Dubai – Masaader News
Some European Leaders gathered in the German capital to celebrate the pivotal moment in history that marked the end of communism and the reunification of the country, according to CNN.
During the commemoration, Merkel said European values must not be taken for granted.
“The values that Europe is based on — freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law, human rights — these are not to be taken for granted,” Merkel said. “We always have to defend them.
“In the future Europe will [continue to] be fighting for human rights, tolerance and democracy.” she added. “This is a time of global changes, so this is a pressing issue.”
Candles were also being lit for victims of communist violence and celebrations continued into the evening at the Brandenburg Gate — the symbol of a reunified Germany which once stood at the center of the no man’s land between East and West.
The seismic event of the fall of the Berlin wall sent shock waves across Europe 30 years ago, and sparked hopes for millions of East Germans.
On August 13, 1961, citizens woke up to find a makeshift barricade of barbed wire and cinder blocks that sliced through their city.
On November 9 in 1989, jubilant crowds stormed the concrete blockade, just minutes after the Communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) announced that travel restrictions would be lifted for east Germans. The propaganda and fear were replaced with a sense of freedom and unity.
However, despite the fall of the wall, three decades later an invisible barrier still stretches across Germany.