9 NOVEMBER 19989 THE BERLIN WALL COMES TUMBLING DOWN
After 28 years bisecting Germany's largest city, the Berlin Wall – a formidable physical embodiment of the Cold War division between capitalist west and communist east – finally falls. Hungary has recently opened its border with Austria, allowing thousands of ‘Ossies' to flood across to the west, while tens of thousands of protesters demanding political reforms gather in Leipzig, followed) proclaims the border open “immediately, without delay”. Thousands converge on the wall, forcing the guards to raise its barriers at 10.45pm – and crowds surge through, sparking rapturous scenes as East and West Berliners embrace in the streets.
