Standing at the Berlin Wall – 20 Years Later

On Monday as I biked to German class, the air was chilly and wet.  The day seemed like any other day.  Cars filled the streets.  Mothers walked their children to kindergarten.  Retired women shuffled home with fresh bread from the bakery before more rain came.  On the outside, Berlin felt like your typical blah-Monday.

Except on the inside, I think many of us felt invigorated.  We were living in a world city – a city that has overcome so much pain and separation.  And we knew in our hearts that This Was The Day.

On Monday, November 9, 2009, the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, this is what I saw:

berlin wall anniversary

Here is the Brandenburg Gate.  Built by the Prussians, it’s been hugely historic and symbolic for various political movements.  Do you recognize it?  The Gate was on the East side.  To the left is a giant, temporary screen broadcasting the Chancellor’s speech.  It’s only like 2:30 or 3:00 here.  It’s dark and rainy (it’s a typical German winter. sigh.).  I love listening to speeches in German.  The speaker has to talk so slowly… meaning I can understand.

Here’s the other side of the gate.  Around 7:00, Hilary Clinton will be speaking as the Secretary of State for the US along with the elected leaders of France, Great Britain, and Russia.  That’s when the crowds come.

berlin wall anniversary 20

But we’re here much earlier in the day so we can see this up close:

berlin domino wall

Children all around Germany decorated life-sized dominos like these.  No doubt you catch the symbolism behind a row of dominos knocking each other down across the city.

berlin 20th anniversary

We were hoping back and forth between East and West Berlin like it were any other city because today, it is one city.  I am touched every time I discover we’ve switched sides of the city.  The original wall no longer stands in this area.  A winding brick path marks it’s course (see it at our Berlin Tour on a sunny day).

The hardest thing to capture that day wasn’t the sights or the symbolism.  It wasn’t Hilary Clinton’s speech (in English) when we watched it live at home.  In fact, it wasn’t listening to the French president with German translations going at the same time.  No, the hardest thing to capture was the spirit of the day.  Germans aren’t like Americans – waving their national flag and flapping their arms or squealing and giggling when they’re happy.  Strangers don’t greet each other with smiles.  And I think that when Germans feel pain, they don’t burst into tears or start fanning their eyes like we might in the US.  Emotions are reserved here.

Most Americans struggle with this “lack” of emotion.  But I believe that Germans don’t lack at all.  I think that they’re very strong.  This country has gone through so much.  You don’t have to show emotion on the outside for you to feel it on the inside.  So on Monday, the rain set the mood.  It was dreary and cold.  I had to wear rain pants and blink raindrops off my eyelashes.  The rain also washed away a feeling of sadness; it brought growth and new life.

The best moment of the day was at the grocery store around 5:30 that night.  I was one of the only people there without a child under the age of five.  Mothers were teaching their children not to grab five yogurts.  Fathers were helping their sons wiggle out of wet coats.  It was just an ordinary day for all those kids.  For all those parents, the day-to-day tasks still had to be done.  This lifestyle of one united city and country and world – it wasn’t a dream.  It was another typical day in a reunified world.

(Images by Martin for Making This Home)

For a glimpse into what daily life is like in Berlin, enjoy our Berlin Life Tour or a Typical Sunday in Berlin.