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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2009 15:57:26 GMT
This evening there will be a spectacle at Place de la Concorde in Paris with 27 musicians perched on top of large cement blocks symbolizing the Berlin wall along with a light show. The French army chorus will also be performing. I assume that snippets of it will be available on the various news programs, because it is designed to coincide with the ceremonies in Berlin for a simultaneous broadcast.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2011 18:25:11 GMT
History is now moving too fast in Europe.
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Post by fgrsk8r1970 on Apr 23, 2013 17:01:02 GMT
Those are amazing photos Kerouac - thanks so much for sharing !!! I was able to go back to Berlin less than a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall. (I watched it in joy and amazement on TV when it happened) My GF and I flew in for one night on a free buddy pass a friend gave me for my birthday in Sept of 1990 and we just stayed one night, but I was able to walk through the Brandenburg gate and look at all the knick-knack they were selling. I am sad now that I never got a piece of the Wall, but I did get some weird/cheap russian watch LOL. I don't think I have it anymore - certainly never brought it here to the US.
One thing that is interesting to me is that from what I understand (having lived in the US for 17 years now) is that the East is flourishing, their streets are better, newer venues etc. I can't talk about unemployment and the cause/reason for that. But I do know that all Germans that work and pay taxes still pay the "solidarity tax" even after all these years.
"After several incarnations in the 1990s, the special tax has been set since 1998 at 5.5 percent of income taxes, capital gains and corporate taxes. A direct tax, it brings in roughly €12 billion each year for the federal government. However, the funds do not necessary support reconstruction efforts in eastern Germany, exposing it to criticism from taxpayer groups."
I don't know what they do with the money but I find is unbelievable that it is still being forced upon the west. I had to pay it and they said it might last 2-3 years.... it's been over 20!!
Anyway - thank you K again for these photos.... it was a joyous time when it happened, but you will find that a lot of Germans (on both sides) are wishing the wall back up (I am not one of them) and who knows if we will ever really be united!
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 23, 2013 22:17:58 GMT
Fascinating, Skater. all Germans that work and pay taxes still pay the "solidarity tax" even after all these years. Was the tax to help bring East Germany up to the level of West Germany? you will find that a lot of Germans (on both sides) are wishing the wall back up Really?!! Why would that be?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2013 22:23:13 GMT
I have read over and over again that east Germans very much liked the social net they used to have -- and they also liked their own food products (pickles, mustard -- just ordinary things) which were all swept away in just a few months and replaced by the industrial west German products. And of course it was not difficult for them to find the west Germans totally arrogant, just as it was not difficult for the west Germans to find the east Germans unpleasant and lazy.
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Post by anshjain97 on Apr 24, 2013 5:43:12 GMT
Just saw this report, Kerouac. I can only imagine how exciting it would've been. And to think such a major event took place not too long ago, and in the age of coloured photography...
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Post by nycgirl on Apr 24, 2013 15:53:20 GMT
What a priceless experience to see such this firsthand. So glad you and your friend made the trip.
I remember the fall of the Berlin wall, but being 8 years old I didn't quite understand the importance, even when it was explained to me. (When given the definition of Communism from my 11-year-old sister, it sounded like a completely fair system to me). But seeing the photos and news footage, I could tell that people were happy and relieved, so I was happy for them.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2013 11:28:33 GMT
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Post by nycgirl on Jul 9, 2013 2:24:55 GMT
That is a strange thought.
These photos are so special. Glad you unearthed more of them.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 4, 2019 6:20:24 GMT
Since this is a very important week of commemoration in Germany 30 years after the wall came down, it is perhaps time to take another look at how things were.
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Post by bjd on Nov 4, 2019 6:41:53 GMT
I was just reading the travel section of the NY Times yesterday and in a short "36 hours in Berlin", they talked only about going to GDR-style restaurants, buying vintage GDR clothes, walking down Stalinallee/KarlMarxAllee... Memories are short and what seemed either dramatic or unpleasant in the not-so-distant past is now fashionable.
