vanesssaives: 3.10.1990 - Tag der Deutschen Einheit (German Unity Day)On June 15th 1961 Walter Ulbri
vanesssaives:3.10.1990 - Tag der Deutschen Einheit (German Unity Day)On June 15th 1961 Walter Ulbricht the head of the SED told the media that there was no intention to build a wall. But only shortly after, on August 13th 1961, began the construction of a system that would become the Berlin Wall. This wall would stand for 28 years, two months and 28 days. In those 28 years there were 5075 escapes from the GDR to West Germany and a lot more that did not succeed. 138 people died trying to get over the wall. A lot of them shot trying to make a run for the West.The wall fell in the night of November 9th to the 10th 1989. This was made possible due to big groups of the population fleeing East Germany via countries like Hungary or Austria resulting in a mass movement to the West, as well as the so called Montagsdemonstrationen. The Monday demonstrations started on the 4th of September in Leipzig. With support of the Lutheran Church people asked for a peaceful and democratic revolution, an end to the surveillance through the Stasi and the freedom to travel. Soon this movement spread through the GDR and thousands of people gathered chanting Wir sind das Volk (We are the People) demanding their right to live in a democratic country and basic human rights for themselves. On the 9th of November the SED government wanted to give temporary travel rights to its citizens which led to an exodus of people from East Berlin to West Berlin and a gradual change in the GDR’s foreign policy. But the change didn’t stop there and step by step Germany was united again. Wir sind das Volk (We are the people) became Wir sind ein Volk (We are one). Historically this is seen as the end of an era. It is the most visible moment of change in the fall of the Iron Curtain and the beginning of a reunited Europe. Germany celebrates this unification on October 3rd as their national holiday. -- source link
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