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Grades 4-6

10 Years After the Wall Fell

Fireworks lit up the sky and rock music filled the air as nearly 40,000 people gathered in Berlin, Germany, last week. They came to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.

From 1961 to 1989 the heavily guarded Berlin Wall divided the city of Berlin. The streets on one side of the wall belonged to West Germany, a democratic country where people were free. On other side was East Germany, a communist nation where the government had strong control over its citizens' lives. Germany was split into two countries after World War II.

When the wall fell, East Germans could travel to the West for the first time in 40 years. Berliners were so happy, many danced all night on the wall. "Freedom was literally cascading over the wall," remembers former U.S. President George Bush, who attended last week's celebration.

In 1990 East and West Germany reunited into one country, but the change has not been easy. Many former East Germans feel that people from the West look down on them. Last week Helmut Kohl, who led Germany in the early '90s, urged Germans to work together: "We should treat unity as a gift and a chance for the future."

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