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Post by bjd on Nov 4, 2019 13:55:47 GMT
"The Lives of Others" was one of the best films I have seen.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 4, 2019 17:49:22 GMT
Yes, that was extraordinary.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 4, 2019 18:03:53 GMT
Oddly, The Lives of Others did absolutely nothing for me. I could not identify with anybody in the movie, and that is essential for me. However, I do understand that I am in a tiny minority, so there is something wrong with me. On the other hand, I thought that Goodbye Lenin was an extraordinary vulgarisation of the situation, in the scientific sense, not the ugly deformation of the word -- "the process of making something accessible and attractive to the general public." Barbara was also excellent.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 5, 2019 3:54:40 GMT
I remember your saying that ages ago, Kerouac, and I guess it's a case of different strokes, as I think it's an excellent movie.
I enjoyed Goodbye, Lenin very much, but when I mentioned it to my friend from East Berlin he snorted and claimed everyone from the DDR hates it or mocks it. That's only one person, though -- I'd have to hear it from a bunch more before accepting that.
Never knew about Barbara, so thanks for bringing that up, Huckle.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 8, 2019 17:16:35 GMT
Odd, I have a friend who grew up in the former DDR who was very fond of Goodbye Lenin. The mum who seems to be a robotic follower had a credible backstory to my mind, and I did like the fact that it showed the negative impacts of reunification as well as the obvious positive ones, and how superficial some of the positive impacts were for many people. This friend is a doctor; he and his wife were living in Bavaria very close to the Austrian border (her family left her the house there). He joked, "halfway between Hitler's birthplace and Pope Benedict's", conveying a sense of deepest reaction, when they were anything but. Alas his wife died and he was deeply depressed; we were very worried for him. He accepted a position in Nigeria. A couple of years later, he had met a lovely lady who was among his co-workers at the clinic; they married and seem to be happy together... I am a bit concerned about tomorrow with the rise of the far Right, in case they decide to celebrate the 9th by smashing up the shop windows etc of whomever they hate now. www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-domestic-intellience-chief-on-hate-crimes-like-halle-a-1292535.html
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 9, 2019 20:11:18 GMT
As the years pass, a lot of people are under the impression that the wall suddenly crumbled all of a sudden on November 9, 1989. However, one of Erich Honecker's greatest mistakes may have been to authorise a concert in East Berlin by Bruce Springsteen on July 19, 1988. It was the biggest concert of his career (Springsteen, not Honecker). 160,000 tickets were sold but it is estimated that 500,000 people actually attended.
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Post by lugg on Nov 9, 2019 20:41:35 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 9, 2019 21:00:35 GMT
That is a very interesting article.
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Post by casimira on Nov 9, 2021 19:31:32 GMT
Upon returning from seeing our house being knocked down it dawned on me that today is the anniversary of this major historic event. (no comparison of course, but, in my own personal way I found it uncanny that it was on the same date). So, looking back historically, I remain ever so grateful that K2 was able to capture and share these photos with us. I have revisited this thread on occasion but today thought it even more pertinent to pull it back up. (So, just another example of all the hidden gems we have to explore should folks take the opportunity to delve and scroll around).
Thanks again Kerouac.
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Post by lugg on Nov 9, 2021 19:58:33 GMT
That is so tough Casimira and can understand how you found it uncanny and (hopefully) maybe strangely comforting ? ...at least I hope so.
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Post by bjd on Nov 9, 2021 20:08:42 GMT
Good to see these pictures and video on the previous page again. The whole Cold War isn't mentioned much any more, where it was such a big part of our lives for decades -- at least those of us who are old enough.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 9, 2021 20:20:57 GMT
I actually had a video camera that day and also took some videos of the event. The other day I came actross the old video cassette. I don't know if it is worth having converted to something I could post here.
The friend who accompanied me to Berlin can be seen using the camera in reply #37 above in front of the Polizei van.
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