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.
The 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 2024 attracted more than 500,000 visitors from at home and abroad. Over the course of two days, Berlin transformed into the backdrop of a diverse programme commemorating the historic events of 1989/90 while also paying tribute to that era’s new sense of boundless freedom.
The celebrations began on 8 November with the launch of a 4-kilometre open-air-installation stretching along the route of the former Berlin Wall. The installation displayed replicas of historical banners from the 1989/90 era alongside posters conveying present-day sayings and slogans contributed by thousands of Berliners. This and a series of exhibitions set up at seven locations along the route provided the crowds of visitors with historical information and insight into the calls for freedom and human rights issued by the people of the GDR during the Peaceful Revolution. In addition, the Axel Springer Freedom Foundation honoured the suppression of the Tiananmen democracy protests with the exhibition China is not far!
The highlight of the 35th anniversary celebrations was the Festival for Freedom held on five stages along the former route of the Wall. Together with the roughly 700 singers and musicians, the crowd transformed the city into the biggest rock ‘n’ roll stage in the world. By celebrating this year’s anniversary under the motto “Hold freedom up high”, Berlin once again set an example and sent out a message for freedom that made its way around the world.
Yet another unique feature of this year’s celebrations was a special 35th anniversary book, which visitors were invited to take home free of charge as a souvenir. The book contains essays and interviews spotlighting the Peaceful Revolution of 1989 as well as images of the posters designed by Berliners in the lead-up to this year’s anniversary.
The action day “Revolution! -and then what?” on the Campus of Democracy rounded off the celebrations to mark the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The all-day democracy festival concluded with an open-air concert by the band Pussy Riot.
Hold Freedom Up High!
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!
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.
