Amid political crisis, Germany celebrates the fall of the Berlin Wall 35 years ago

Photo: John MacDougall Agence France-Presse An outdoor installation stretching 4km along the former route of the Wall features replicas of placards from the 1989 protests as well as thousands of others created by today's citizens on the theme of “freedom”.

Agence France-Presse in Berlin

Published on November 8

• Europe

Germany celebrates Saturday the fall of the Berlin Wall, which fell 35 years ago, in a popular jubilation that contrasts with the somber atmosphere of the moment, linked in particular to the serious government crisis that the country is going through.

However, the festivities taking place throughout the weekend will try not to lose sight of the symbolism of this historic event, which took place on 9 November 1989.

The slogan of the celebrations, “Preserve Freedom”, has a particular resonance at a time when democracy is in decline around the world and wars continue to rage, in Ukraine and Gaza.

In a video released on Friday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed that the values ​​of 1989 “cannot be taken for granted”: “A look at our history and the world around us shows this.”

To embody these ideals, an open-air installation stretching 4 km along the former route of the Wall is made up of replicas of placards from the 1989 demonstrations as well as thousands of others created by today’s citizens on the theme of “freedom”.

The installation passes in particular at the foot of the Reichstag building, the Brandenburg Gate and the famous Checkpoint Charlie, the main East-West crossing point for foreigners.

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These emblematic places were the scene on the evening of 9 November 1989, after weeks of demonstrations by East Germans, of “one of the most joyous moments in world history”, according to Minister of Culture Claudia Roth.

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Dissidents invited

The fall of the Wall, a symbol of the Cold War and the division between the Western and Soviet blocs, paved the way for the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the reunification of Germany a year later.

Head of State Frank-Walter Steinmeier is scheduled to speak at a ceremony at the Berlin Wall memorial on Saturday.

The “Wall of Shame” was erected in August 1961 over a length of 155 km around West Berlin in order to put an end to the growing exodus of inhabitants of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

At least 140 people died trying to cross it.

The German president is also expected to address current issues after the collapse of Olaf Scholz’s coalition plunged Germany into a period of uncertainty.

Activists from around the world have been invited to the celebrations, which run until Sunday, including exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad.

Russian protest punk band Pussy Riot will perform outside the former headquarters of the Stasi, East Germany’s feared secret police.

Persistent differences

“The focus on freedom is particularly important” at a time when we are faced with the rise of populism, disinformation and social division,” stressed Joe Chialo, head of culture at the Berlin regional government. »

Elections in three former GDR regions in September highlighted the persistent political divisions between eastern and western Germany.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won historically high polls, while a new far-left group made inroads.

Both parties oppose military aid to Ukraine to repel Russian invasion.

This weekend also marks the anniversary of “Kristallnacht,” a pogrom carried out by the Nazis on November 9 and 10. 1938.

At least 90 Jews were murdered, tens of thousands were deported to concentration camps, and 1,400 synagogues were burned in Germany and Austria, while Jewish-owned shops and businesses were destroyed.

“It is very important for our society […] to learn the right lessons from these events,” the German government has said at a time when Germany has been experiencing a surge in anti-Semitic acts since the events of October 7, 2023 — the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in the Gaza Strip.