By Mark Schadenberg
The
Berlin Wall did not suddenly appear immediately following the end of
the Second World War. The Berlin Wall was built in the early 1960's
and separated the then-dissected cities of East and West Berlin for
28 years.
The
Wall came down 25 years ago today – certainly an important moment
in European history, and actually world history. The Wall – you
will remember – symbolized the differences between Communism and
the so-called free world. The Berlin Wall was the rock and stone and
mortar – a physical reminder representing The Cold War or The Iron
Curtain. The terms 'Checkpoint Charlie' and 'Brandenburg Gate' are
references to The Berlin Wall.
Many
dictatorship-like countries had an evolution in the 1980's, such as
the union movement and more freedoms in Poland.
The
saddest part about the existence of the Berlin Wall is the idea that
a sibling or perhaps your best friend lived less than a kilometre
away, but you were not permitted to visit. It truly was a time of
security and lack of trust that many today would find difficult to
believe. One report I read said the estimated number of people killed
trying to climb the wall or escape to East Berlin in a different
fashion was 138.
The
story of the wall getting knocked down is also about confusion as
East Germany (Oddly called the German Democratic Republic) in 1989
had announced it was relaxing some rules about repression and edicts
pertaining to movement (visiting or even emigrating) over borders,
and in fact East Germany still intended to have complete control over
issuing visas.
The
fall of The Berlin Wall occurred with a hole, but within months the
soon cracked and crumbled wall (More than 150 km) was almost
completely dismantled. You could say it was souvenir seekers that
chipped away at The Wall. The complete border shutdown, which had
began with barbed-wire fences, is no more.
I
watched a BBC news story that said to mark the 25th anniversary
of The Berlin Wall's demise, a long connected row of about 7,000
white balloons (Lichtgrenze 2014 or light border) has been raised as
an art form to depict and illuminate where the wall once stood. If
you were under the age of 10 in 1989, much of that 'history' has not
been remembered about a different time in Berlin.
The
TV show Busting The Berlin Wall is the name of an episode of the
CBC's The Passionate Eye which is to debut on the 25th
anniversary of the Wall's demise on Nov. 9. According to the overview
on the CBC website, the show uses CGI (computer-drawn images) to
illustrate many attempts of escaping East Berlin through tunnels or
hiding inside a vehicle, and even a hot air balloon crossing.
A
story in Time magazine notes that even the current German Chancellor
grew up on the other side of The Wall.
“I
think you never forget how you felt that day — at least I will
never forget it,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up
in the East Germany, in one of her podcasts. “I had to wait 35
years for that feeling of liberty. It changed my life.”
The
world is a small place – we know that. It was former Soviet Union
leader Mikhail Gorbachev, whose “glasnost” and “perestroika”
reforms which actually helped usher in the end of the Cold War and
the fall of the Wall.
All
events evolved quite quickly as by early October of 1990, the nation
of Germany reunification was complete.
LINKS & SOURCES:
Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative
Senior
Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
757
Dundas St, Woodstock
(519)
537-1553, cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
Facebook:
Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
Discussion
. . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination
No comments:
Post a Comment