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hfojvt

(37,573 posts)

65. "Mr. Gorbachev. tear down this wall!"

Mon Nov 11, 2013, 12:00 PM

Nov 2013

er, I mean, uhm.

Yeah, I was pretty shocked by the collapse of all those iron curtain countries. I did not think that would ever happen.

Yet at the same time, I am not all that impressed with Russian "democracy". Seems like they quickly got themselves a new Tsar. And I think the same is true of many of the former members of the USSR - Ukraine, Byelorussia, etc.

I even read things like "Hungary is no longer a democracy" http://www.newstatesman.com/austerity-and-its-discontents/2013/04/hungary-no-longer-democracy

Thank goodness the DDR had somewhere to go.

Too bad about poor Bonn though.

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24 years ago today---maybe it seems like no big deal now, but back then? The earth moved. [View all] DFW Nov 2013 OP

That must have been quite a moment. mgc1961 Nov 2013 #1

What a great post. I love posts where I learn something cali Nov 2013 #2

That is an awesome post. I remember that time and seeing what was going on from Colorado and could gtar100 Nov 2013 #3

Great post! rosesaylavee Nov 2013 #4

how cool! gopiscrap Nov 2013 #57

Great post KurtNYC Nov 2013 #5

Thank you for that account at history Martin Eden Nov 2013 #6

Thank you so much for the first hand account UtahLib Nov 2013 #7

We have to wade through so much bad news, here, on a daily basis, but... Ferretherder Nov 2013 #8

I was there shortly after they opened the wall AndrewRN Nov 2013 #9

Standing in lines DissidentVoice Nov 2013 #13

I remember that day well and how happy I wilsonbooks Nov 2013 #10

At that time George H. W. Bush managed to sell another enemy to the American people cpwm17 Nov 2013 #55

Quite well I remember it DissidentVoice Nov 2013 #11

The time before everyone sobered up was like floating on air DFW Nov 2013 #12

"Ostalgie" DissidentVoice Nov 2013 #14

Yes, we've heard this often enough. DFW Nov 2013 #18

Er nicht beklagen "Be�erwe�is?" DissidentVoice Nov 2013 #33

Nein, er bekl�gt keine Besserwessies DFW Nov 2013 #35

My friend has relatives who are elderly now, and who got stuck behind the wall. MADem Nov 2013 #41

As long as you don't hear "Arschloch" DissidentVoice Nov 2013 #52

Hee hee! nt MADem Nov 2013 #53

I took a bus tour of the wall when I was in the Army... Blanks Nov 2013 #15

Not to nitpick, but it was 24 years ago. truebluegreen Nov 2013 #16

You are so right DFW Nov 2013 #19

Yes, momentous in more ways than one. sulphurdunn Nov 2013 #17

Yep, from one extreme to another, mountain grammy Nov 2013 #20

Nice post, thank you. mountain grammy Nov 2013 #21

Imagine there is no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky libdem4life Nov 2013 #22

The Man Who Opened the Berlin Wall: trof Nov 2013 #23

Here's link to my OP back in April. Interesting story. trof Nov 2013 #24

Our own Berlin Wall is crumbling: the GOP. randome Nov 2013 #25

These events are like a dam that has stood for a century DFW Nov 2013 #26

Nicely put. randome Nov 2013 #30

That's right gopiscrap Nov 2013 #27

I remember the picture of the guard on the wall TrogL Nov 2013 #28

I remember in the 70s and there were border checkpoints with guards with machine guns.... Spitfire of ATJ Nov 2013 #29

I remember almost getting shot at a checkpoint in Lubec in 1967 PeoViejo Nov 2013 #31

I remember it well. Hissyspit Nov 2013 #32

The hotel probably had CNN, but we watched it on ARD DFW Nov 2013 #34

I remember staying up all night on CNN headline News Hissyspit Nov 2013 #36

We didn't get a lot of sleep that night either. DFW Nov 2013 #42

I was pregnant with my first child, then. OldEurope Nov 2013 #47

I remember, as a teen, watching the evening news as the wall went up. GreenStormCloud Nov 2013 #37

I was in Berlin when the wall fell. It was an amazing experience. n/t FourScore Nov 2013 #38

In Berlin, the air must have been like it was full of static electricity DFW Nov 2013 #62

Even from California, it was staggering. I was 13 when they built the Wall... Hekate Nov 2013 #39

Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Nov 2013 #40

K & R dipsydoodle Nov 2013 #43

Very few of us get to experience a "you were there" moment of history like that DFW Nov 2013 #44

Thanks for writing this. MadrasT Nov 2013 #45

I traveled to Leipzig a few weeks after reunification DFW Nov 2013 #64

DFW Diclotican Nov 2013 #46

To put a variation of Obama famous phrase DFW Nov 2013 #48

DFW Diclotican Nov 2013 #54

wonder what would happen if mexico pulled down "their side" of that fence? Sunlei Nov 2013 #49

Germany was a special kind of situation that history has rarely duplicated DFW Nov 2013 #50

very interesting story about the breakfast, so many people died in try to cross that border Sunlei Nov 2013 #51

The Cold War leanforward Nov 2013 #56

I arrived in Germany, my first duty station, 2 days after the Wall came down. Aristus Nov 2013 #58

I can't even begin to imagine what that was like RFKHumphreyObama Nov 2013 #59

When it happened I couldn't believe it. Javaman Nov 2013 #60

Remember the phrase "Peace dividend"? It was a comedy, of sorts. nt Romulox Nov 2013 #61

I was teaching college at the time, and Lydia Leftcoast Nov 2013 #63

Even in the western German leftist student press, the wall was blasted DFW Nov 2013 #66

"Mr. Gorbachev. tear down this wall!" hfojvt Nov 2013 #65

Bonn was always a sleepy, pretty college town on the Rhein. DFW Nov 2013 #67