On November the 9th, 1989, the Berlin Wall was finally breached, with travel restrictions removed, thousands of East Berliners poured across the border and into the West. Today marks the 20th anniversary of this historic moment which Berlin is celebrating.

Whilst I am old enough to remember this, growing up in the Republic of Ireland, the news had little affect on me, or at least that’s how I remember it. I’m not sure why. I do recall that I knew it was an important time in Europe, and I remember seeing it all on the news, but for some reason it’s not embedded in my brain that I really understood what it meant.

This is in stark contrast to my girlfriend, who is German, and the same age as me, who vividly remembers everything about it, especially since she, like many others, had family living in East Germany. Whilst this doesn’t surprise me, if something as monumental as this happened in Ireland when I was growing up I would certainly have remembered it (one could remark that the troubles in Northern Ireland could hardly not be called monumental – but I believe that this is different), the marked difference between her memories of the event and mine are startling. Whilst I now appreciate fully what a change it was and what it meant, how come I wasn’t aware of it at the time? I always was a watcher of the news, so that is no excuse.

I wonder how other people remember this event? Vividly or just in passing? All comments and opinions welcome.

Related posts:

1. Google.de – 20 Jahre Fall der Berliner Mauer