#zirkeltag

[guide2germany]

(Sources 1, 2, 3, Photo)

[radwelt]

Berliner Mauer Radweg - Zirkeltag Bau & Fall der Berliner Mauer

[you-are-the-lightning]

Twitter just informed me about a strange sort of anniversary apparently nicknamed ‘Zirkeltag’ – today is the day the Berlin Wall has been down for as long as it was up, to be precise 28 years, 2 months and 26 days.

[xlisaleinx]

#zirkeltag (engl.: #circleday)

Today, February 5th 2018, marks what we call Zirkeltag. 

28 years, 2 months and 26 days ago, the Berlin Wall came down - after standing for 28 years, 2 months and 26 days. We have been living without it for just as long as we used to live with it.

When the wall was first built in August 1961, West Berlin’s mayor (who later became chancellor), Willy Brandt, said:

Wir rufen die Völker der Welt, wir rufen ihre Repräsentanten auf, hierher nach Berlin zu sehen, wo die blutende Wunde eines Volkes verkrustet werden soll durch Stacheldraht und genagelte Stiefel. 

We’re calling on the people of the world and their representatives to turn their gaze towards Berlin, where a nation’s bleeding wound is supposed to be crusted with barbwire and hobnailed boots.

Today, the barbwire, concrete and iron hostility are history and the wound is slowly healing. The Wall is long gone.

I’m moving this week - to a city that used to be part the German Democratic Republic. It’s now a vibrant, dynamic and buzzing city full of life and democracy. This seemed impossible 28 years and 3 months ago. But it was, and I’m so grateful.

It’s amazing what humans are able to achieve if they’re willing to fight for it. Nothing is impossible. 

Never give up.