The Fall of the Berlin Wall

On November 9, 28 years ago, the Government in East Germany declared the opening of the borders with the Federal Republic. To this announcement, tens of thousands of people in East Berlin descended on the streets armed with pick-axes, to demolish once and for all the wall dividing them from the West. The collapse of the wall was universally interpreted as the sign of a new era that had started.

The East Berliners were greeted with huge jubilation by their brothers and sisters in the West, so much so that bars and cafes offered free beer for everyone! Less than a year later, on 3 October 1990, Germany was reunited definitively, thus becoming the Federal Republic of Germany. Today, the few features of what remained of the Berlin Wall have become the symbol of a historic era and a memorial to the 170 people who were killed in their desperate attempt to cross the border.