the fall of the Berlin Wall

There was growing dissatisfaction in the GDR in the 1980s. The economic situation was poor and consumer goods were in scarce supply. What is more, the great majority of GDR citizens were not allowed to travel to the West, not even to visit their relatives. At the same time, they would hear from their families on the other side of the border and see on television how well people in the West were faring.

Mikhail Gorbachev was appointed general secretary of the USSR on 11 March 1985. He initiated a policy of reform and granted the satellite states in the Eastern Block substantial autonomy. While this led to reforms in Poland and Hungary, the ruling SED party stuck to its course in the GDR. Many people fled to Austria via Hungary or to the German embassy in Prague. The first Monday demonstration was held in Leipzig on 4 September 1989. Every week, more and more people took part in demonstrations across the country. On 30 October, 300,000 people took to the streets in Leipzig alone.

SED General Secretary Erich Honecker stepped down on 18 October 1989. He was succeeded by Egon Krenz. When Czechoslovakia opened its borders to West Germany for GDR citizens, prompting another mass exodus, the SED was forced to act. It planned a new travel law in an attempt to calm the situation and reassure people.

The period of upheaval in Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall had a major impact on an entire generation of artists and cultural professionals. Division, unification, new beginnings and freedom appear as motifs in literature, music and painting. Such works address what had happened, critically engage with the process of reunification and keep memories alive.

“Freedom, thou shining spark of God!”

Two concerts were held at Christmas 1989 as a musical expression of the joy. Musicians from Munich, Dresden, London, Paris, New York and the then city of Leningrad performed the “Berlin Celebration Concerts” at the Philharmonie concert hall in West Berlin on 23 December 1989 and at the Schauspielhaus theatre in East Berlin on 25 December. Legendary US conductor Leonard Bernstein conducted the choir and the orchestra. And is if all of that were not symbolic enough: the global star at the conductor’s stand had Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” from Ludwig van Beethoven’s 9th symphony reworded. Instead of “Joy, thou shining spark of God” he had the choir sing “Freedom, thou shining spark of God”.

Art for freedom

In 1984, Kiddy Citny and fellow artist Thierry Noir painted parts of the Berlin Wall for the first time. “We wanted to surround East Berlin with art,” says Kiddy. Although they painted on the West side of the Wall, they were nonetheless on GDR state territory. The artist is one of the pioneers of the street art movement in Germany and became known internationally as the “Wall painter”. His colourful art symbolises peace, freedom and humanity. Kiddy Citny’s works can be seen today in museums and galleries around the world. Some of his Berlin Wall paintings feature in the East Side Gallery, which is the longest surviving stretch of the Wall in Berlin.