Fall of the Berlin wall

The Fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 was a milestone in German and European history.

It was the pivotal event of the short period of German history, from 1989-1990, known in Germany as die Wende (the change), which began with the reform initiatives, protests and demonstrations organised by GDR citizens, leading to the collapse of the GDR regime and the transition to parliamentary democracy in the GDR – all of which made Unification possible.

‘We are the people’

The peaceful revolution of 1989 is rightly a source of immense pride and joy amongst Eastern Germans. It was the East German people who gathered in ever increasing numbers to force the Socialist Unity Party regime to its knees. The “Monday Demonstrations” remain triumphant in German memories and their slogan, “We Are The People”, will forever resonate as a declaration of defiance, dignity and democratic will.

The ten-point plan

Those who were there at the time also remember the uncertainty that prevailed at the time of the Fall of the Wall. The German Democratic Republic was a thing of the past, but what would the future hold? Only 18 days later, Chancellor Helmut Kohl presented his historic ten-point plan to the West German parliament, declaring his conviction that German unity would come. But few people at the time realised that the pace and momentum of events would lead to Unification less than a year later.

Germany twenty years on…

Twenty years later, unified Germany is a huge success. There are still differences in economic performance between parts of eastern and western Germany, and the process of social and cultural unification has been complex. But, when one considers the feat of absorbing East Germany, the scale of the achievement becomes clear. Twenty years later, a generation of young people born after the Fall of the Wall has come of age.

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