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Today, 25 years ago the Berlin Wall fell!
- Thread starter Bedameister
- Start date
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Phantast2k
Member
Heh, I only remember fragments from tv & people around me freaking out.
If you visit Berlin, you barely believe it was only 25 years ago. Looks completely different now.
I didn't do anything special today, but yay to us I guess and thanks Gorbachev for not being a cunt like Putin.
If you visit Berlin, you barely believe it was only 25 years ago. Looks completely different now.
I didn't do anything special today, but yay to us I guess and thanks Gorbachev for not being a cunt like Putin.
Berlin yesterday night. they put up enlighted balloons where the wall used to be.
That is so cool.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
Me, six, that night: "who the hell builds a wall through a city?"
so weird to see on the news.
so weird to see on the news.
FO-totality
Poet Centuriate
"Shaka, when the walls fell" - Mikhail Gorbachev
Bulbo Urethral Baggins
Banned
I was in Berlin a few months ago. Seeing the pieces of wall that are still there is even shocking. What a change in 25 years. How do Russians view Gorby?
I hear not very positive.
Hate to say it but that pic of the wall of light is fake. The orbs were much smaller
Bedameister
Member
As far as I know Gorby is not that popular in Russia.
EricTheCleric
Member
Putin has said it was the greatest tragedy of them all. Which is why he now is trying to rebuild/retake the old Soviet empire, now calling it Novorussia.
Actually it is Ukraine trying to build a new wall to make it more difficult for Russia to continue their salami invasion of Ukraine.
Bulbo Urethral Baggins
Banned
Germany is a great goddamn country.
SparksterMeta0
Member
I was 2 when this happened...
My brother was born a year later.
My brother was born a year later.
block tower
Member
my mom and dad were living in Germany during the time. they said the weeks leading up to the fall was crazy and tense and even when it fell shit got wild. very cool history tho.
so amazing. I went to Berlin just to see the wall 2 years ago, and watching all those documentaries just put so much perspective. Watching them release the balloons tonight, with the fireworks at the Brandenburg gate, with the crowd cheering, I wish I would be there.
Truly a victory for the Germany people and the human race.
Truly a victory for the Germany people and the human race.
sadceph2001
Member
Time flies when you're having capitalism.
MrCunningham
Member
I was 8 when it happened. I vaguely remember watching this on the news with my parents. .
Art Teitlebaum
Member
My memories of that night are somehow blurred, because I came home quite drunk after some birthday celebration boozefest and watched it quite tipsy on TV.
As a kid I always hoped for it happening some day and imagined it precisely like it happened in reality with lots of cheering people and tears of joy.
Get goosebumps every time I see the footage of the opening at Bornholmer Str.
As a kid I always hoped for it happening some day and imagined it precisely like it happened in reality with lots of cheering people and tears of joy.
Get goosebumps every time I see the footage of the opening at Bornholmer Str.
Lord Thrappleper The 49th
Member
I'm a believer of the relatively unpopular conspiracy theory that the Berlin Wall never truly went down, because Germany itself doesn't exist. It's been a government coverup for a 100 or so years as an excuse to send people to their deaths (World Wars allegedly) so that the people in power now had little to no opposition.
..... what?
Tertullian
Member
Sounds like he wanted to post in the Hunger Games thread but hit the wrong tab.
Liked the balloons all around the city (symbolizing the wall) . Sadly a lot of dorks damaged, removed or destroyed them. At least some got caught on smartphones.
well shit, they're onto us guys
I was just watching a documentary on Germany from 1945 to 1949 as the allies occupied and then ultimately decided the rebuilding but de-centralization of Germany into West and East.
It's such a forgotten time, but Germany looked like the end of days. You watch the video and it's cities are absolutely destroyed, their people were completely broken, starving, and almost look soul-less in these videos / pictures. Then you add on top the Allies mass pillage and rape of Germans, especially the Russians, during the early days of the occupation. It's estimated something like 100,000+ women were brutally raped. Allies pillaged or took advantage of the German people enough to account for 3x more than their salary (they have records of what they were paid vs what they sent back home).
The Russians were especially ruthless in all of this. Of course for the last 3-5 years previous to this, German soldiers were rolling through Russia committing the same acts.
And of course, none of this compares to what the Nazi's did to the Jewish people.
It was definitely the darkest decade of modern man.
