Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Die Berliner Mauer in Paris


In Paris we also celebrated the fall of the Berlin wall... There was a big event on the Place de la Concorde last evening between 7 and 8 with music and light shows but it was hard to see anything to be honest. As I anticipated it would be, I passed by the Place de la Concorde this morning precisely to take a photo and here it is! If you're a regular visitor to PDP, you know that I was fortunate enough to go to Berlin on November 10, 1989. This morning I found the photos I took there. Here are some of them...

25 comments:

  1. I was wondering if you were going to note this event. It was huge all over the world, but especially for Germany.

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  2. Yes - and you probably had a zillion shows about the anniversary on TV too, didn't you?

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  3. I don't watch much tv, but it's certainly a news item. I remember being at work (as a clerk/secretary in a medical lab at the university) and all the doctors were amazed. I thought it was a fake, a political stunt by the East Germans and Soviets. So much for my views!

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  4. I lived in Frankfurt in 1965-67 because my father was stationed there. I remember him saying in 1989 that he didn't think he'd live to see the wall go down. I'm so glad he did. He knew things were changing. Sadly, he died in 1990.

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  5. Eric,
    Hope you caught the compelling Mur de Berlin exhibit at the Palais Royal in June. Amazing.

    I didn't do enough research on the artist etc. but this exhibit was something I'm glad I didn't miss. Your photo makes me wish I could have been there for the Place de la Concorde display as well.
    v

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  6. I've been reading memories and stories all day long and many of them have brought tears to my eyes. I'd have liked to be in Berlin to see the celebrations.

    One of the things I got from what I heard was how much the wall was a fixture -- and continues to be one -- not just in the landscape, but in the minds of those who lived when it was up. But, for those who didn't experience it, it doesn't exist in the same way. It takes a long time for the impact of the past to pass.

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  7. In the 80's "Das Brandenburger Tor"was such a sinister reminder of Communism, here down-under.
    We were so far away in Australia and unlike yourself, it wasn't possible to rush to Berlin when the wall fell.
    You have certainly captured one of the 20th century's most important events.

    It's wonderful to simply scan one's old shots and publish them and it's even better to wake up to PDP and there they are.

    That's better than Room-Service ! !

    Danke, Eric

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  8. There wasn't as much coverage here on the Berlin Wall as compared to how much I had seen on French and Italian TV these past few weeks. That is not to say the news in the US hadn't been totally blanketed with it all this week.

    I remember watching a program in France that showed a desolate part of Germany that contains huge pieces of the wall. They said it hardly gets any tourists because it is so far outside city limits.

    I feel, like in Hiroshima, cities should keep parts of these historic remenents in situ, as it is easier to muse about the piece of history it represents. I wish they had kept some steel girders in place at the World Trade center.

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  9. Wonderful little slide show! It brought back memories!

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  10. This is truly an amazing date, so good to celebrate moments of history like this. Makes us think that changing is possible.

    Still it's hard to believe that a wall like that was ever raised, but then again so many unbelievable things have happened in this world, specially during WWII.

    Hope the winds of change will keep on blowing..

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  11. I watched the French show live on TV5 Monde - wonderful lights etc.

    Can't believe its 20 years since the fall.

    Eli
    x

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  12. I am glad you found your photos of the event. Thank you for sharing them.

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  13. Merci Eric. Les photos que tu as prises à Berlin sont vraiment très belles. Tu as capté l'émotion et la joie. Magnifique. BO extra.
    J'adore les files de voitures, les visages aperçus. Si je ne me trompe, on te voit donner un coup de marteau dans le mur :)
    Beau témoignage. Superbe.

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  14. Sorry all for my French, here. You know, in some cases, I prefer writing without any mistake ;)

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  15. Hi Eric,

    We also went to the event...I saw them setting up earlier in the day so "googled" the event, we arrived a little late and had the same experience as you, couldn't really see anything. Nice lights on the buildings, but that was it. If you turned around the Tour Eiffel looked very pretty! All in all, probably would have been better to watch on TV.

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  16. Thanks for your Berlin photos, Eric!
    They are great. The sunlight, the smiles, ... wow!
    You are so lucky having been there to live this historical event on site!
    This was certainly one of the most important events of the recent History. But personnally, I'm a bit less enthusiastic with everything done these last days around the 20th anniversary... Maybe too much marketing, IMO...

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  17. @ Thib. Yes I agree. I went to La Concorde yesterday evening and it was really disappointing.

    @Flore. No, You did not see me with a hammer as... I did not dare doing it when I was there. I heard people arguing over the ones that were taking a piece of wall, so as a foreigner I did not dare touching it.
    Now I regret it!

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  18. Ooh how marvellous, what an absolute treat to see your original photos. I adore the one of the lovely lady looking through a hole in the wall. Thanks for making that, Eric!

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  19. Thank you Eric. Yes, I should have guessed but I really thought it was you in the picture.
    See, if I don't make mistakes in writing, I do them in watching!!! What am I going to do with myself?! LOL... ;)

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  20. Excellent photos. I was six at the time the wall fell, but I still remember my parents telling me to watch the news, emphasizing its importance.

    Last night at the Place de la Concorde, I was expecting fireworks when the scenes of the wall coming down were shown. I was probably somewhat closer, since I got there too early, but the big clear tent blocked the entire left side from my view.

    I thought the music was good, though.

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  21. @Wren "I remember him saying in 1989 that he didn't think he'd live to see the wall go down." I did not think so either!

    I had been a couple of times to Eastern Germany as I was studying in Germany before and it seemed totally unthinkable that this wall could fall anytime soon.

    @Virginia "Hope you caught the compelling Mur de Berlin exhibit at the Palais Royal in June. Amazing." yes, I did!

    @Carrie "It takes a long time for the impact of the past to pass." Yes and it's also interesting to speak with former East Germans. Some of them are still pretty critical about the "Western world". Partly probably because they were brought up with the idea that they had a far better society that the capitalist one and partly because the capitalist world is not always easy.

    M. Benaut "Danke, Eric" Bitte, bitte!

    @Monica "Still it's hard to believe that a wall like that was ever raised". Well walls are still being built nowadays... Not to mention spiritual ones!

    @Suzie. "All in all, probably would have been better to watch on TV." Or to have been invited in the VIP space...

    @Flore "Thank you Eric. Yes, I should have guessed but I really thought it was you in the picture." No, but I am in one of the photos... In a car!

    @Brandon "but the big clear tent blocked the entire left side from my view." YYYYYYYYYeeees, so true!!! Grrr

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  22. Great photos from 1989. We visited Berlin this year and walked along the east side gallery. It's good that this part of the wall remains. Regards!

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  23. So many walls have been built in the world since the fall of Berlin wall ... Israel/Cisjordanie, Spain (Ceuta)/Morocco, Georgia/Abkasie, USA/Mexico, ... and many others, ... not forgetting the older (oldest?) one between Korea and Korea !!!

    Maybe Nov,9th could be a day to remember all these walls and separated people...

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  24. Very cool, Eric!! You are incredibly talented. And we are lucky to see such great shots of such a great historical moment!

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  25. You are so right Thib and Eric! I spoke of that today with a colleague. Isn't there something similar in Northern Ireland too? And in Nicosie, Cyprus?

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