The fall of the Wall

Germany has been reunited since October 3, 1990. The peaceful revolution of the people in the GDR had brought down the Wall that had divided Germany into east and west.

Almost 30 years ago the #BerlinWall fell. Today, a week-long celebration of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall began. Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Federal President are expected on 9 November.

There are many differences between east and west – and also between north and south. Surprising insights: Germany, 30 years after the fall of the Wall.

Manfred Güllner, the well-known opinion researcher, explains how the “electoral successes” of the right-wing populist AfD should really be assessed.

Populists are also making their voices heard in Germany. How do they operate and what do they mean for democracy? A political scientist provides answers.

Berlin's division until the fall of the Wall in 1989 doubled many things — a real added value for Berlin visitors today.

The American philosopher Susan Neiman talks about Berlin before and after the fall of the Wall, and about the Einstein Forum she runs in Potsdam.

Born before 1989, the "Third Generation East" is trying to understand its families' lives under communist rule.

Taking stock: many things have normalised in the last 30 years, but differences still remain.

In 1989 the Wall fell, and in 1989 our author was born. She belongs to a generation that never experienced a divided Germany.

The writer María Cecilia Barbetta has found her second home in Germany. Here she tells how it happened.

A multimedia project depicts the escape of Christian Bürger from the GDR in 1989.

Smartphones, selfisticks, cameras: the #EastSideGallery on the #Spree is a tourist magnet. Almost 30 years ago, artists painted the east side of the wall and transformed it into a gallery. What do the visitors who only take selfies know about its history?

Crowds of tourists make daily pilgrimages to the painted wall in the capital. But what has the place for a history and who painted here?

Stephan Steinlein, State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office, speaks about his life before and after the fall of the Wall

Markus Meckel, who helped shape German unity, makes the case for a European culture of remembrance.

The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the beginning of a new era, but it was the Two plus Four Treaty that actually paved the way to German reunification.