Crisis-stricken Germany commemorates fall of Wall as 'happy day'

Germany is marking the fall of the Berlin Wall 35 years ago on Saturday with a “happy day” that contrasts with the current gloomy mood, linked to the government crisis in the country and the decline of democracies around the world.

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

It was “a happy day” that also reminds us that “freedom and democracy have never been self-evident,” declared Berlin's conservative mayor Kai Wegner at a ceremony also attended by Head of State Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The slogan of the festivities, “Preserve Freedom,” resonates particularly at a time when democracy is in decline around the world and wars continue to rage, in Ukraine and Gaza.

They also come as Olaf Scholz's coalition has fallen apart after the liberal finance minister was sacked on Wednesday evening, plunging Europe's largest economy into a period of uncertainty.

Former West Berliner Jutta Krüger, 75, certainly finds it “a shame” that the government is falling now.

“But we should still celebrate the fall of the wall. It was particularly important for Berliners, but also for those who lived in East Germany, to know that they could go out if they wanted, go where they wanted,” the pensioner told AFP.

– Ideals of 1989

Chancellor Olaf Scholz had also stressed on Friday that the values ​​of 1989 could not “be taken for granted.”

To embody these ideals, an outdoor installation stretching 4 km along the former route of the Wall features replicas of placards from the 1989 protests as well as thousands of others created by citizens.

A passerby takes a photo of replicas of placards used during protests in 1989, on November 8, 2024 in Berlin © AFP – John MACDOUGALL

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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.

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 have died trying to cross it.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (R) speaks alongside Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz on November 7, 2024 in Berlin © AFP – RALF HIRSCHBERGER

Activists from around the world have been invited to the celebrations 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 East Germany's feared secret police, the Stasi.

“We stand with those who are fighting today for their freedom and against enslavement!” declared Frank-Walter Steinmeier in his speech launching the festivities on Wednesday evening.

– Persistent differences –

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

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

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

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

At least 90 Jews were murdered, tens of thousands deported to concentration camps, and 1,400 synagogues were burned in Germany and Austria.

“It is very important for our society (…) to learn the right lessons from these events,” the German government recalled at a time when Germany has seen a resurgence of anti-Semitic acts since the events of October 7, 2023 – the unprecedented attack by Hamas against Israel – which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.

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