Thanks for the links popsUlfr! I watched that video of all the giant dominoes falling and was surprised by how much emotion I felt. I mean, it's a pretty cheesy concept - if written down or described to someone; make many tall slabs, paint them with "art", and watch as they sequentially fall one against another to the end - and yet it was the screams and cheers of the Berliners as they watched the kinetics of that "art piece" unfold that drew me in to their shared zeitgeist and which finally touched my heart.
That was quite effective in portraying the chain reaction that happened 20 years ago. It also instills thought into when it comes to the numerous other walls in the world splitting nations and most importantly, people.
Twenty years ago - two decades back - there was no Internet. The Twin Towers still stood near Manhattan's southern tip. There was no Czech Republic. No Ali G. No iPods nor iPhones. The list goes on... there was no U.S. President Obama!
In fact, I'd guess that many of the folks that are registered on this very forum didn't even exist back then!
Yeah, well I didn't exist back then. I was lucky enough to be born only a couple of months after the event
Old stories are sustaining my curiousity. But not only that, you would be surprised how present this wall still is in the people's mind nowadays. Living in fear of being watched, every of their moves reported...
the Stasi comes to mind. As long as those traumatic experiences are still anchored in the population's head, the Wall continues to exist.
But there were twin tanks, U.S. and Soviet, facing turret to turret at the "
Checkpoint Charlie" crossing point between East and West Berlin!
Of course! Berlin was the battlefield of the cold war, the noman's land and turning point. It was where the whole crisis started. Where Allies and Soviet Union clashed together and one like the other wanted to claim the city for himself.
Resolving the question of Berlin would ultimately resolve and end the conflict.
Gorbi was also present to the celebration. He deserves a great share of credit in this happy "denouement".
EDIT:
This reminds of how a little error/misunderstanding caused finally the end of the wall.
Maybe you already know the story but it's about that legendary Press conference attended by SED Politburo member Guenther Schabowski.
It was the usual blah blah for 50 minutes until Guenther remembered there was something else concerning Travel Regulations that was "decided" the same day.
He wasn't present at the meeting, he just got a small handwritten message from one of the persons present. Note that it was basically only a couple of notes and the regulations have not been fleshed out yet.
An italian journalist asked what were the terms of these regulations. To that he responded no requirements(reasons) are needed and steady in/out travel are granted.
He didn't stress too much the fact you had to actually request approval to do so, something like that usually means months will pass until you get such approval.
Another Reporter asked the primordial question: "When does this become effective?"
Guenther responds: "To my mind... this becomes effective as of now. Immediatly."
No hesitation on part of the population there. On the second he said that a sheer mass of people walked towards the border checkpoints. The Policemen were totally confused, they didn't get any orders on how to handle the situation.
They tried to retain them but couldn't stand any longer in front of a crying woman, imploring them to let her pass.
The press conference was transmitted live and it seems every News flash had another version of the meeting. Guenther didn't know how much of an impact his answer had on the people. It was the next day he was informed the wall was no more
Still, it's a miracle the whole situation didn't degenerate and blood wasn't shed.
This story never fails to make me laugh.
