35th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

8.-9. November 2024

35th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Thirty-five years ago, courageous individuals brought down the Berlin Wall and shortly thereafter the SED dictatorship. In the summer and autumn of 1989, a movement that started with a small number of people quickly became one involving thousands. These people protested peacefully, calling for democratic reforms and basic human rights in the GDR. But freedom and democracy should still not be taken for granted and need to be defended.

Every five years, the city of Berlin celebrates the anniversary of that historic night by organising a special, city-wide event: in 2009, it was the “dominoes” project; in 2014, the “border of lights” project; and in 2019, a project that involved huge projections at seven sites of the Peaceful Revolution. Each of these events called attention to the significance of 9 November 1989 and provided millions of people with information and insight. Today, the anniversary of the Peaceful Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall remains one of the most important annual commemorative events – for Berlin and the entire country. In 2024, the events marking the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Wall will no doubt attract a great deal of international attention to the capital.

These values, above all freedom and democracy, play a very special role in this year’s 35th anniversary. After all, the demands expressed by courageous people on banners and signs when the SED dictatorship was overthrown are increasingly relevant today.

In this spirit, the motto of the “35th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall” project will be: Hold Freedom Up High!

The demonstration and the final rally on Alexanderplatz were directed against violence and for constitutional rights, freedom of the press, freedom of opinion and freedom of assembly.
© picture alliance / Lehtikuva | Martti Kainulainen

Hold Freedom Up High!

From June to October, numerous partners invited the public to get involved in a variety of workshops, activities and discussions where they’ll be encouraged to reflect on the key values expressed in 1989/90 and their significance for our society today. The thoughts and ideas produced by these debates and encounters will be displayed on signs, posters and banners.

On and around 9 November 2024, these signs, posters and banners will form the basis of a unique, large-scale presentation along the path of the former Berlin Wall. Thirty-five years after the fall of the Wall, the presentation will draw on the words of thousands of people to symbolically overcome the dividing line that once made its way through Berlin. The presentation of the thousands of statements complements the historical exhibition, in which the history and significance of the Peaceful Revolution is told and categorized with the help of posters from 1989/90.

More information coming soon.

Funding and Partnerships

The 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Peaceful Revolution is being conceived and implemented by Kulturprojekte Berlin in cooperation with the Berlin Commissioner for the Investigation of the SED Dictatorship, the Berlin Wall Foundation, the Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft, the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Germany and many other partners.  
An initiative of the State of Berlin and the Governing Mayor, funded by the Berlin Commissioner for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship and the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, with partial project funding for the book publication from the Lotto Foundation Berlin. 

 

 

Kulturprojekte Berlin
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