It Was 20 Years Ago Today...

I would be most remiss if I did not note the anniversary of one of the more dramatic events in recent history (German or otherwise): On November 9, 1989 the Wall came down, and Germany was on the path to unification. It's impossible to ignore the local news coverage reminding us of this day/event, and obviously, the world press is mentioning this anniversary as well. Viewing this as an outsider, there still seems to be a gap between "Ossis" and "Wessis" (East and West Germans) one full generation later, but that is slowly fading. I'll leave the analysis and reporting to the experts, though it is interesting to note that the fall of the wall (or at least its initial opening) was due to miscommunication and a series of mistakes. All I can remember is that I was still in my senior year of college wondering where my life was going to take me, and Germany was just some place on the far side of the globe. For an excellent computer simulation and mini-documentary of the German wall, I heartily encourage you to check out this link for a 10-minute movie produced by the Deutsche Welle news network (this film is in English)-- the lengths the East Germans went to to prevent escape (14 cm spikes embedded in the ground?!?!) is pretty harrowing stuff. While "official" German unification was not completed until October 1990, its beginning was 20 years ago today.