The Berlin wall which was erected in 1961 fell on November 9, 1989, 25 years ago. The reunification of Germany was completed in October 1990 and by that time the 155 Km long structure was totally removed. The Brandenburg Gate is still there and on Sunday, a huge number of Germans gathered there to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the historic event. Most of them, especially senior citizens of former East Germany, still remembered the hated structure which stood for the spirit of the Iron Curtain. Berlin remains bubbling with business and sparkling with life. Chancellor Angela Merkel announced recently that the economic migration from former East Germany had ended. She herself is from what used to be the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and its most outstanding politician. However, the bitter memory of the division remains and former East Germans who had a different experience from West Germans for 45 years have not forgotten it.
The Nobel Laureate German novelist, Gunter Grass is apprehensive that a unified Germany may ultimately prove unreal. That may be overly alarmist. But one did not realize in 1989 that the great divide would not be easily erased. The party of Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl is very much there. A new cold war is creeping in with Russia spreading its ambition from Ukraine to Finland across the Baltic states. As on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall, many elderly East Germans still nurse some resentment at their deprivation. Will the city lights of West Berlin and its glittering night life obscure the gloom of the eastern part?
