In Search of the Human Spirit

It’s hard to believe that 20 years have already passed since the Berlin Wall fell. I was a child of the ’60s who grew up with the cold war and the nuclear threat. It seemed the Berlin Wall would always stand as a physical and psychological barrier.

I remember this time very well. I had pen pals living in East Germany and West Germany at the time. I had one pen pal who lived in the East Germany side of Berlin. I remember how my friend would talk about taking trips to Poland but never to the other side of the city he lived in. How hard it must have been to live with a wall between family and friends.

And then a movement started. On November 9, 1999, the Berlin Wall was conquered by the people of Berlin. Millions of people were there to celebrate. They took sledgehammers to the wall and painted it with graffiti.

I imagine the emotions are pretty high in Berlin and in Germany today. They are once again a united country. Free of the boundaries forced upon them by the Cold War.

Berlin Wall Slideshow