Been watching this live on TV today. Big festivities going on with live music, politicians from all over the world, and hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world. Pretty neat actually. I really liked the thousands of "wall" domino's that they have been toppling all around the city. I wish I could have made it up to Berlin for this.
Leaders hail Wall fall, vow to topple new barriers
By Knut Engelmann Knut Engelmann – 3 mins ago
BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders hailed the human courage that toppled the Berlin Wall, saying the historic events of 20 years ago showed the world could tackle new challenges, from poverty to climate change.
Merkel and fellow leaders from Britain, France and Russia spoke to tens of thousands gathered at the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate the anniversary of the collapse of the Wall, which ended the Cold War and paved the way for German reunification.
"Together we brought down the Iron Curtain and I am convinced this can give us the strength for the 21st century," said Merkel, who grew up behind the Wall herself in communist East Germany.
"Our good fortune obliges us to take on the challenges of our time," she added, mentioning security, economic well-being and protection of the environment as key tasks confronting the world.
The spirit of celebration was dampened somewhat Monday by a steady downpour, which forced spectators gathered around the illuminated Brandenburg Gate to cover themselves with plastic rain coats and umbrellas.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the fall of the Wall was a liberation, but also a call to nations to "fight against repression, to fight against the walls that still exist in our world and which still divide cities, regions and nations."
His Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said the confrontation of the Cold War was in the past and urged the building of a "new, better world" and a common battle against economic crisis, crime, terrorism and poverty.
After the leaders spoke, they watched the symbolic toppling of a chain of giant brightly colored dominoes set up along a 1.5 km (0.9 mile) stretch where the Wall once stood and where Berliners from East and West celebrated on November 9, 1989.
DEADLY BARRIER
Backed by the Soviet Union, the East German government began erecting its "anti-fascist protection barrier" in the early hours of August 13, 1961, to end a mass flight of its citizens into capitalist West Berlin.
Initially a makeshift fence of barbed wire, it was gradually built up into an imposing 156-km (97-mile) barrier that encircled the three western sectors of the city and was patrolled by guards who were ordered to shoot anyone who tried to escape.
According to a study published this year, at least 136 people were killed at the Berlin Wall between 1961 and 1989 while trying to flee.
But not a single shot was fired when the Wall fell and the night turned into a giant city-wide party with easterners roaming the streets of West Berlin in disbelief and residents from both sides of the Wall embracing each other impulsively.
(Writing by Noah Barkin, editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Leaders hail Wall fall, vow to topple new barriers - Yahoo! News
Clinton praises Germany on Berlin Wall tour
By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee, Associated Press Writer – Mon Nov 9, 7:24 am ET
BERLIN – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton congratulated Germans on the 20-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall at a meeting Monday with Angela Merkel, Germany's first chancellor from the former communist East.
"I am delighted to be here in Berlin, the city that meant so much, not only to the German people, but to the European and the American people and the world," Clinton said at the Chancellory.
"I congratulate the chancellor, not only on the very well deserved occasion here, but on the work that she and her government are doing here. It is an honor to be representing the United States."
At the U.S. Embassy next to the Brandenburg Gate, Clinton told embassy staffers, "It is such a great personal privilege to be joined with the German people and people throughout Europe and the world to celebrate this occasion."
"Now, we have to turn our attention to the challenges of the 21st century," she said. "A wall, a physical wall, may have come down but there are other walls that exist that we have to overcome and we will be working together to accomplish that."
Later, Clinton walked through the historic gate to inspect one of a thousand giant Styrofoam dominos that have been set up along the route of the wall to be toppled in a giant chain later Monday, symbolizing the collapse of the East-West division.
Clinton met with students from a high school located in what was once East Berlin who created the domino with help from the U.S. Embassy. She looked on approvingly as the students explained the meaning of the painted design, a pile of packed luggage behind an old East German Trabant car heading out of darkness toward sunshine and a rainbow with a white dove overhead.
"It's a new beginning," one student told her.
"I think it's very clever, with the packed bags, the baggage ... very impressive," Clinton replied. "The light breaking through the dark."
The secretary, however, was able to admire only one side of the domino.
U.S. officials had discretely placed a sign declaring the embassy's sponsorship of the project in front of the domino's other side, which featured the ample, naked back side of a female "Angel of Hope."
Crowds gathered at the gate in the dreary weather clamored for a glimpse of Clinton who smiled and waved as she toured another dozen or so dominos set up along the route of the former wall.
Twenty years after the collapse of the wall that divided East and West Berlin, Clinton said Sunday at an earlier event, the hard work that went into ending the Cold War must be channeled to meet fresh challenges, including the fights against extremism and climate change.
As the Obama administration looks to often reluctant European allies to bolster their NATO forces in Afghanistan, Clinton said Monday's commemoration of Nov. 9, 1989, the night "when history pierced the concrete and concertina wire," must look forward and not back.
"Our history did not end the night the wall came down, it began anew," she told a group of U.S. and European dignitaries while accepting a Freedom Award on behalf of the American people from The Atlantic Council, a group that promotes trans-Atlantic ties.
Clinton praised U.S.-European collaboration on ending the world financial crisis as well as steps to cooperate on global warming. She also hailed NATO security operations, from Afghanistan to fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia.
But she said the spirit of the Berlin Wall's destruction — the symbolic end to the Cold War — had to be reinforced.
