Berlin aglow with music and fireworks as thousands gather to celebrate 35 years since fall of wall.

Record ID: 1855201

  • Title: Berlin aglow with music and fireworks as thousands gather to celebrate 35 years since fall of wall.
  • Date: 9th November 2024
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PEOPLE HOLDING UP PHONES AND LIGHTERS AT POTSDAMER PLATZ SAYING HELLO TO PEOPLE A BRANDENBURG GATE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET PAST LONG LINE OF ARTWORKS AND POSTERS THAT WERE PUT UP TO FOLLOW THE DEMARCATION OF THE WALL FOR THE FESTIVAL POSTER READING: Helmut (Helmut Kohl: former chancellor at time of reunification) PEACE DOVE POSTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) FESTIVITIES ATTENDEE, BRID SARUWATARI (from Ireland), SAYING: "Well it's just amazing, just to be able to walk along the four kilometres and to see all of the pictures and the paintings. It's just really fabulous and it's just very poignant as well, very emotional to be here. But it's very important to be able to remember what happened and remember the power of the people, right!" FRIEND OF SARUWATARI AGREEING AS FIREWORKS START GOING OFF VARIOUS OF FIREWORKS OVER BRANDENBURG GATE QUADRIGA LIT UP ON BRANDENBURG GATE PEOPLE WALKING BETWEEN BRANDENBURG GATE AND POTSDAMER PLATZ POSTER READING: (German): We are the people (the main slogan used by the peaceful protesters in 1989) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FESTIVITIES ATTENDEE, MONIKA CHMIEL (from Poland), SAYING: "It's very fine, it's very well. I am shocked (means in a good way) it was so perfect, it was a privilege to be here tonight. We are from Poland and we are pleased to be here as guests." (SOUNDBITE) (English) FESTIVITIES ATTENDEE, KULIK CHMIEL (from Poland), SAYING: "I was surprised by the words from your prime minister (German chancellor), he talked about community, the European community and I hope that this situation in Ukraine, we will help them to stay in freedom, to stay free." (SOUNDBITE) (German) FESTIVITIES ATTENDEE, MAIK CARSTENSEN, SAYING: "Typical Berlin, to the point, a good vibe, it was really great and was fun to be here. (reporter asks whether it was necessary to celebrate this big) yes definitely, especially in these times we are in. We cannot do enough for freedom we really have to stick together. The mood was fantastic, everyone was peaceful and having a good time, you see what it's all about in the end." (SOUNDBITE) (German) FESTIVITIES ATTENDEE, CLAUDIA CARSTENSEN, SAYING: "It was great: short and sweet and i really liked it."
  • Embargoed: 23rd November 2024 22:23
  • Keywords: Berlin Wall DDR Reunification fall of the Wall
  • Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • City: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Fundamental Rights/Civil Liberties,Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA002859609112024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: MUSIC RIGHTS NOT CLEARED BY REUTERS
    Berlin on Saturday (November 9) held an evening of music and light displays from Potsdamer Platz to Brandenburg Gate to commemorate 35 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall that divided East and West Germany.
    Under the motto: A festival for freedom, German politicians and the public marked the event in various locations across the German capital.
    With an emphasis on togetherness this year, the celebrations used music and art as a theme calling on people to unite.
    Thousands of people attended the concerts and various events to mark the day the wall fell with several saying, a peaceful festival celebrating peace, freedom and unity was needed more than ever.
    The toppling of the wall, which separated the Communist-ruled East from the capitalist West in Berlin for nearly three decades and became a potent symbol of the Cold War, was followed a year later by the reunification of Germany in 1990.
    The border fortifications around West Berlin had a total length of around 155 kilometres. Only a few remnants of the Wall remain. The best-known remnants on the tourist route are the painted sections of the East Side Gallery, the Wall memorial on Bernauer Strasse and the Checkpoint Charlie border crossing.
    (Oliver Barth, Oliver Denzer, Tanya Wood)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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