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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall stories: 19 news summaries

 Sarko Lied About 
 Berlin Wall Memories 

Critics say French prez fudged dates on 1989 trip

Nov 10, 09 3:27 AM CST
(Newser) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy rushed to Berlin 20 years ago to begin chipping away at the Berlin Wall just hours before it fell, he recalls on his Facebook page. There's just one small problem: it never happened, say critics. The French media have been chipping away at Sarkozy's claim, uncovering... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Berlin • Nicolas Sarkozy • France • Facebook • Berlin Wall

SLIDESHOW


 Germany Celebrates 
 Fall of the Wall  

Twenty years later, unified country celebrates togetherness

Nov 9, 09 5:51 PM CST
(Newser) - Fireworks illuminated the rainy skies above Berlin as Germans and high-profile visitors came together today to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall exactly 20 years ago. President Obama unexpectedly joined the festivities—in a video greeting introduced by Hillary Clinton. "There could be no clearer rebuke of tyranny,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Hillary Clinton • communism • Angela Merkel • Berlin • East Germany • Berlin Wall • Communism • West Germany • Iron Curtain • President Obama

opinion

 Post-1989 Germany 
 an Unexpected Success 

Successes in Europe would boggle a 1989 mind: Applebaum

Nov 9, 09 12:42 PM CST
(Newser) - As “the exhaustive and perfectly blameless celebrations” of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall unfold, Anne Applebaum has a bone to pick. The festivities are “focusing on what didn’t happen rather than what did,” she writes, treating “the past two decades... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Angela Merkel • Eastern Europe • democracy • Soviet Union • East Germany • Berlin Wall • Communism • Central Europe

party like it's 1989

 Germany Hails 
 Anniversary of  
 Berlin Wall's Fall  

Dominoes, fireworks, music help mark 20 years

Nov 9, 09 8:54 AM CST
(Newser) - Hundreds of foam dominoes will fall today in Berlin, symbolizing the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has called Nov. 9, 1989, "the happiest day in recent German history," will lead the festivities.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Hillary Clinton • Angela Merkel • Germany • Eastern Europe • Berlin • Nicolas Sarkozy • Gordon Brown • East Germany • Berlin Wall • Communism • West Germany • Lech Walesa • Brandenburg Gate

 U2's Berlin Show Walled Off 

Ticketless fans will need to scale these city walls to peek

Nov 5, 09 7:06 AM CST
(Newser) - Outraged Berliners are complaining that building a new wall in the heart of their city is a less-than-ideal way of marking 20 years since the Berlin Wall came down. U2 will play a free concert in Berlin tonight as part of the weeklong anniversary celebrations, but organizer MTV has erected... More »

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Berlin • Bono • concert • Berlin Wall • rock bands • U2

(Newser) - Skipping the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall is a bad choice by President Obama, Rick Richman writes, for several reasons:
  • It’s a snub of a personal invitation from German Chancellor Angela Merkel—a key ally and one going all out for the festivities.
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Angela Merkel • Germany • US foreign policy • Cold War • Berlin Wall • President Obama

 Domino Wall 
 to Fall on Berlin 
 Anniversary 

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

Oct 15, 09 3:31 AM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Germany • Berlin • East Germany • Berlin Wall • Communism

 Thatcher Urged 
 Gorbachev to Block 
 German Reunification 

British leader warned Soviets that the change would endanger security

Sep 11, 09 2:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - Margaret Thatcher called on Mikhail Gorbachev to halt German reunification months before the Berlin Wall came down, newly unearthed Kremlin documents reveal. Thatcher—telling the Soviet leader he should disregard NATO pronouncements on the issue—said the breakdown of the Warsaw Pact wasn't in the interests of the West, the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Soviet Union • Mikhail Gorbachev • Margaret Thatcher • East Germany • Berlin Wall • Communism • West Germany • reunification

Hungary Fetes 1989 'Picnic' That Led to Fall of Berlin Wall

Provided escape from Communism for East Germans

Aug 19, 09 1:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - Hungary is celebrating the 20th anniversary today of its “Pan-European Picnic”: the day it opened its border with Austria, providing a pathway for hundreds of East Germans to exit Europe’s communist east. “The Soviet bloc was like an air balloon with over-pressure so it needed only a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
communism • Angela Merkel • Eastern Europe • Hungary • Western Europe • East Germany • Berlin Wall

(Newser) - After many years of indifference, Berliners have started getting serious about saving what's left of the most famous symbol of the Cold War, Der Spiegel reports. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, locals viewed it as merely an unfortunate reminder of  a bad past and little thought was given... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Germany • Berlin • Cold War • East Germany • Berlin Wall • West Germany • reunification

