Berlin marks the fall of the wall
Night projection of contemporary news broadcasts from November 1989 in Alexanderplatz. The square was the scene of mass demonstrations against the East German government that year - leading to the eventual dissolution of the old communist regime.
November 9, 2019 marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The celebrations were upbeat enough - with a spectacular firework and laser light show illuminating the crowds around the Brandenburg Gate. But the optimism of 1989 had gone with the wind of change. Now there was a more reflective mood. The backdrop was one of rising political tensions across Europe, with the far right seemingly in the ascendant.
Even so, there was no shortage of commemorative events taking place throughout the city. Strangest were the nights in Alexanderplatz. Here, news footage of the 1989 demonstrations against the East German government was projected onto the grey facades of multi-storey shopping malls. Along with everyone else I stood and stared at those huge movie images of revolution as the square echoed to the ghostly speeches of a bygone era.
The next day, on the road by the East Side Gallery, I saw a convoy of Trabants - now as collectable as pieces of the Berlin wall - drive past cheering bystanders, horns honking, in a cloud of exhaust fumes. And at Checkpoint Charlie I emerged from the U-Bahn to be caught up in a crowd of banner waving students. They were promoting European unity in the face of rising nationalism. It seemed the events of 1989 had come full circle.
