From West Berlin to the three-goal librarian: a fall of the wall!

From West Berlin to the three-goal librarian: a fall of the wall!

Berlin, Deutschland - nag/nag editors -

The fall of the Berlin Wall - an event that changed the world and was a turning point in their life for many people in Berlin. For Andrea Lindow-Bahl, born in West Berlin in 1965, the wall was a constant companion of her childhood and youth. She knew no Berlin without the wall and lived a protected life in a city in which the word GDR was always put in quotation marks. Travel meant standing on the border for her and your family, be it in the car or on the train. However, this normality was turned upside down on November 9, 1989 when the wall fell and the world continued for a moment. berlin.de that Andrea the legendary this evening Schabowski press conference did not experience live, but learned about it very promptly and spent the night with her parents in front of the television.

While Andrea followed the events from West Berlin, a young student of the literary and cultural studies at the Humboldt University in East Berlin experienced the opening of the wall in a completely different way. She had longed for the opening of the wall, but never thought that she would actually happen. In her student booth in Friedrichshain without a phone and cell phone, she slept the first opening of the border crossings in the night from November 10th to November 10th. On the morning of November 10th she heard on the radio that the wall had been opened and closed again, which she panicked. Without breakfast she ran to the Berlin-Friedrichstrasse border crossing and finally took the step to the west. Deutschlandfunk Kultur reports that she found itself in a crowded S-Bahn car and received 5 DM from an older woman.

The first steps in a new world

For Andrea and many other West Berliners, the fall of the Berlin Wall was a surreal moment. The news from the east became more and more exciting, and the incredible abundance in subways, supermarkets and on the streets of West Berlin was unforgettable. In her library at the Kottbusser Tor, just 700 meters from the wall, she experienced the rush of East Berlin neighbors, who got library cards. The long snakes at the information counters and the daily recording of the new registrations were the madness of these days.

For the young student from Friedrichshain, the first visit to the west was an adventure full of surprises. The Kudamm was the only place she knew, and the sounds of the celebration of the unforgettable night accompanied them on their way. In an exchange rate near the Kranzler Café, she experienced capitalism up close when she received only a few Germans and two candies for her GDR mark.

A new chapter begins

The fall of the Berlin Wall was not only a political event, but also a personal turning point for many people. Andrea Lindow-Bahl sees herself as a three-goal librarian today, who would probably not have become what it is today without the fall of the Berlin Wall. The young student from Friedrichshain found a new friend from West Berlin in the exciting days after the fall of the Berlin Wall and explored the other half of the city with her. Together they experienced the invisible sights and the little miracles of everyday life in a city that reinforced.

For both women, the fall of the Berlin Wall was a moment that changed their lives forever. While Andrea experienced the changes in her library, the young student found a place in the Humboldt University to experience the exciting days and make new friendships. The fall of the Berlin Wall remains a reason to celebrate and a symbol of hope for a better future.