Almost three years back, I visited the Berlin Wall (some parts of it remain as a picture gallery) and thought of sharing my experience with you all today. In 1989, when the Berlin wall fell, I remembered my dad saying "No more East-Germany and West-Germany, we will call it Germany from now onwards". I gathered more facts as I grew up and came to know about it through my history books. In 2011, when I visited Berlin with my husband, I did not only see the wall, but all the pictures in my history book came alive in front of me. Now the wall has been made a symbol of creativity by various artists from all over the world.
After the fall of the Berlin wall, artists from all over the world were invited to show their interpretation of the freedom and unity by painting murals on the wall which is now called the East Side Gallery.
"The Kiss" is one of the iconic pictures painted by Soviet artist Dmitri Vrubel on this wall. It had been inspired by a real photo. It depicts the emblematic act for the communists. This shows the socialist fraternal kiss between the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German President Erich Honnecker.
Time to revisit the pages of history.
As the Cold War took shape, a divided Berlin symbolized the tensions of a divided world. It was June 1948, the Soviet Union blockaded West Berlin, cutting off supplies and western access to the city. The United states responded with an airlift!
In August 1961, East Germany and Soviet Union erected a wall (155km long) of concrete and barbed wire to divide the city and prevent East Berliners from escaping to the West.
In November 1989, with the Soviet Union beginning to collapse and with its control over its allies waning, the Berlin Wall was finally opened.
Just as the Berlin blockade signaled the start of the Cold War, the tearing down of the wall and the reunification of Berlin and Germany marked the Cold War's end.
Time to come back to present.
Today, while Germany celebrates the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the speech of Angela Merkel - chancellor of Germany, who was raised in former East Germany, inspired many thoughts. She said "The fall of the Berlin Wall is a message of confidence and proof that dreams can come true. It offers hope to regions where freedom and human rights are threatened or even trampled on".
On that same note, I hope one day we all will find "Peace" as the only means to solve any conflict. During our visit, we wrote on the Berlin wall, what we think is the most important attribute of humanity!
