Wall Day

This is a very special year to be in Central and Eastern Europe. It is the 20th anniversary of most of the former Soviet controlled countries gaining their freedom after 50 years. We are witnessing constant celebrations and memorials to 1989.

We specifically chose this week to visit Berlin. Of course, it is the 20th anniversary since the Berlin Wall fell, and East Berlin was finally reunited with West Berlin. It has become the symbol of the entire collapse of the Soviet system, and communism in Eastern and Central Europe.

For the last week Berlin has been in high celebration, remembering their magical night when the wall fell (I well remember watching it on TV. Lisa and I were dating at the time).

The events culminated on Monday when the leaders of the world (and Hillary) joined each other in a ceremony with the Berliners. Nothing necessarily against Hilary, but every other important country in world, including Russia, sent their President. We sent a Cabinet member. Same thing occurred on the 70th anniversary commencement of the beginning of WWII back in September.

So, today was our day to show the kids the Wall. I called it “Wall Day”.

Ironically, very little of the Wall is left. In the exuberance to “tear down this wall,” they literally did. It was not until almost all sections were gone, did some question if they should not leave up parts as a reminder to future generations. So only a few small sections of decaying concrete remain. A few hundred feet here and a few hundred feet there.

We started at one of the most iconic spots for the wall- the Bandenburg (Tor) Gate. This famous 18th century landmark was actually on the East German side (and faced the east), and the wall ran right in front of it. Most young West Berliners had never actually seen the front of the Brandberg Gate before November 9th, 1989. It was on the back side of the gate (on the West side), where President Reagan gave his famous speech to “tear down this wall” in 1987.

On Monday evening, the leaders of the world (and Hillary) symbolically walked from the east side of the gate, then through it, and then stopped on the west side just past where the wall had stood. That walk would have been impossible 20 years before.

Today, all that is left of the wall is a foot wide path of bricks embedded in the street that show exactly where the wall once stood. Those ambitious enough can follow the bricks the entire 150Km of the length of the wall. We took a photo of our kids (near the Brandenburg gate) straddling either side of what was once the wall. The wall went though streets crossings, subway stations, and even in some cases buildings (they have a great picture of the East Germans blowing up a big, beautiful church as it stood in the way of where the wall needed to go).

Other than the bricks in the street, you really have a hard time knowing when you are in former East Berlin or West Berlin. Berlin has done a great job integrating the two former separate sectors. That said, as you travel further east, you can still see some of the former soviet influence in the remaining buildings.

One of our stops was at Check Point Charlie, a border crossing between East and West. Originally is was just the third of seven border crossing (the “C” in Charlie being the third letter of the alphabet). However it later gained fame as a place of conflicts; tank standoffs between Russia and the West as well as daring escapes. The guard house still stands and a nice man in an American Military uniform will happily take a picture with you for a Euro (per kid). We were fighting for capitalism, weren’t we?

We walked along the bricks and followed the Wall path for several blocks. We saw a small remaining section of the Wall (about 100 meters) that is still in tact. However, it is in such bad shape that they protect it with a fence and barbed wire (rather ironic if you think about it). You can see the Wall and its deterioration behind our kids.

Now this is it is very important for my kids to see the actual wall in place. As I mentioned, most is gone and the rest in deteriorating. I would imagine that they will be the last generation to see Wall, as nature shall soon take it (it is really just made from cheap concrete).

We then got on to an S-Bahn and took the train deep into the east side of the city. This is where the longest piece of the Wall still stands (about 3/4 of a mile). It is called the East Side Gallery. They have allowed artists from around the world to come and paint murals on this remaining long section. It is rather neat to see the wall put to this use. The murals are very well done and creative. We enjoyed our walk up and down this long section to see the art.

 

Back to the Bandenburg Gate where we started our day. This is my second time at the Gate since 2007. The same thing makes me smile every time I see it. On the former East side, just 75 yards from where the East German Communist Guard houses and the Berlin Wall stood, today stands a Starbucks! Lenin must be rolling over in his grave.