FASHION ROUNDUP

 Berlin Wall Becomes Couture 

Also, which bracelets are big this summer, and more

Jun 10, 09 2:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Berlin Wall has long drawn artists, and now the murals they’ve left on its surviving stretch has inspired something else, the AP reports: fashion. Daniel Rodan designed pieces like a green mini dress featuring East Germany’s Erich Honecker kissing Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev for his collection Mauerkleider... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • fashion • Berlin Wall • scents • fashion designer • aphrodisiacs • Jay-ZTV • designer fashion • Erich Honecker • Leonid Brezhnev

German Tempers Heat Up Over Cold War Tourist Traps

'Snackpoint Charlie,' actors in military uniforms labeled disrespectful to dead

May 20, 09 9:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Disneyfication of Cold War landmarks in Berlin has irked people with bad memories of East Germany, the Independent reports. Critics, including former Allied officers and those who suffered under oppressive rule, argue that the atmosphere around places like Checkpoint Charlie—where actors in military uniforms hustle tourists for coins... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Germany • Berlin • East Germany • Berlin Wall • Communism • West Germany • checkpoints

West 'Wasted 20 Years' After Berlin Wall Fell: Gorbachev

Former Soviet states should unite, he suggests

May 13, 09 3:24 PM CDT
(Newser) - Europe has squandered two decades of potential cooperation since the Berlin Wall fell, Mikhail Gorbachev says. At a Moscow event sponsored by his foundation, the former Soviet leader criticized Western leaders who viewed the 1989 event as their victory over Eastern Europe, rather than an opportunity for common good, Reuters... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Russia • Eastern Europe • European Union • Vladimir Putin • Soviet Union • Mikhail Gorbachev • Berlin Wall • United Russia • Dmitry Medvedev

opinion

Not Exactly JFK, But Obama Leaves Crowd Happy

His speech in Berlin is rather ordinary

Jul 24, 08 6:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - Make no mistake, Barack Obama gave a fine speech in Berlin today, writes Shane Danielsen in the Guardian. But any comparisons to JFK can stop right there. His speech hit all the right notes but shaded more toward the ordinary than the memorable. The mood of the mostly young crowd... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Germany • Berlin • Obama 2008 • Berlin Wall • Brandenburg Gate

 US Embassy Returns
 to Berlin's Heart 

But 'Fort Knox at the Brandenburg Gate' riles many in German capital

Jul 4, 08 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - With the July 4 backdrop, the US opened its new embassy in Berlin today, bringing to a close a project planned since reunification. The new facility stands near the historic Brandenburg Gate, the same location as its pre-World War II predecessor. But, the New York Times reports, the building has... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Germany • Berlin • George HW Bush • Berlin Wall • US Embassy • reunification • Brandenburg Gate

Reagan Was
a Berliner, Too, Son Reminds

Hurrying Wall's demise worth monument in city full of JFK iconography

Jul 2, 08 6:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ronald Reagan's son Michael is pushing Berlin to erect a monument to his dad. "He was able to bring together people who ultimately brought down the Berlin Wall," the right-wing talk-show host tells Der Spiegel during a trip to the German capital—home to numerous JFK tributes—to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Berlin • John F. Kennedy • Ronald Reagan • Berlin Wall • Michael Reagan

Leaders Press for Berlin Cold War Museum

Gorbachev backs effort to reacquaint tourists with conflict's history

Jun 18, 08 3:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Berlin would finally get a museum dedicated to the Cold War if a group of high-profile politicians get their way. Led by former Czech President Vaclav Havel, the group is urging Germany to build the structure at Checkpoint Charlie, the infamous crossing point that connected the city when it was... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Russia • Germany • Berlin • Mikhail Gorbachev • Cold War • Berlin Wall

How 1st-Year Students See the World

Annual list reveals mindset of this year's college freshmen

Aug 21, 07 8:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - Humvees are always a mere down payment away, and it's only natural to see stadiums named after big corporations. Your source of info on '60s icons is Oliver Stone movies and anything else you need to know comes right from "The Daily Show." Don't worry; you’re not... More »

MORE ABOUT:
travel • bottled water • Humvees • General Motors • Rush Limbaugh • list • Michael Moore • Pete Rose • Berlin Wall • Beloit College • mindset • Tom McBride • Nelson Mandela • Mindset List

Stasi Ordered to Shoot First

Defectors stood little chance at Berlin Wall

Aug 12, 07 3:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - During the Cold War, East German border police were ordered to shoot all attempted defectors, a newly discovered Stasi document confirms. “Do not hesitate with the use of a firearm, including when the border breakouts involve women and children, which the traitors have already frequently taken advantage of,”... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Germany • Cold War • East Germany • Berlin Wall • Stasi • GDR

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