Berlin Wall

US President Barack Obama on Monday made a surprise video address to celebrations in Germany marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. "There could be no clearer rebuke of tyranny. There could be no stronger affirmation of freedom," Obama said of the fall of the concrete barrier that divided East and West Berlin for 28 years until November 9, 1989. In the message beamed into celebrations at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, once on the border between East and West Berlin, Obama told cheering crowds: "Even in the face of tyranny. People insisted that the world could change." "Even as we celebrate ... Read Full Story

With prayers, music and pomp, Germany on Monday remembered the 20th anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall fell, sending East Germans flooding west and setting in motion events that soon led to the country's reunification. Chancellor Angela Merkel — reunited Germany's first leader to grow up in the communist east — started the day with President Horst Koehler and other leaders at a prayer service at a former East Berlin church that was a rallying point for opposition activists in 1989. "We remember the tears of joy, the faces of delight, the liberation," Lutheran Bishop Wolfgang Huber told the congregation at the Gethsemane ... Read Full Story

BERLIN (Reuters) - World leaders past and present will join German crowds on Monday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall -- a stark symbol of the Cold War that divided a city and a continent. Recollections of November 9, 1989 dominated German newspaper headlines at the weekend, and television stations ran program after program of documentary footage, eyewitness accounts and discussion panels about the event that changed the face of Europe. "There has scarcely been an historical watershed so radical and so immediately visible as November 9, 1989," the Koelnische Rundschau daily wrote in an editorial. "Anyone standing ... Read Full Story

Bono of U2 perform during a concert in front of the Brandenburg Gate the on November 5, 2009 in Berlin, Germany. U2 performed a free concert in collaboration with MTV Europe to help the city celebrate 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. (Getty Images) more pics » Irish rockers U2 have warmed the German capital up for celebrations next week marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a spectacular mini-concert in the heart of the city. On Thursday, the band played six songs at the historic Brandenburg Gate, a landmark blocked off to West Berliners prior ... Read Full Story

By Allan Hall Last updated at 1:26 AM on 10th November 2009 Add to My Stories Exactly 20 years earlier, the world cheered the fall of the hated Berlin Wall that divided East from West in the Cold War. And the families torn in two across the city wept tears of relief as their loved ones crossed the barricade. Yesterday smiles replaced the tears as a joyful Berlin celebrated how November 9, 1989, changed the world. Fireworks illuminate the Brandenburg Gate after the domino display has been knocked to the ground People watch the fireworks display in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin ... Read Full Story