Here are links for 23 October 2009 concerning that very important moment in German History (and world history), the fall of the Berlin Wall. The 20th anniversary of that momentous event is coming up on 09 November 2009.
If you missed them, consider reviewing other recent entries containing links regarding the anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. And don’t forget our special page dedicated wholly to Fall of the Berlin Wall Resources.
And now to today’s links:
- Today, the 23rd of October 2009, is itself an anniversary of some significance. In 1989, the 23rd of October fell on a Monday, which means the special and now famous Monday prayer service was taking place at the Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas’s Church) in Leipzig. As had already become tradition, a peaceful protest followed the prayer services. The Wall Street Journal Online reminds us that over 300,000 took part in those Leipzig demonstrations on 23 October 1989.
- At Guardian.co.uk, Will Buckley remembers the DDR-Oberliga, the top football (soccer) league in communist East Germany. His tagline: “When the Berlin Wall came down 20 years ago this month, it took with it one of the world’s weirder football leagues.” He describes the four types of teams in the league, starting with the first:
The Dynamos: Connected to the secret police. Every club with the Dynamo prefix (eg Berlin, Dresden) was directly answerable to the head of the Stasi, Erich Mielke, who had little difficulty jumping the “fit and proper person” hurdle.
It’s a fine article to remind us how utterly bizarre dictatorships sometimes are.
Today’s video is a bit humorous. It’s a segment from Intrepid Berkeley Explorer’s “Septemberfest” series. Watch those tourists hammer away at The Wall!
That’s it for this week. Come back next week for more links concerning the Fall of the Berlin Wall
