TODAY'S NEWSPAPER
Subscribe | PostPoints

SEARCH:

| Search Archives

washingtonpost.com > Photo

Tearing Down the Wall in 1989

This November marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Washington Post Editor Marc Fisher, who served as The Post's Berlin correspondent in 1989, remembers the jubilation on the streets and reflects on the lasting legacy of the fall of the wall.

People celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall as the first chunk is removed during the reunification of East and West Germany in 1989.

Carol Guzy-Carol Guzy/Washington Post

West Berliners rejoice from atop the Berlin Wall as they look into East Berlin at residents moving toward the opening in the wall at Potsdamer Platz, Nov. 12, 1989.

Richard A. Lipski-Washington Post

In December 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, residents celebrate as the barbed wire fence of the Iron Curtain is dismantled around the small village of Devin, Czechoslovakia, during the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.

Carol Guzy-Carol Guzy/Washington Post

The barbed wire fence of the Iron Curtain -- a term used in a speech by Winston Churchill -- is dismantled around the small village of Devin, Czechoslovakia. The physical and social restrictions between the West and the Communist East began to break down after 1989.

Carol Guzy-Carol Guzy/Washington Post

A West Berliner is kneed in the back by an East German border guard while playfully sitting atop the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate, Nov. 15, 1989. The young man is given the choice of getting down or being forced down. Moments later he climbed down to the cheers of a sympathetic crowd of fellow West Berliners and tourists. People gathered each day at the Brandenburg Gate waiting for the opening at this historic site.

Richard A. Lipski-Washington Post

People celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall as the first chunk is removed during the reunification of East and West Germany in 1989.

Carol Guzy-Carol Guzy/Washington Post

West Berliners kiss in front of the Brandenburg Gate, with East German border guards standing atop of the Berlin Wall, Nov. 14, 1989. Although the Berlin Wall was open at different locations, the historic Brandenburg Gate had yet to open, and was the focus of daily gatherings.

Richard A. Lipski-Washington Post

East German workers remove the first sections of the Berlin Wall, Nov. 12, 1989, at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin.

Richard A. Lipski-Washington Post

Held back by fencing, young children in West Berlin try to sneak a peak into East Berlin at an opening in the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz, Nov. 12, 1989.

Richard A. Lipski-Washington Post

A child offers flowers to border guards after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Carol Guzy-Carol Guzy/Washington Post

East Berliners gather just inside West Berlin and reach for boxes of free food dropped down to them at Potsdamer Platz, the first opening in the Berlin Wall that allowed the free flow of Berliners to pass, Nov. 12, 1989.

Richard A. Lipski-Washington Post

People gather on the West Berlin side of the Berlin Wall to look at graffiti and peer through openings in the wall, Nov. 11, 1989.

Richard A. Lipski-Washington Post

Rows of barbed wire separating the East and West are taken down around the village of Devin, Czechoslovakia, December 1989.

Carol Guzy-Carol Guzy/Washington Post

An East German border guard looks to the West through an opening in the concrete Berlin Wall on Nov. 11, 1989. The next day, East Germans physically dismantled the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz, allowing East and West Germans to travel freely between the two Berlins.

Richard A. Lipski-Washington Post

People celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall as the first chunks of concrete are removed during the reunification of East and West Germany.

Carol Guzy-Carol Guzy/Washington Post

East Germans walk down the sidewalk in East Berlin toward the West side at the newly opened section in the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz, Nov. 12, 1989.

Richard A. Lipski-Washington Post

Young boys play joyously on an abandoned guard tower, giving the victory sign of freedom as the barbed wire fence is dismantled around Devin, Czechoslovakia.

Carol Guzy-Carol Guzy/Washington Post

A resident of Devin, Czechoslovakia, forms a heart with the barbed wire of the border fence.

Carol Guzy-Carol Guzy/Washington Post

East and West German border guards shake hands after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Carol Guzy-Carol Guzy/Washington Post

East Berliners gather in downtown West Berlin and sample free food upon their arrival, after walking through the newly opened Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz, Nov. 12, 1989.

Richard A. Lipski-Washington Post

People celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall during the reunification of East and West Germany in 1989.

Carol Guzy-Carol Guzy/Washington Post

A woman poses on a single slab of the former Berlin wall, placed on the wall's original path in Berlin's now thriving Potsdamer Platz, Oct. 20, 2009, as Germans celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall.

