Berlin Wall 30
30th Anniversary of the Wall's fall

The Berlin Wall falls in 1989. 30 years later, only a few parts of it remain, often used by graffiti sprayers and artists as a means of expression. Our Diaporama shows how the city is still marked by a kind of invisible wall.

There are segments of the Berlin Wall located all over the world: in English gardens, in the lobby of a hotel in Texas, along with countless sections in public parks, art galleries and private properties right across Europe.  Now, an original slab of the Wall is going on display in Sydney.

The border that once divided the two Germanys - the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic – has been transformed into the German Green Belt. The biotope provides a new home for flora and fauna while testifying to its conflict-laden history.

On 3 October 1990 the reunification of Germany brought four decades of division to an end. Since then Germany has changed, especially the former city of the Wall, Berlin. In images of today goethe.de recalls the story of yesterday.

This month marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. While celebrations a decade ago were muted, this time around the German capital plans on pulling out all the stops. But, it seems like not everyone has moved on from a separated Germany.   
 

Thirty years after German reunification, are there still differences between East and West? In an interview, former GDR civil-rights activist Freya Klier talks about the time just after the Berlin Wall fell, the new freedoms it brought and about whether Germans are now “one people”. 

Germany and the Germans brought unprecedented suffering to the world during the Nazi era. The way Germany dealt with its past is considered an example of a successful historical reappraisal. But does that really correspond to reality? How did the two German societies deal with National Socialism and the Holocaust after 1945?

The films of the GDR’s state film production company, DEFA, always bore the stigma of being permeated by propaganda. That, however, is only part of the truth. When it comes to feature and animation films, fairy tales and documentaries there is a valuable artistic film legacy to be found. The DEFA Foundation wants to make them more easily available digitally.