[Monique]

Yesterday was a great anniversary the fall of the Berlin wall; funny how each group is trying to take advantage of the situation. The group who is responsible for the fall of the wall is the German who got tired of it. The soldiers were ready to fire but decided not to because they were too many. This is just it, people got tired of a bankrupt regime and now it is over; the same thing happens in all the other communist countries that are not capitalist. Reagan and the pope has nothing to do with it.

[Doofy]

Hoff brought down the wall!
YouTube - David Hasselhoff at Berlin Wall 1989

[Atheist]

I was fortunate enough to be in Berlin for New Years Eve in 1989. Those are memories I will cherish for the rest of my life. My partner and I were on an extended holiday traveling throughout western Europe and on a whim decided to fly to Berlin on 29th Dec. We had nowhere to stay and didn't know a single soul. It seems they had been announcing on TV and radio there would be more visitors than accommodations so they asked the locals to offer up any rooms they may have to rent. We put our names on a waiting list and were told that it would be many hours before we would hear anything. Luck was on our side as not 20 minutes later did we hear our names called.... they had found a couple that was specifically looking for non-smoking English speakers, preferably Americans. They were native Berliners (both doctors) about our parents age and were thrilled to share this monumental occasion with us. They treated us like family and I will never forget them.

On New Years Eve, we worked our way down to Brandenburg Gate, hopped on the wall with all the other revelers and celebrated till dawn. I still have a few chunks of the wall that I chipped off myself. On our flight back to Paris the pilot joked about the plane being too heavy from the weight of the pieces that everyone was taking with them. That was a once in a lifetime experience.

[Andy8]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

I was fortunate enough to be in Berlin for New Years Eve in 1989. Those are memories I will cherish for the rest of my life. My partner and I were on an extended holiday traveling throughout western Europe and on a whim decided to fly to Berlin on 29th Dec. We had nowhere to stay and didn't know a single soul. It seems they had been announcing on TV and radio there would be more visitors than accommodations so they asked the locals to offer up any rooms they may have to rent. We put our names on a waiting list and were told that it would be many hours before we would hear anything. Luck was on our side as not 20 minutes later did we hear our names called.... they had found a couple that was specifically looking for non-smoking English speakers, preferably Americans. They were native Berliners (both doctors) about our parents age and were thrilled to share this monumental occasion with us. They treated us like family and I will never forget them.

On New Years Eve, we worked our way down to Brandenburg Gate, hopped on the wall with all the other revelers and celebrated till dawn. I still have a few chunks of the wall that I chipped off myself. On our flight back to Paris the pilot joked about the plane being too heavy from the weight of the pieces that everyone was taking with them. That was a once in a lifetime experience.

Great story

Are you still in touch with the doctors?

[RobOnTheCape]

I decided I wanted to visit a communist country back in the winter of 89. By chance I decided on Czechoslovakia and got my visa. I arrived in Prague around 11/1, and only a few days later people were marching towards the main square. Tourists were being pulled off the streets and questioned by police. Next thing I new I was part of the protests. It was cold, and I was set on travelling to the Mediterranean for awhile. Watching the news, seeing people dancing on the wall, I wish I traveled west instead of south.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by Andy8 

Great story

Are you still in touch with the doctors?

Unfortunately I lost touch with them.

[Chongo]

Originally Posted by Monique 

Reagan and the pope has nothing to do with it.

You're right.(not!) It was Gorbachev's weakness in not ordering tanks in like Khrushchev did in Hungary. If he had put down the Solidarność movement and had Walesa assassinated, Poland would still be under his thumb.



Zhao Ziyang, now there's a dear leader who knows how to put down an uprising.
http://www.cnd.org/June4th/photos/mascr003.gif

[Captain Obvious]

Originally Posted by Monique 

the pope has nothing to do with it.

Wrong.
The Pope's support of the Solidarnosc Union in his native country of Poland was a key element as to why the heavily Catholic population got behind the movement. The union's ability to take root influenced anti-communist notions all over the Eastern Bloc and fed the wave of political victories which eventually led to the fall of communism.
Its a little simplified but given who I am talking to it should suffice.

[ironknee]

it was called glasnost and perestroika that started it

[Monique]

Originally Posted by Captain Obvious 

Wrong.
The Pope's support of the Solidarnosc Union in his native country of Poland was a key element as to why the heavily Catholic population got behind the movement. The union's ability to take root influenced anti-communist notions all over the Eastern Bloc and fed the wave of political victories which eventually led to the fall of communism.
Its a little simplified but given who I am talking to it should suffice.

Not in Germany, which was the Anniversary about. Each country in the Eastern block is responsible for its own freedom.