On November 9, 1989, the wall which had divided Berlin since 1961 between its western, free western part and its eastern part, under Soviet obedience, collapsed. Weakened, the authorities of East Germany (Democratic Republic of Germany) authorize the passage, until then prohibited under penalty of death. Thousands, then tens of thousands of people flock, from both sides of the city, to finally cross the wall, reunite with loved ones from whom they have been separated for 28 years, and break a piece of this hated symbol. “A happy day”remembered the conservative mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner on Saturday.
A hope so deep
The fall of the wall, for the entire generation that knew it, is a symbol of profound hope. In the two years that followed, the entire Soviet empire collapsed, European peoples discovered themselves, a new Europe gained momentum, supported by the United States…
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But 35 years later, the celebrations, placed under the sign of “Preserving Freedom”, have a bitter taste. The election of Donald Trump augurs a return to frenzied American isolationism while the reign of Vladimir Putin in Russia has almost restored the Soviet regime in terms of freedoms. In Germany, pro-Russian parties and/or those close to the far-right are scoring points in local elections and the ruling coalition of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has just exploded…
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An installation, along the former route of the Wall, shows replicas of signs from the 1989 demonstrations. The leader of the Belarusian opposition in exile Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, the Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad and the Russian protest punk group Pussy Riot, were invited. But it’s not a celebration: the anniversary only highlights how much the path traveled since then has been disappointing. “We just have to look at history and the world around usGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared on Friday, to understand that the values of 1989 should not be taken for granted.”
Read also: NARRATIVE. August 13, 1961: the night Berlin was cut in two, told by Ouest-France
