Berlin 20 Years Later

I watched with interest some of the activities from yesterday's 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall. C-SPAN had coverage of the event in Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate. I can't believe it's been 20 years since the fall of the wall. I remember vividly the event in 1989 when I was a Junior at dear old Woodward High. The wall coming down was of particular interest to my German teacher and our class at the time and I remember we discussed the historic event heavily.

I was lucky enough to travel to Germany a few months later on an exchange program. I had the opportunity to travel all over West Germany and travel through East Germany to West Berlin. The only significant time I spent in East Germany besides traveling was in East Berlin. The wall had come down but the countries were still not unified. Mostly what I remember of East Germany was that it was like going back in time 30 years when compared to that of the other half of the city, West Berlin. The wall had not yet been removed but it was a skeleton of it's former self from everyone that wanted to save a piece of history. I didn't take a piece of the wall as I had heard it had asbestos in it! Isn't that silly? One other cool thing I saw (besides the wall) that was still in use was Checkpoint Charlie.

This morning I scanned one of my favorite photos from Berlin during my trip (pictured below). I believe it's of me and an East German guard at the Berlin Wall, at least that's how I labeled the picture almost 20 years ago, though, I could be wrong and it could be a West German guard. Gotta love that late 80's/early 90's hairdo, rolled up shorts, braided belt and paisley shirt!