Tens of thousands celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall 35 years ago with concerts and art installations

BERLIN – Tens of thousands of people celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall 35 years ago in the German capital on Saturday with open-air concerts, art installations and official events to commemorate one of the country’s most historic days on November 9, 1989.

It was “a lucky day for which we Germans are still grateful today,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

Built in 1961, the Berlin Wall stood on the front lines of the Cold War between the Americans and the Soviets for 28 years. It was built by communists to cut off East Germans from the perceived ideological contamination of the West and to stem the flow of people fleeing East Germany.

It had cut a 156.4 kilometer (97.2 mi) swath through the heart of Berlin and the surrounding countryside, and through the hearts of many of its inhabitants. However, when the border opened 35 years ago, it took less than a year until the country’s reunification on October 3, 1990.

Today, only a few parts of the wall remain, mostly as a tourist attraction.

For Saturday’s anniversary celebrations, event organizers created a temporary wall of 5,000 posters designed by children and adults under the motto “We uphold freedom,” which attracted a steady stream of visitors, including many foreign tourists. It stands along a four-kilometer stretch of the former wall in the center of Berlin.

The posters combine the demands of East German demonstrators against the communist authorities in the autumn of 1989, such as freedom of expression, freedom of the press and freedom to travel, with contemporary wishes and were created as part of workshops in schools, church parishes, local art groups and cultural projects.

“Uphold freedom, because without freedom everything else is nothing,” Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner said at an official anniversary event with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Berlin Wall Memorial.

“Freedom and democracy have never been taken for granted,” the mayor said, warning that both are currently under attack from many sides.

On Saturday evening, 700 professional and amateur musicians were expected to play songs in synchronization on various stages along the path of the former wall.

Among other things, they planned to perform Heroes” by David Bowie and “Freiheit”, or freedom, by German rock star Marius Müller-Westernhagen. The lyrics are shown on screens so that the audience can sing along.

Russian dissident band “Pussy Riot” is expected to perform on Sunday as the highlight and conclusion of the anniversary celebration.