John Macdougall-AFP/Getty Images

People look at a preserved segment of the Berlin Wall at the Berlin Wall memorial site on Berlin's Bernauer Strasse, Oct. 25, 2009.

Fred Dufour-AFP/Getty Images

People light candles to form the words "Leipzig 89" during celebrations marking 20 years of a historic demonstration in the Eastern German city of Leipzig, Oct. 9, 2009. German President Horst Koehler paid tribute to 70,000 East German citizens who braved a feared crackdown by Communist security police and took to the streets of Leipzig on Oct. 9, 1989. The pro-democracy rallies in the city led directly to the breaching of the Berlin Wall a month later and German unification in October 1990.

Tobias Schwarz-REUTERS

On Nov. 14, 1989, a West Berliner uses a ladder and a hammer along the West side of the Berlin Wall to chip off a few souvenirs.

Richard A. Lipski-Washington Post

An East German girl makes her way from East Berlin to West Berlin on Nov. 12, 1989, at Potsdamer Platz.

Richard A. Lipski-Washington Post

Gallery Credits:
Producer, Photo Editor Megan Rossman Audio Reporters Liz Heron, Megan Rossman Audio Editor Francine Uenuma Text Editor Heather Farrell

Note: Please upgrade your Flash plug-in to view our enhanced content.

This Story In Germany, an ode to joy Article \| BERLIN -- For once, Germans celebrated a moment from their tumultuous past without a pang of guilt. Germany celebrates fall of Berlin Wall Share your memories Photo poll: Best image of the Wall Key facts about the Berlin Wall Germany marks 20 years since Berlin Wall's fall First Person: Rep. recalls Berlin Wall falling Tearing Down the Wall in 1989 Special report: The Berlin Wall This Story In unified Germany, split over the past Article \| EISENHUETTENSTADT, GERMANY -- In this fading factory town, built more than a half-century ago to honor Stalin, the former East German dictatorship still generates fond memories. Reflecting on the end of the Berlin Wall Special report: The Berlin Wall What's the most iconic image? Your take: Share your memories Tearing Down the Wall in 1989		TOOLBOX E-Mail This Save/Share + Digg Facebook Reddit Twitter myspace del.icio.us NewsTrust Stumble It! COMMENT 0 Comments Your browser's settings may be preventing you from commenting on and viewing comments about this item. See instructions for fixing the problem. Discussion Policy CLOSE Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post. Who's Blogging » Links to this gallery		Related Germany celebrates fall of Berlin Wall Photos \| Berliners celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall which for decades divided communism from democracy, east from west and families from each other.
» This Story:Read +\|Watch +\|Talk +\| Comments » This Story:Read +\|Watch +\| Comments

Jobs | Cars | Real Estate | Rentals | Classifieds

SEARCH:

Search Archives

The Washington Post Company: Information and Other Post Co. Websites

Help | Contact Us

This Story In Germany, an ode to joy Article \| BERLIN -- For once, Germans celebrated a moment from their tumultuous past without a pang of guilt. Germany celebrates fall of Berlin Wall Share your memories Photo poll: Best image of the Wall Key facts about the Berlin Wall Germany marks 20 years since Berlin Wall's fall First Person: Rep. recalls Berlin Wall falling Tearing Down the Wall in 1989 Special report: The Berlin Wall This Story In unified Germany, split over the past Article \| EISENHUETTENSTADT, GERMANY -- In this fading factory town, built more than a half-century ago to honor Stalin, the former East German dictatorship still generates fond memories. Reflecting on the end of the Berlin Wall Special report: The Berlin Wall What's the most iconic image? Your take: Share your memories Tearing Down the Wall in 1989		TOOLBOX E-Mail This Save/Share + Digg Facebook Reddit Twitter myspace del.icio.us NewsTrust Stumble It! COMMENT 0 Comments Your browser's settings may be preventing you from commenting on and viewing comments about this item. See instructions for fixing the problem. Discussion Policy CLOSE Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post. Who's Blogging » Links to this gallery		Related Germany celebrates fall of Berlin Wall Photos \| Berliners celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall which for decades divided communism from democracy, east from west and families from each other.
» This Story:Read +\|Watch +\|Talk +\| Comments » This Story:Read +\|Watch +\| Comments