It's such a forgotten time, but Germany looked like the end of days. You watch the video and it's cities are absolutely destroyed, their people were completely broken, starving, and almost look soul-less in these videos / pictures. Then you add on top the Allies mass pillage and rape of Germans, especially the Russians, during the early days of the occupation. It's estimated something like 100,000+ women were brutally raped. Allies pillaged or took advantage of the German people enough to account for 3x more than their salary (they have records of what they were paid vs what they sent back home).
The Russians were especially ruthless in all of this. Of course for the last 3-5 years previous to this, German soldiers were rolling through Russia committing the same acts.
And of course, none of this compares to what the Nazi's did to the Jewish people.
It was definitely the darkest decade of modern man.
Brerlappin
Member
I was 8 when it happened, so i remember watching it on TV, but just not getting the significance of it at the time. I was in Berlin a few years ago, and saw the remains of the wall and Checkpoint Charlie etc. Great city, also just got back from Munich after a 3 day holiday there this week. Germany fucking rocks. I absolutely love Munich, and i could live on Lowenbrau and brezel for the rest of my life. If i could, id move there in a heartbeat.
Baka Zeitgeist
pluck my tasty grapes
I was 13 and living in Wiesbaden at the time, to this date I have never seen so many happy people at any one time then when the wall came down, then again after the wall came down there was a lot more resentment towards the American Military and their dependents for still occupying the country.
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
I was 3 around that time but an avid TV viewer (watched everything I could, and it was a blast because it was during the start of the private channels in Spain and it was a crazy time), so i remember cleary watching the whole thing on TV and my mother trying to explain it.
kaiju
Member
Mashable has some fascinating photos of when the wall was just a wire fence. Seeing people running through the broken part of the wall and the faces of the people stuck behind really hits home.
http://mashable.com/2014/11/06/berlin-wall-fence/
http://mashable.com/2014/11/06/berlin-wall-fence/
Skellig Gra
Member
Hey if that cover up gets me Oktoberfest every year then I'm all for it. Prost!
Duane Cunningham
Member
I was 12 and didn't really understand, but I guess I knew something important was happening.
Wow, I was like 9 years old when the wall came down. Very vivid memories. I remember a classmate of mine had german grandparents and went back to Germany as the wall was coming down and picked up a chunk of history. Showed off the brick piece to everybody at school. Was cool with graffiti and stuff.
NekoFever
Member
Some of them were prosecuted, especially Stasi people. The surviving GDR leaders, Krenz and Honecker, were both tried. Krenz went to prison and is still alive. Honecker tried to flee to Russia and then South America, but they abandoned his trial because he had cancer and died soon after.
desertdroog
Member
I recently watched a Documentary on Netflix stremaing that was about East German skate boarders during the eighties:
This Ain't California - IMDB link
NSFW Youtube Link for the Trailer
The documentary is in subtitles and worth a watch to compare and contrast how the East Germans viewed skateboarding vs the West, interestingly enough, the actual skaters on both sides viewed each other as equals, much to the chagrin of the Stasi and GDR sports officials.
I also recommend this book:
The Wall : The Peoples Story - by Christopher Hilton
Christopher Hilton is an experieneed and wide-ranging journalist and author. He worked on the sports desks of the Sunday Express and Daily Express for many years. He first visited Berlin in 1970. and became fascinated by the divided city. Over the last decade he has gone back many times. conducted hundreds of interviews and made many friends there.
The book is written from interviews of the people, friends and family who were affected by the wall separating Berlin. Direct from the mouths of those who lived it, see what life was like when families were separated.
This Ain't California - IMDB link
NSFW Youtube Link for the Trailer
The documentary is in subtitles and worth a watch to compare and contrast how the East Germans viewed skateboarding vs the West, interestingly enough, the actual skaters on both sides viewed each other as equals, much to the chagrin of the Stasi and GDR sports officials.
I also recommend this book:
The Wall : The Peoples Story - by Christopher Hilton
Christopher Hilton is an experieneed and wide-ranging journalist and author. He worked on the sports desks of the Sunday Express and Daily Express for many years. He first visited Berlin in 1970. and became fascinated by the divided city. Over the last decade he has gone back many times. conducted hundreds of interviews and made many friends there.
The book is written from interviews of the people, friends and family who were affected by the wall separating Berlin. Direct from the mouths of those who lived it, see what life was like when families were separated.
I have a piece too! My dad (US Navy) gave it to me
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