Clinton praises Germany on Berlin Wall tour - Yahoo! News
Leaders hail Wall fall, vow to topple new barriers
By Knut Engelmann Knut Engelmann – 3 mins ago
BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders hailed the human courage that toppled the Berlin Wall, saying the historic events of 20 years ago showed the world could tackle new challenges, from poverty to climate change.
Merkel and fellow leaders from Britain, France and Russia spoke to tens of thousands gathered at the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate the anniversary of the collapse of the Wall, which ended the Cold War and paved the way for German reunification.
"Together we brought down the Iron Curtain and I am convinced this can give us the strength for the 21st century," said Merkel, who grew up behind the Wall herself in communist East Germany.
"Our good fortune obliges us to take on the challenges of our time," she added, mentioning security, economic well-being and protection of the environment as key tasks confronting the world.
The spirit of celebration was dampened somewhat Monday by a steady downpour, which forced spectators gathered around the illuminated Brandenburg Gate to cover themselves with plastic rain coats and umbrellas.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the fall of the Wall was a liberation, but also a call to nations to "fight against repression, to fight against the walls that still exist in our world and which still divide cities, regions and nations."
His Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said the confrontation of the Cold War was in the past and urged the building of a "new, better world" and a common battle against economic crisis, crime, terrorism and poverty.
After the leaders spoke, they watched the symbolic toppling of a chain of giant brightly colored dominoes set up along a 1.5 km (0.9 mile) stretch where the Wall once stood and where Berliners from East and West celebrated on November 9, 1989.
DEADLY BARRIER
Backed by the Soviet Union, the East German government began erecting its "anti-fascist protection barrier" in the early hours of August 13, 1961, to end a mass flight of its citizens into capitalist West Berlin.
Initially a makeshift fence of barbed wire, it was gradually built up into an imposing 156-km (97-mile) barrier that encircled the three western sectors of the city and was patrolled by guards who were ordered to shoot anyone who tried to escape.
According to a study published this year, at least 136 people were killed at the Berlin Wall between 1961 and 1989 while trying to flee.
But not a single shot was fired when the Wall fell and the night turned into a giant city-wide party with easterners roaming the streets of West Berlin in disbelief and residents from both sides of the Wall embracing each other impulsively.
(Writing by Noah Barkin, editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Leaders hail Wall fall, vow to topple new barriers - Yahoo! News
Clinton praises Germany on Berlin Wall tour
By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee, Associated Press Writer – Mon Nov 9, 7:24 am ET
BERLIN – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton congratulated Germans on the 20-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall at a meeting Monday with Angela Merkel, Germany's first chancellor from the former communist East.
"I am delighted to be here in Berlin, the city that meant so much, not only to the German people, but to the European and the American people and the world," Clinton said at the Chancellory.
"I congratulate the chancellor, not only on the very well deserved occasion here, but on the work that she and her government are doing here. It is an honor to be representing the United States."
At the U.S. Embassy next to the Brandenburg Gate, Clinton told embassy staffers, "It is such a great personal privilege to be joined with the German people and people throughout Europe and the world to celebrate this occasion."
"Now, we have to turn our attention to the challenges of the 21st century," she said. "A wall, a physical wall, may have come down but there are other walls that exist that we have to overcome and we will be working together to accomplish that."
Later, Clinton walked through the historic gate to inspect one of a thousand giant Styrofoam dominos that have been set up along the route of the wall to be toppled in a giant chain later Monday, symbolizing the collapse of the East-West division.
Clinton met with students from a high school located in what was once East Berlin who created the domino with help from the U.S. Embassy. She looked on approvingly as the students explained the meaning of the painted design, a pile of packed luggage behind an old East German Trabant car heading out of darkness toward sunshine and a rainbow with a white dove overhead.
"It's a new beginning," one student told her.
"I think it's very clever, with the packed bags, the baggage ... very impressive," Clinton replied. "The light breaking through the dark."
The secretary, however, was able to admire only one side of the domino.
U.S. officials had discretely placed a sign declaring the embassy's sponsorship of the project in front of the domino's other side, which featured the ample, naked back side of a female "Angel of Hope."
Crowds gathered at the gate in the dreary weather clamored for a glimpse of Clinton who smiled and waved as she toured another dozen or so dominos set up along the route of the former wall.
Twenty years after the collapse of the wall that divided East and West Berlin, Clinton said Sunday at an earlier event, the hard work that went into ending the Cold War must be channeled to meet fresh challenges, including the fights against extremism and climate change.
As the Obama administration looks to often reluctant European allies to bolster their NATO forces in Afghanistan, Clinton said Monday's commemoration of Nov. 9, 1989, the night "when history pierced the concrete and concertina wire," must look forward and not back.
"Our history did not end the night the wall came down, it began anew," she told a group of U.S. and European dignitaries while accepting a Freedom Award on behalf of the American people from The Atlantic Council, a group that promotes trans-Atlantic ties.
Clinton praised U.S.-European collaboration on ending the world financial crisis as well as steps to cooperate on global warming. She also hailed NATO security operations, from Afghanistan to fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia.
But she said the spirit of the Berlin Wall's destruction — the symbolic end to the Cold War — had to be reinforced.
Clinton praises Germany on Berlin Wall tour - Yahoo! News
