Rostropovich

Music, fireworks mark the night the wall came tumbling down

November 9, 1999
Web posted at: 3:16 p.m. EST (2016 GMT)

In this story: Fall of a symbol Dancing in the streets 'I'd put it back' RELATED STORIES, SITES

BERLIN (CNN) -- Renowned cellist Mstislav Rostropovich marked the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall the same way he marked the night Berliners pushed that most reviled symbol of the Cold War down -- he picked up his rosined bow and played.

Ten years ago, Rostropovich's concert was a spontaneous participation in an event that changed the world. Tuesday, the cellist appeared on stage with 160 other cellists and the Cold War leaders who marshaled the end of the communist era in Eastern Europe.

VIDEO Key dates in the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, from CNN's Chris Burns (November 9) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     RESOURCES Key dates in Berlin Wall's history Fall of the Berlin Wall gallery CNN Special: Cold War Destination: The Berlin Wall     AUDIO Hear cellist Mtislav Rostropovich play for the anniversary ceremonies 748 K/70 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     ALSO Germans now divided by 'the wall in the head' Ex-East Germans nostalgic for communism's simpler life     MESSAGE BOARD #27 Berlin wall falls #96 Berlin airlift

And again Tuesday, Berliners east and west gathered at the spot that once kept them apart. Tens of thousands of people gathered at the historic Brandenburg Gate despite a pouring rain.

Along the "no man's land" -- the barren strip that separated two parallel walls -- rock, folk and classical musicians performed on five stages on a night capped with fireworks.

Earlier, former U.S. President George Bush and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl joined former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev at the Reichstag, parliament's home since this summer when Germany's government returned from its Cold War exile in Bonn.

"The Berlin Wall was a mark of contradictions in the world, and it became a mark of radical changes in the world which touched the majority of humankind," said Gorbachev, whose reforms in the Soviet Union whetted the popular demand for change that forced East Germany to declare its borders open. "But the way towards abolishing it was long and painful."

Bush noted that it was the German people who pushed the Wall down, and praised his Cold War colleagues for their response to that historic event.

"The reason the Wall came down in Germany without a shot being fired ... was in large measure because the leaders knew one another ... (and) respected one another," he said.

A religious service launched the official celebrations, which included a ceremony at City Hall.

"For a few moments, Berlin was the center of the world," said Berlin Mayor Eberhard Diepgen, who later hosted a birthday party for nearly 80 children who were born on November 9, 1989.

A decade ago, Berliners took to the streets in a spontaneous explosion of disbelief and jubilation as they realized that the Wall that had divided their city had crashed to the ground literally and figuratively.

"These pictures of joy are something we should remember as a foundation for the future," Diepgen said, recalling images of Easterners flooding across the Wall, welcomed in the open arms of their Western neighbors after 28 years of forcible separation.

The celebrations Tuesday were more formal than those 10 years ago. But Berliners, who cherish their reputation for partying, hope to recapture some of the emotions of the night when a shared dream and the tools of ordinary citizens chipped away at the notorious Wall.

The event came to symbolize the fall of communist rule in Eastern Europe, the end of the Cold War. Since that night, which paved the way for German reunification 11 months later, many of the hopes of those on both sides of the old divide have faded amid high unemployment and unfulfilled expectations.

The anniversary of the fall of the Wall "stands for a realistic perspective on peace, democracy, prosperity and freedom in Europe" says Schroeder

Tuesday's celebrations were the crest of 10 days of events to commemorate the Wall's end, and organizers hoped hundreds of thousands of Berliners would be dancing in the streets in a partial restoration of the spirit of 1989.

Back then, it seemed the partying would never stop. As East Germans crossed the Wall checkpoints in their exhaust-spewing Trabant cars, well-wishers pounded on the roofs. West Germans threw money at easterners to help them buy goods that were unseen in the former German Democratic Republic.

"It was so beautiful, it was so different," one former East German resident told CNN, recalling that night. "One side was so completely different from the other."

The Communist leadership of the former German Democratic Republic built the Wall in 1961 in a bid to stem the drain of population to the capitalist west.

It was the very proximity of the two systems in one divided city that made the Berlin Wall such a potent metaphor for the entire Cold War. As one struggle came to be defined by the building of the Wall, so another was symbolized by its dramatic collapse.

In a speech Monday, U.S. President Bill Clinton called that night "one of history's most remarkable triumphs of human freedom."

But Germany is still wrestling with the legacy of that night, and the reunification that followed.

Ten years later, there is still a stark divide between the economies of the two old Germanies. Former East Germans, some of whom received bananas from well-wishers in wonderment as they crossed into West Berlin in 1989, still feel they have yet to enjoy the full fruits of a united Germany.

A poll published Monday found most eastern Germans -- 70 percent -- say the advantages of unification outweigh the negatives, especially because of improved living standards.

But only 45 percent viewed the new political system -- capitalist democracy -- as better than the old. Only 27 percent said they felt better in society and 67 percent said unification had worsened the next generation's chances.

"If I had it my way, I'd put it back," one former East Berliner told CNN.

The poll of 1,000 eastern Germans was published in the Berliner Zeitung newspaper. No margin of error was given.

Berlin Bureau Chief Chris Burns, Correspondent Christiane Amanpour, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.