25 Years Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Border patrol guards had lost permission to shoot at will at border crossings in the spring of 1989.  This inspired East-Germans to abandon their apartments and risk everything to live elsewhere.  For better or worse, these people felt a need to leave the guided life available to them under Russian influence, and instead, wanted to be in charge of their own futures. 

25 years later, there are plenty of people who miss the security they had under communism.  The term for this is "Nostalgie,"  or nostalgia for the East (Ost).

Differences between the two styles of government are becoming even more clear now, with

• the border disputes between Russia and the Ukraine;
• attacks by radical islamic organizations against capitalist democracies;
• Edward Snowden finding shelter in Russia after his revelations;

25 years ago the threat of losing everything were clear.

Here is a 2 minute news clip, which follows the emotions on both sides of this historical event from the perspective of the Soebel family.  They were on a camping trip in Hungary 25 years ago, read about the offer to pass through a gap in the wall that afternoon on a flier posted to a tree in their campground, and took up the offer!  Guards did not fire upon the picnickers in Hungary, who on the afternoon of August 19, 1989, slipped through a momentarily-opened border with Austria.  Rather than just freeing a handful of citizens, hundreds slipped through that brief gap, setting the tone for what was soon to follow.

http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/beitrag/video/2220970/25-Jahre-Paneuropaeisc
hes-Picknick#/beitrag/video/2220970/25-Jahre-Paneuropaeisches-Picknick

BERLIN IN PHOTOS TODAY 

20 second video:  Berlin today:


Pilpop filmt Berlin (in Miniatur?)  "Little Big Berlin"


"I dedicate this film to Berlin where I have been living for 19 years now. While the architecture of Berlin is stunningly beautiful, only its inhabitants make Berlin the unique city that it is. In every corner there is something new to discover. And the best thing to do is to film it.
Filmed with my beloved Sony HC9. Edited with Sony Vegas Pro 9.The miniature effect is called tilt-shift, which originates from a particular lens that was used to photograph architecture. The miniature effect is a by-product of that. It can also be achieved by digital postprocessing.
Music: "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" by Franz Lisz "
-- Does life in Berlin seem that much different than our own?  Different in which ways?


All sorts of press infos regarding the Fall of the Berlin Wall can be found here: 
HIER GIBT ES ALLERLEI PRESSEMATERIAL ZUM MAUERFALL