25 Years Fall of the Berlin Wall - an overview
25 Years Fall of the Berlin Wall - an overview
2014 is a historic year for Berlin. It marks the 25th anniversary of the most significant event in recent German history: the Fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. To remember the day many exhibitions and events will take place.
One of the main highlights will be happening on the weekend around 9th November: Along the former course of the Berlin Wall a new temporary Berlin Wall will be built with thousands of illuminated balloons.
Border of Lights
To the strains of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in the presence of guests of honour and eyewitnesses at the Brandenburg Gate and at six other locations, white balloons will be released into the skies on the night of 9 November to commemorate the peaceful revolution of 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago.
Gathering Spots
Berliners and visitors are invited to stroll along the course of the Wall to remember and visualise the extent of the former division. At the Bornholmer Straße (9.11 only), Mauerpark, Berlin Wall Memorial and Documentation Centre, Brandenburg Gate, Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie and East Side Gallery gathering spots, there will be information pavilions (open from 9.30am-10.00pm each day), guided tours, souvenirs, viewing platforms, catering and collages of historic images shown on giant screens.
On 8 November between 5 and 9 pm, chamber ensembles consisting of members of the European Union Youth Orchestra will be performing brief concerts at the Mauerpark, East Side Gallery and Checkpoint Charlie gathering spots. The chamber music programmes will include music from the past three centuries and reflect both the richness of European music history resist and the joy that erupted as German division came to an end 25 years ago.
There will also be guided tours along the lighting installation each day of the weekend.
Open-Air Exhibition
The open-air exhibition "100 Wall Stories" will consist of a hundred informational exhibits along the lighting installation providing background on topics such as: stories of a divided city before the Wall, the construction of the Wall in 1961, protests against the Wall, escape attempts, deaths at the Wall, border installations and inspections, everyday life in the divided city, stories of the peaceful revolution of 1989, the fall of the Wall, opening the border crossings and souvenir hunters
Philharmoniker with Sir Simon Rattle
The Berliner Philharmoniker will be presenting a special concert to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in the large hall of the Philharmonie on 9 November 2014.
Street Festival at the Brandenburg Gate
The Federal Government is planning a street festival around the Brandenburg Gate for 9 November, with Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle as well as singers Udo Lindenberg and Peter Gabriel pulling in the crowds.
Permanent Exhibition at the Berlin Wall Memorial, Bernauer Straße
On the morning of 9 November, after a memorial service at the adjacent Chapel of Reconciliation, the new permanent exhibition "1961|1989: The Berlin Wall" will be opened at the Berlin Wall Memorial and Documentation Centre.
All of West Berlin was Surrounded
The Wall did not just go through the heart of Berlin; indeed, it completely encircled all of West Berlin, often as fenced-in no-man's land. For the 28 years it stood, some 200 people died at the Wall. In memory of those who were killed, there will be a service held at 11.00 am on Sunday, 9 November 2014 on the former border strip newly opened as the Berliner Allee Wall Memorial (at the edge of the Schönwalde housing estate). Representatives from partner municipalities Muggensturm in Baden-Württemberg, Wagrowiec, Poland and Röderland, Brandenburg will also be present.
Another memorial along the former border will be dedicated at Groß Glienicker See/Gutspark Glienicke. The former border fence and a piece of the Wall were installed here this year as a memorial. At the 3.30 pm ceremony on 9 November 2014, the site will be opened to the public.
Not just Berlin
A quarter century after the peaceful revolution of 1989, four cities in the former East Germany (Berlin, Plauen, Dresden and Leipzig) will be holding joint commemorations of the events of autumn 1989 the weekend of 7–9 October. The Berlin commemoration will be held at the Gethesemanekirche.
Flyer 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Wall (weekend 7th of November to 9th of November)
25 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Find out more about Berlin's most thrilling breakthrough and its impacts on mauer.visitberlin.de/en
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