Sunday 10th November marked the end of Berlin’s weeklong festival celebrating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the infamous wall. In one of the most influential events of the 20th century, the wall was torn down after widespread protests and demonstrations took place across East Germany in 1989, kick-starting the unification between the Communist East and Capitalist West.
This year was the first time the festival took place after the wall had been down longer than it was up, and the city transformed into a living museum. There was open-air exhibitions, poetry slams, concerts and naturally, 24-hour partying. Films detailing the accounts of the GDR years (German Democratic Republic) and praising the people that were involved in the movement that toppled it, were projected onto significant structures in the city, such as the East Side Gallery- an original section of the wall converted into an open-air art gallery. Meanwhile, at the Brandenburg Gate, an art instillation by American artist Patrick Shearn displayed 30 000 messages of peace and unity written by German residents on colourful paper. Beautifully floating above the Tiergarten, Berlin’s largest park that connects the East and West, the feeling of optimism is imbued upon the city. Although not everyone celebrated the anniversary; indeed many feel that the unification was not successful; for the majority of the city November 9th 1989 is a day of hope, joy and rekindled love. The festival was about remembering the victims of the GDR and honouring the people who never gave up the fight against the oppressive regime: until the wall separating families, friends and lovers was nothing more than rubble. Article originally published by Veridi News |
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