Germans Celebrate the Fall of the Berlin Wall with Lights and Balloons

The centerpiece of Berlin’s 3-day celebration marking the 25th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is an art installation called Lichtgrenze, where 8,000 balloons allowed people to visualize exactly how this ancient city was divided, sometimes in the middle of a street, by a massive, inscrutable and seemingly endless column of cement.

Lichtgrenze is the work of Berlin based artists and brothers Christopher and Marc Bauder.

Each balloon is sponsored by a patron, and includes a note of remembrance and reflection on the time when Berlin was two cities and East Germany was a walled-in prison.

On the night of November 9, 2014, hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets of Berlin waiting for the moment, where one by one, the balloons would be released, ending the installation in joyful celebration.

It may not have reached 1989 levels of ecstasy, but the freedom and unity spawned that night were enjoyed by the throngs who drank and sang and contemplated the Cold War times that generations of Germans accepted as reality, only to end suddenly, with a big party.

About 2 minutes. Produced by Anthony L. Fisher.

Music: "Amsterdam" by LASERS. Video courtesy of WHITEvoid.

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