The Berlin Wall

Although I was very young at the time, one of my earliest political memories is of the existence of east/ west tensions. I remember hearing about potential missile launches and other remnants of the cold war in the years before the Soviet Union Collapsed. However, I was too young to remember the falling of the Berlin wall. This event, in many people’s minds, is the symbol for the collapse of communism in Europe.

I visited Berlin twice in 2007, and both times made special trips to see the wall and the popular Checkpoint Charlie museum.

Oh-Berlin, you are such a great city to see the contrast between east and west. The city itself was divided right down the middle. Often separating people from their work, or from their families and loved ones. It is one of the best places in the world to really see the effect that the sudden switch to a communist government had on the people who lived there.

I found the amazing graffiti art on the remaining patches of wall, to be a shining testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of obstacles; of walls.

There are still walls which need to fall in this world, and divisions between people’s which need to be healed. The fall of the Berlin wall is an example of how we can get past our differences.

Taken with Olympus IR-500.