At the Brandenburg Gate, 10 November 1989: A family gathering after the fall of the Wall [1/14]

OBJECT INFORMATION

Bild / Berlin / Bundestag sang Deutschlandlied / Geschafft! / Die Mauer / ist offen / Tausende rannten / an Grepos vorbei / Goldregen / 6 Tausender / Wussow / Ich heirate Yvonne / Neues Auto / und Bargeld

B.Z. / Bingo / Jeder [darf] 30 Ta[...]

Die Mauer ist / weg! Jeder darf ab sofort durch! / Deutschland weint vor Freude. / Die ersten sind schon da! / Wir reichen uns die Hände! / Berlin / ist wieder / Berlin! / Atala

"It was Friday and the day before had been my friend's birthday. We were going to celebrate it with our clique at a restaurant on Kurfürstenstraße. On the way there from the district of Lichtenrade, we took the U-Bahn from Alt-Mariendorf, and planned to change at Hallesches Tor in Kreuzberg. But that didn't work out because the masses of people inside the U-Bahn, on the stairs and platforms were so dense that everything came to a standstill. So we decided to walk. But even the streets were full of people who wanted to get to the Wall.

After our meal, we also set off towards Anhalter Bahnhof, Potsdamer Platz, and the Brandenburg Gate. The 'wallpeckers' were already hard at work, chipping chunks out of the Wall, sometimes merely by flashlight. People were helping each other onto the Wall, champagne corks were popping and sparklers sizzling. It was crazy!"

Monika Waack (West-Berlin)

Original Caption

"On 10 November we queued for ten hours to get an entry stamp. That day people let off so much steam that even doors got smashed. Owing to the great rush, food and drink was handed out to those waiting. But despite the long wait, it remains an unforgettable experience. This picture was taken on 11 November in Spandau at my mother-in-law's. She went to retire in the West in 1983. In the picture, you can see my sister-in-law and my little nephew (who had gone over to the West in 1986), my brother-in-law, my son, my husband and myself."

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