Berlin [Germany], November 10: Berlin on Saturday marked the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, with thousands of visitors attending a "Freedom Festival" along the former route of the Wall and a series of events being held in the once-divided city.
The events of November 9, 1989, were the culmination of months of peaceful protest and led to the reunification of Germany in 1990. However, the date is also the anniversary of one of the country's darkest days: Kristallnacht, or the Night of the Broken Glass, saw a Nazi-led wave of terrorism against Jewish people in 1938.
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner said November 9 remains a fateful day for Germany - both in a positive and negative sense.
"Those were incredible moments, incredible hours and days," the mayor said, speaking of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Wegner said he hopes that the spirit of optimism and solidarity from the time will return and underlined the value of freedom, saying the people who peacefully protested in 1989 should be considered role models.
Speaking alongside German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Wegner called on Germans to preserve freedom, saying "without freedom, everything else is nothing." "Freedom and democracy have never been a matter of course," he added, arguing that both are currently under attack.
In a huge open-air installation to commemorate the 35th anniversary, 5,000 posters are being displayed in the city centre along the course of the Berlin Wall, which the former East Germany started to erect in 1961. The posters combine the demands of demonstrators in the autumn of 1989 with today's aspirations and were created in workshops in schools, church parishes, associations or cultural projects.
A concert is planned for the evening along the 4-kilometre route of the installation, with 700 professional and amateur musicians playing a "Soundtrack of Freedom" simultaneously on various stages. The soundtrack includes songs by the late David Bowie and the rock band Silly, which has its roots in the former East Germany.
Among further events on Sunday, the Russian opposition band Pussy Riot are to perform in the former headquarters of the East German secret police, the Stasi. On November 9, 1938, the Nazis launched nationwide attacks during which synagogues were burned, businesses owned by Jewish people were looted and destroyed, and Jews were abused, arrested and murdered.
Source: Qatar Tribune
