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Domino Wall to Fall on Berlin Anniversary

'Domino-Aktion' to mark 20 years since Berlin Wall toppled

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 15, 2009 3:31 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Twenty years after a domino effect of resistance toppled Communist regimes across Europe and brought down the Berlin Wall, the Germans are trying it again with actual dominoes. Volunteers have crafted almost 1,000 8-foot-tall Styrofoam dominoes and plan to assemble them along the path of the old Wall through the heart of the city, and then send them crashing down at dusk on the Nov. 9 anniversary.

"The day represents great change, for along with the fall of the Berlin Wall many other walls and barriers fell, not only here," the organizer of "Domino-Aktion" told the Wall Street Journal. Dominoes, many bearing messages of peace and hope, have been painted and sent to the organizers by schools and groups from across Germany and the world. The first one will be pushed over at the same hour East Germans began hammering on the wall in 1989.

A man paints a giant-sized domino made of styrofoam at an event to launch the 'Domino-Aktion' in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
A man paints a giant-sized domino made of styrofoam at an event to launch the 'Domino-Aktion' in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.   (Getty Images)
A refugee from the German Democratic Republic attempts to escape from the East German part of Berlin to West Berlin by climbing over the Berlin Wall in 1961.
A refugee from the German Democratic Republic attempts to escape from the East German part of Berlin to West Berlin by climbing over the Berlin Wall in 1961.   (AP Photo/File)
A boy touches the concrete plates of the east side of the former Berlin Wall at the wall memorial at Bernauer Street in Berlin.
A boy touches the concrete plates of the east side of the former Berlin Wall at the wall memorial at Bernauer Street in Berlin.   (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Berliners celebrate on top of the Berlin Wall in 1989 as East Germans flood through the dismantled Berlin Wall into West Berlin at Potsdamer Platz.
Berliners celebrate on top of the Berlin Wall in 1989 as East Germans flood through the dismantled Berlin Wall into West Berlin at Potsdamer Platz.   (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)
A model shows painted dominoes fallen in front of the Brandenburg Gate at an event to launch the 'Domino-Aktion.'
A model shows painted dominoes fallen in front of the Brandenburg Gate at an event to launch the 'Domino-Aktion.'   (Getty Images)
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Germany • Berlin • East Germany • Berlin Wall • Communism

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