Today is the tenth anniversary of the reunification of Germany. For those of us who were children and teenagers during the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, without war or bloodshed, was truly a miracle.
Best wishes to the German people on this day of celebration.
ah yes, I remember that day… I was 11 years old. I remember watching the wall come down on Sky News. I was sitting there, just old enough to grasp what it meant. I rememberthinking that I’d have to remember where I was when it happened…
thanks for taking me on theat little time travelling expedition, Tater.
I remember when we heared it in the radio that morning… I was just getting ready for school and in a bad mood as always… cause I fucking have to get up at 6 AM… god bless school grrrr…
mom was in tears cause she was my age when the wall was built.
Of course everybody was happy.
But it also meant that my dodgy relatives from eastgermany would come for a visit and hang around for ages…
God bless German relatives as well… grrr again
Have you heard? The re-unified Germany has finally decided upon which city will be its capital!
Paris!
Stop reminiscing, Twisty, you’re making me feel like an old fart. In order to make others feel like old farts, I’ll point out that I was a senior in high school when the entire escapade occured, and I followed the events in the news with a mixture of fascination (“Everything’s going to be different than it was…”) and horror (“D’ya think that the Soviets might have a hard-line coup and start trying to re-claim Eastern Europe? Resulting in World War III?”).
anybody want to hear the story of how my granny fled from east berline when she was 18, leaving her family back?
When she was arrested in west-germany and spent a week in a locked room of a normal house, cause the jails were all filled with illegals?
And when she had the passport of an Austrian relative, who looked alike - was almost caught and finally came to Vienna?
Uhm… now I already told it…
I left out how she had to flee from the Czech republic in the first place but I guess I should rather write a book…
I am rambling… wahey… rambling is so “not typical” for me
I too am surprised by how long it has been. The impact: absorbing east germany cost the west a bundle-Chancellor Kohl originally said that the whole bill would be around $80 billion. By now, Germany has spent over $300 billion, the the east still looks the same. There are roads in the east that haven’t been repaired since 1945!
Plus, the legacy of communism continues-there are vast areas of the east that are contaminated beyond repair, and industrial plants that are so obsolete that they have been abandoned.
Shows how you can really screw up a basically good country with the wrong economic system.
I was ten. I remember that my parents were at a party that night with a bunch of other baby boomer types, and that the affair came to a dead stop when everyone heard the news. Mom later said that, even though everyone was happy, they were all feeling a sad kind of relief, because the cold war that had terrified them all as kids was over.
Anyway, mom and dad came home and told my little brother and I that the Berlin Wall had fallen. I had heard of the wall before, but I didn’t really know what it was. In fact, I don’t think that it had ever really occured to me that there had ever been anything but two Germanies. (I was a bright kid, but a little slow on the uptake sometimes… :))
If you ever get the chance, head to the Newseum in Arlington, VA. In addition to all the cool stuff inside, there’s a park next to the building where a large section of the Berlin Wall has been preserved. It’s a very powerful exhibit.
In any case, best wishes to our German dopers! I’ll make it a point to raise a stein in your honor.
They just recently put Checkpoint Charley back in it’s original space, as a memorial and musuem for the cold war. I’m going to make it a priority to see it before I leave Germany again. I remember going through as a kid…crossing into East Germany was scary! The guards had these incredibly stern faces and went through our documents with a fine-toothed comb. I was so afraid they’d find something wrong and detain us forever.
Driving through East Germany to Berlin was spooky. We were only allowed to travel this one stretch of Autobahn, no detours, into Berlin. Then once we got into West Berlin, suddenly it was freedom again. It was way more than my young mind to comprehend.
East Berlin was beautiful in parts, but mostly it had that grey, utilitarian feel to it. I remember getting a hole in one of my socks and running into a department store to buy a replacement pair. There was a line for socks a couple hours long…I gave up, but the others had no choice. Our father gave us about $20 worth of East German marks to buy souveniers, but I lost my taste for shopping when I saw how little the people had. Our minivan became somewhat of a tourist attraction in itself; people would gather around and just stare at it. We saw many trabis packed with four or even five adults. Can you imagine?
This is why today, I am celebrating for the German people. There is still so much to be done, but for those who saw it as it was before, there is much cause for joy.
My only sadness today comes in knowing that there is still one country, the country of my ancestors, that remains divided. Perhaps in a few years, we can celebrate the reunification of Korea…this is one of my fondest dreams.
When the Wall came down, I was a college student in Pittsburgh. The very day it happened, I had to work the late shift at a local burger bar. Since my roommates were asleep when I got home, I didn’t turn on the TV. I was tempted - anyone who had been following the news knew that big things were about to happen - but told myself that the news would keep until morning and, anyway, I was sleepy. So I found out the next morning.
My god.
I was raised in a German-American, Catholic family. I remember a school project where we were supposed to find out where our families came from. I asked my mother where her grandmother came from, and she said Germany. “East or West?” I asked. “Before it was divided,” was the answer. Confusion. Meanwhile my great-grandmother would tell me to pray for the poor children in East Germany. The division of the country of my ancestors was always there as a sad black stain on the background of my life. Suddenly it was gone.
Being college students, we partied. We danced on our couch with friends, drank the cheapest German beer we could find, and thought the future looked pretty damn exciting.
Naive, weren’t we? Or maybe just optimistic. We sure got a wake-up call on Christmas Day.
My husband and I married three days after Germany was formally reunited. My family thought this was a good omen. I’d just say we’ve all learned some lessons in ten years: unions of any kind are a lot of hard work. Worth it a thousand times over, but hard work.
I like Dennis Miller’s comments on the proposed merger between Daimler Chrysler and Mitsubishi:
“Y’know, it’s so good to see the Germans and Japanese working together again”
[hijack]
tatertot, where are you in Germany? I’m going to Waldstetten in February for work and am hoping to make it up to Fasching. I just missed out on going to Canstatter Wasn (stupid coworkers!) and I’m looking forward to it!
BTW- for the non Germans- the Wasn is a sorta kinda mini Oktoberfest except w/o all the stinking drunk Germans, Italians, New Zealanders, English, Irish, Americans, French, Australians, Austrians, Spanish, Canadians, etc. And it’s in Stuttgart.
Tchus, Mike
Mike, we live in Heidelberg. I missed both of the big fests this year, and the World’s fair expo, too. This is what happens when you have a five-year old.
I hope you make it up here for Fasching. This year will be the first year TinyTot gets to go to the parade. If you have time, come up to Heidelberg, and we’ll show you around!
Oh Heidelberg is nice!
Damn… I should go see Germany as long as I can…
but thinking of Faschin makes me sick… yuck… it must be nice for foreigners… but for the everyday German or Austrian it is just tooooooo looooong if you ask me…
Nobody d have the idea to celebrate Helloween for 3 months.