On Saturday, Germany commemorates the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a series of events organized in the spirit of the motto “Defend Freedom!”. The central celebration was held with the participation of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and young people from several European countries, as well as representatives of movements and organizations defending rights and freedoms, e.g. from Iran, Belarus, Georgia, Hong Kong or Cuba. The Deutsche Welle radio station reported about it on Saturday, writes TASR.
Participants inserted roses into the slots between the wall panels
As part of one of the points of the program, the participants inserted roses into the slots between the panels from the preserved part of the Berlin Wall. A prayer service was also held in the Reconciliation Chapel, which is part of the Berlin Wall Memorial.
Along a four-kilometer section of the route along which the Berlin Wall ran, residents of the German capital erected a number of billboards and posters ahead of the celebrations. On Saturday evening, a Concert for Freedom with the participation of 700 musicians will take place in Berlin, which will be the culmination of the celebrations.
According to the DPA agency, in his address to the participants of one of the events, Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner reminded that November 9 is a fateful day for Germany in both a positive and negative sense. This date not only marks the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, but also the beginning of the Nazi-led wave of terror against the Jews in 1938, which became known as Kristallnacht.
In his speech, Wegner recalled that in 1989 “courageous citizens simply removed the wall with their pressure”. He also emphasized the value of freedom, saying that the people who demonstrated peacefully in 1989 should be held up as role models and expressed hope that the spirit of optimism and solidarity of 1989 would return.
In the presence of the German president, Wegner called on the Germans to stand up for freedom. “Freedom and democracy have never been taken for granted,” emphasized Wegner, pointing out that freedom is currently under attack from both external and internal forces.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose coalition collapsed this week, said in a message to the nation – published on Saturday night – that the ideals of freedom from 1989 “are not something we can take for granted”.
In his contribution, Scholz called for solidarity, especially in the context of the current global political situation.
“Our common history from the fall of 1989 shows us how we will achieve our goals: when we stand together, together for peace and freedom, for security and prosperity, the rule of law and democracy,” the chancellor said.
At the same time, he pointed out that neighboring countries in Central and Eastern Europe also contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall. “The victory of freedom in the fall of 1989 was a pan-European victory,” he declared.
The director of the Berlin Wall Foundation, Axel Klausmeier, also pointed out the special role of the Polish Solidarity movement in the development of movements defending rights and freedoms in Eastern and Central Europe.
The Berlin Wall began to be built on the night of August 12-13, 1961, measuring a total of 155 kilometers, with 45 kilometers of it crossing Berlin.
The wall was almost four meters high, and on the eastern side of the wall there was electric fencing, barbed wire and so-called the belt of death – an extremely guarded section with fortifications, watchtowers and mines. Over 100,000 people tried to get through to West Germany. According to the latest research, more than 300 people died trying to escape in the years 1961-89.
