BERLIN WALL

How Empires Fall

by Matt Wehmeier

"Decisive political moments are rarely expected, and even more rarely planned. Governments change all the time. But every once in a while, empires fall."

Jenny Erpenbeck Is Keeping Time

German author Jenny Erpenbeck's work is an exercise in preserving the objects that place a person's memory in history, particularly her own childhood in East Germany. 

The Rebuilt Berlin Palace Embodies the Tensions of the City's History and Future

by Barney White-Spunner

While Berliners have incorporated the city's notorious wall into museums and public art, restoring the site of the Berliner Schloss of the Hohenzollerns and then the Palast der Republic of the East German government has been much more contentious. The Humboldt Forum has been criticized, but its design and reception exemplify the tensions inherent in democracy.

A 200-Foot Section of the Berlin Wall Has Been Torn Down to Make Way for Condos, Leaving Historians Appalled

One of the largest remaining stretches of the inner wall was tucked quietly away in a suburb.

Amidst the Rubble: Hope Harrison on the 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

by Paige Morse

Historian Hope Harrison discusses how we should remember the Berlin Wall and why its history is so important.

The History Briefing on the 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

by Andrew Fletcher

The collaspe of the Berlin Wall had both historical as well as cultural significance, which we should remember on its anniversary.

The Battle Between NBC and CBS To Be the First To Film a Berlin Wall Tunnel Escape

by Mike Conway

In the summer of 1962, the two networks were at work on two separate, secret documentaries on tunnels being dug under the Berlin Wall.

‘The day the wall came down’: How The Post covered the Berlin Wall’s fall 30 years ago

by Robert McCartney

Thirty years ago, East German officials abruptly announced it would open its border, ending 28 years of separation between East and West Berlin. This story ran on the front page of The Washington Post the next morning.

Thirty years after the Berlin Wall fell, a power divide remains in Germany

by Elena Souris

Marginalized east-German perspectives could undermine democracy

The Spirit That Brought Down the Berlin Wall Lives On

by Robert Cohen

Bloodless revolutions from Armenia to Lebanon are about ending the fatalism corrupt rule engenders.

Historian Hope Harrison Interviewed for article on German Reunification in The Atlantic

The article, "What Would It Take to Unify Korea? Germany Offers Lessons, examines all that is still left to do to reunify Germany 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

Live through incredible Berlin Wall escape stories with YouTube's VR history project

The experimental film bridges the generational gap, transforming powerful archival photographs into immersive 360-degree virtual snapshots in time. 

'The Gates in the Wall Stand Open Wide.' What Happened the Day the Berlin Wall Fell

by Albinko Hasic

The story of the Berlin Wall is one of division and repression, but also of the yearning for freedom — and the events that led up to its toppling are no exception.

What the Dismantling of the Berlin Wall Means 30 Years Later

by James Carroll

As the 30th anniversary of the end of the Cold War approaches, it should be obvious that there’s been a refusal in the United States to reckon with a decades-long set of conflagrations in the Greater Middle East as the inevitable consequence of that first American invasion in 1990.

Germans Quietly Pass an Equinox of Unity, but the Walls Remain

Roughly one generation lived with the wall. Roughly one generation has now lived without it. But in many ways it is still a tale of two countries.

Amateur German historian finds likely stretch of Berlin Wall

An amateur historian says he's discovered a lengthy stretch of the original Berlin Wall in a wooded area of the German capital.

Found at Last: A Real-Life East German Stasi Officer Who Sabotaged His Own Deadly Operation

by Greg Mitchell

But so far there’s only one.

How the Great Escapes Under the Berlin Wall Came to an End

by Greg Mitchell

Tunnel escapes stopped abruptly 52 years ago because of one sensationalized and misconstrued event.

Colonel claims the Pershing II missile brought down the Berlin Wall

"The Berlin Wall fell because of the success of the Pershing II."

The man whose words brought down the Berlin Wall was far from a bumbling fool

The lead role in the drama went to Günter Schabowski, a high-ranking East German apparatchik who recently died at the age of 86 – and whose answers at the briefing have become the stuff of legend.