30 years ago, yesterday, the Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin fell.

I had the extraordinary experience studying in the former East Germany (German Democratic Republic, or GDR). My junior year of college I spent studying one semester in Tübingen, West Germany (south of Stuttgart), followed by one semester in Rostock, in the GDR.

Although the Iron Curtain had cracked open that year between Hungary and Austria, I don’t think anyone in Rostock, locals or foreign exchange students like me, would have predicted the Berlin Wall falling within even a decade. That event occurred just a few months after I completed my studies and returned home to the U.S. I was shocked at the time. I have reconnected with my fellow exchange student classmates from that year – they confirm they all shared my surprise.

During the summer and fall of 1989 there had been months of protests and demonstrations, and the hard-line leader of the GDR government of 18 years, Erich Honecker, was forced to step down. Mikhail Gorbachev had overseen significant changes (glastnost and perestroika) in the USSR for 4 years by this time. Despite some reforms starting to take place in the GDR, it seems they were too little, too late to mollify the demonstrators.

It is fascinating to see how the momentous events of November 9, 1989 were sparked by a relatively mundane press conference held by a GDR central committee spokesman. You can read the story here:
November 9, 1989 – the day that changed European history – from Deutsche Welle

Memories of my time in the GDR have been coming back to me. I have written several articles in a separate blog, Remembering Rostock, 1989. I invite you to take a look.