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Title: Germany marks 20 years since fall of Berlin Wall View count: 3782 Rating: 5.0 (4 ratings) Description: http://timesofearth.com/Worldnews/?NT=0&nid=13474 -US President Barack Obama on Monday made a surprise video address to celebrations in Germany marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. BERLIN, GERMANY - Thousands of people joined world leaders in the German capital Monday to remember the night 20 years ago when a euphoric wave of people power swept away the Berlin Wall and consigned the Cold War to history. It is a time to remember the past and celebrate the November day in 1989 that changed the future. Despite the rain, crowds gathered at the Bornholm Bridge, the first checkpoint in the Berlin Wall to open the night of November 9, 1989. The Wall stood for nearly three decades, dividing the city and Germany into East and West. But in the end, protests and peaceful revolutions, such as in Poland, and changes in Moscow brought it down. That led to the reunification of Germany and the end of the Cold War. In a gesture full of symbolism, Chancellor Angela Merkel crossed from one side to other, accompanied by VIP guests, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, former Polish labor leader and president Lech Walesa, and civil rights activists of 20 years ago. Mrs. Merkel said meeting here was especially significant. She said there is joy in the possibilities that opened up at this very bridge, noting it was the result of a long struggle against oppression. She thanked Lech Walesa and his Solidarity Labor movement in Poland and Mikhail Gorbachev, the reformist leader in Moscow. Both paved the way for what would happen in Germany in 1989. US President Barack Obama on Monday made a surprise video address to celebrations in Germany marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. "There could be no clearer rebuke of tyranny. There could be no stronger affirmation of freedom," Obama said of the fall of the concrete barrier that divided East and West Berlin for 28 years until November 9, 1989. In the message beamed into celebrations at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, once on the border between East and West Berlin, Obama told cheering crowds: "Even in the face of tyranny. People insisted that the world could change." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton represented the United States at Monday's ceremonies, which also included French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia and Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Sarkozy said the global community still needed to live up to the promise of that euphoric night. "The fall of the Berlin Wall is an appeal, an appeal to all to vanquish oppression, to knock down the walls that throughout the world still divide towns, territories, peoples," he said. Brown called the unity of Berlin, Germany and Europe "majestic" achievements. Medvedev also sounded a sour note, saying Russia had often felt on the back foot since the Wall fell, despite assurances at the time that NATO would not expand eastward, as it since has. At least 136 people who tried to cross it were killed. Following weeks of protests against the regime, East Germany's Stalinist authorities suddenly allowed people to travel to the West on November 9, 1989. After 28 years as prisoners in their own country, East Germans streamed to checkpoints and rushed past bewildered guards, many falling tearfully into the arms of West Germans on the other side. Eleven months later, East and West Germany unified. ------------------ Copyright 2009 THE TIMES OF EARTH (TOE). All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Tags: germany, celebrates, 20th, anniversary, of, the, collapse, berlin, wall, Author: timesofearth |
