Lesli Marchese, Campus Carrier Deputy News Editor
In August of 1961, the Berlin Wall was erected to separate democratic West Germany from communist East Germany. For over 28 years, it acted as a physical and symbolic barrier that reminded the people of Germany about the estrangement they thought would never end.
However, on Nov. 9, 1989, an unexpected event marked Germany’s history—the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Christine Anton, associate professor of foreign language, was living in Germany at the time and attending her second year of university in Bavaria, Germany. Anton said that she and her fellow classmates would never have believed that the political barrier would fall between the East and West.
“I could not believe this was the end of the wall … I thought it had to be some fluke thing that happened,” Anton said. “I was sure things would go back to how they had been. Even after the unification (of Germany) I thought something would happen and things would go back to how they had been.”
Byron Daniels, co-lecturer at Berry’s 25th anniversary event, was stunned when he heard about the fall. He thought the wall would never come down.
“When I was 19, there was no end to the wall—ever,” Byron Daniels said. “It was astonishing.”
Matthew Stanard, associate professor of history, was 16 years old when the Berlin Wall fell. He remembers being “very surprised” by the event.
“I remember I clipped out news clippings,” Stanard said. “I was keeping a journal at the time and pasted these newspaper clippings into it the day after (the fall).”
 Photo courtesy Uwe Gerig of the Federal Archive Foundation (www.berlin.de/2013) |
| (Above) Soldiers guard the Brandenburg Gate two days after the fall of the Berlin Wall. German citizens gather at the gate to attempt passage from East Berlin to West Berlin and to celebrate the fall of the wall. (Below) Spectators capture photos of graffiti art on the Berlin Wall. This picture depicts |
 Photo courtesy of Hamish Appleby of the Kulturprojekte Berlin (www.berlin.de/2013) |
Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the socioeconomic differences between East and West Germany were substantial. Many people described West Germany as full of life, whereas East Germany was often labeled as being stuck in a post World War II era.
“It looked like time stood still after World War II,” Anton said. “I remember … there were no colors, it was all grey and brown and old and rundown … it looked awful.”
Anton also recalls the stark difference between the people of the East and West.
“You could tell by their clothes,” Anton said. “East Germans looked like they were from 20 years before, it looked like a time warp. They looked poor and disheveled.”
Annette Daniels and her husband, Byron Daniels, travelled to East Berlin shortly after the fall.
“This was one incredible opportunity that had to be seized or it would be lost forever,” Byron Daniels said.
Upon their arrival in East Berlin, dark and empty streets greeted the Daniels.
“It was very gray and dark,” Annette Daniels, lecturer of foreign languages, said. “In the evening there were very few street lights, and everything looked deserted.”
Byron Daniels recalls a man who gave them a tour of East Berlin.
“These people had such a thirst to open up and tell people they weren’t all bad,” Byron Daniels said.
However, in West Berlin, there was a massive celebration that lasted for several days after the fall. People were fleeing East Germany in droves, and they immediately started enjoying all of the amenities that their democratic neighbors extended.
“After the fall … you would see people walking through the streets with these big shopping bags filled with bananas,” Anton said. “Bananas were something they had heard about but never seen.”
Byron Daniels remembers seeing West Berlin from the East.
“West Berlin was like a spotlight in the middle of inky blackness,” Byron Daniels said. “The people of Germany were experiencing a complete euphoria.”
This historical phenomenon is still recognized and celebrated today.
On Nov. 9, 2014, the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall took place. Massive celebrations occurred in Germany, specifically Berlin, where the Mauerfall 2014 took place. Hundreds of thousands of Germans gathered at the Brandenburg gate to remember the fall of the wall.
Events to commemorate this historic event were also held around the world, including here at Berry.
On Tuesday, Nov. 11, a lecture on the Fall of the Berlin wall took place, where Byron Daniels and Stanard spoke. Students received a brief history lesson about the Berlin Wall and the political atmosphere in Germany at the time. The presenters also talked about how different the atmosphere is in Germany today.
“When I went to East Berlin in 1995, things were happening and new things were being built,” Stanard said. “The atmosphere was just very different.”
Annette Daniels recalls recently speaking to a student in Germany who was born after the fall of the wall. The student had told Daniels that the people from the East and West no longer felt a strong distinction. For their generation, people from the East and West were just Germans.
The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for a unified Germany, and the leftover pieces of the wall in Berlin are a constant reminder to German citizens and people from around the world that Germany is united.
“To see the wall in pieces—it was great,” Byron Daniels said. “Germany was on its way to becoming a cohesive whole.”