Eh, Crimea?

You have no clue what you're talking about.

It's like asking if the UK is going to take back India because of Northern Ireland.

Guy:Incognito

Egginacup wrote: »

Why would nothing surprise you with Putin?
Why would Russia have the slightest interest in colonial expansion and annexing other countries?

Can you explain what you mean?

Have you a Google alert set up for the word putin?

Egginacup

Egginacup wrote: »

Why would nothing surprise you with Putin?
Why would Russia have the slightest interest in colonial expansion and annexing other countries?

Can you explain what you mean?

More tongue in cheek to be honest regarding East Germany but in general i do think Soviet sentiment is still strong and Putin isnt exactly discouraging it. Only my opinion now

branie2

A piece of the wall can be seen at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima

Duckworth_Luas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz1HVo2PjdM

Bears and Vodka

AlanS181824 wrote: »

I believe that's what they do now in Russia isn't it?

You can't bring Russian money out of the country, if you don't spent it it's taken off you!

Eh, no?

Source: I'm Russian.

Iwasfrozen

Iranoutofideas wrote: »

You have no clue what you're talking about.

It's like asking if the UK is going to take back India because of Northern Ireland.

No it really isn't. It's more like Britain invading a United Ireland, holding an illegal referendum on succession in the North East and using the favorable results of that referendum to annex the North East because British people have been planted there and it has historically been part of Britain. Actually for far longer than Crimea has been part of Russia which wasn't annexed until the mid 18th century.

RobbingBandit

Surprised the balloons set off to mark the celebration were not red, 99 Luftballons coming to mind.

jank

People should always remember the ideology that was behind the wall and not repeat its mistakes under the guise of an other ism.

Iwasfrozen

jank wrote: »

People should always remember the ideology that was behind the wall and not repeat its mistakes under the guise of an other ism.

+1 Unfortunately there are no lack of idiots calling for the adoption of Soviet ideology here. "Useful idiots" I think was the Russian term.

mikemac1

Thank the gods for David Hasselhoff

He was responsible for this, history's greatest statesman

keith16

AlanS181824 wrote: »

I believe that's what they do now in Russia isn't it?

You can't bring Russian money out of the country, if you don't spent it it's taken off you!

In theory, yes. We could only change money once we got there. We did manage to take some out of the country. They don't go through your pockets or anything!!

RobertKK

I would put it down as the greatest world event to have happened in my lifetime.
I'm old enough to remember the cold war, and how if an East Berliner tried to escape by trying to get over the wall, they would be shot dead.
It was a terrible regime that had to trap people.

What I remember from 25 years ago was how Europe was transformed and most of all the sheer joy of the people as they gained their freedom, I still find it emotional when I remember that time.

jank

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

+1 Unfortunately there are no lack of idiots calling for the adoption of Soviet ideology here. "Useful idiots" I think was the Russian term.

Socialist Party in Ireland for one. Ruth Coppinger reckons the Soviet Unions was a beacon of hope for 'workers' (once of course you weren't one of those workers who was starved to death or sent off to a gulag )

Ficheall

RobbingBandit wrote: »

Surprised the balloons set off to mark the celebration were not red, 99 Luftballons coming to mind.

The Luftballons only turned red when the song was translated into English. The original didn't specify which colour they were.

Alun

Ficheall wrote: »

The Luftballons only turned red when the song was translated into English. The original didn't specify which colour they were.

Yes, the word 'red' was only added to make it fit the tune somewhat when translated, although even then "nine" had to be sung as "nigh-ine".

The original was "Neunundneunzig Luftballons" which fits the tune perfectly.