The city of Berlin had a wonderful celebration of the 25th anniversary of the coming down of the Berlin Wall which was in place from 1961 until November 9, 1989. They placed 8,000 balloon lanterns over 15 Km (9 miles) marking where the wall had once stood. This stretch was guarded, barbed wired and divided the city for nearly 3 decades. 138 people lost their lives as they tried to escape from East Berlin into West Berlin. The balloons were on poles that were 3.6 meters high to match the height of the wall. Beginning at 7:15 PM at the Brandenburg Gate on Sunday evening, the helium filled balloons were released one by one to float over the city as the Berlin State Orchestra played "Ode To Joy" from Beethoven's 9th Symphony.
A beautiful photo (taken by a professional photographer) of the Brandenburg Gate with the balloon lanterns in place.
A beautiful aeriel view of the balloons marking where the wall had been.
Balloon Lanterns showing the location of the wall near Potsdamer Platz.
This map shows how Berlin was divided and the line that the balloon route followed.
Hours before the designated release times, crowds gathered all along the route. We could only observe from a distance. There were tens of thousands of people throughout the city.
Excitement filled the air as the time to release the balloons got closer and closer.
To avoid the crowds, we went to our friend Susan's apartment and viewed the release of the balloons from her balcony.
One by one they were released to symbolize the breaching of the wall by the crowds of protesters 25 years ago.
What a wonderful and memorable time to be in Berlin and share in this celebration of freedom and hope!
That is so awesome that you got to be a part of the 25th anniversary celebration. What a great idea to mark the fence with balloons and release them all at once. I'm sure you had an awesome view from Susan's apartment.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy that you got to be a part of the celebration. Roger and I were there right after the wall came down (I can't believe that was 25 years ago!). You included some great pics - I like that you put a map to show where the division was. Those balloon lanterns look awesome!
ReplyDeleteI remember when you went to the wall right after it had fallen with your family. I love this celebration and I love that you got to be there for it.
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