It’s hard to believe that 20 years have passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall. For many of us, it seems impossible to imagine what it meant to live under the shadow of the wall. On November 9th, 1989, after weeks of civil unrest it was announced that all East Germans would be allowed to visit the West, and vice versa. The falling of the Berlin Wall was a defining moment in German history, and paved the way for the German unification that happened in March of 1990. Today, there are monuments all over the world commemorating the fall of the wall, including one right here in Portland, Maine which is actually made up of pieces of the Berlin wall.
One place you can visit next time you travel to Berlin is the Miesim Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, also known as the Berlin Wall Museum. This is a museum dedicated to showing the world what it was like to live in the shadow of the wall. There are documentaries and guest lecturers found daily from 9am to 11pm. It’s a chilling reminder that while most of the world has moved on, it’s important to not forget the lessons of the past.
I was running a small music club in Hannover , Germany at the time of the “fall”.
We had one band travel on that day from Berlin to Hannover to come and play in front of a live audience for the first time in the West just so they could play music of their choice which was mostly Beatles and Stones. Normally they would have been fined or imprisoned for playing this music behind the Wall
They arrived with all their gear in 2 “Trabi’s” got set up and had the time of their lives ( literally).
I would love to know where all the Trabi’s ( Trabants) went.
If any of your readers have a few guitars, amps and drum kit , I would still challenge them to get that equipment and five people into those old two stroke cars.
Maybe you have a pic of one ??
Seeing them arrive that night will remain strongly in my memory as a reminder of different dreams people had planned to fulfil in anticipation of a new freedom..
Neil
Wow, that’s a fantastic story. It must have been incredible to be right in the heart of what was going on.