Marking fall of the wall

Democracy and freedom can never be taken for granted.

- ANDREAS PESCHKE

Thirty-five years ago, on 9 November 1989, the wall in Berlin came down. For almost three decades, it had split the German capital. It divided Germany and Europe during the Cold War.

The wall kept relatives from visiting each other. Friends could not meet. Over 100 people tragically died, shot by guards at border posts when they tried to cross. The wall was a big human disaster.

In Germany, everybody remembers the iconic words of solidarity by former US President John F. Kennedy: "Ich bin ein Berliner." I am a Berliner. Or President Reagan who, in 1987, famously called on the former Soviet leader: "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

With protest movements in Poland and other Eastern European countries, the first cracks appeared in the wall.

They became deeper when protests in former East Germany itself gained momentum. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Leipzig.

A million gathered in East Berlin. Their demands were clear: democracy, change, and freedom.