Germany Marks 30th Anniversary Of Fall Of Berlin Wall
- By Reuters
In a speech delivered in a chapel that is part of a Berlin Wall memorial in the German capital, Chancellor Angela Merkel remembered those who were killed or suffered repression "because they were seeking freedom." Speaking on the 30th anniversary of the fall of the wall, Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany, also said that 75,000 people were imprisoned "because they tried to flee their country." The Berlin Wall became a potent symbol of the Cold War, dividing the communist-ruled East and the capitalist West in Berlin for nearly three decades. After it was pulled down on November 9, 1989, Germany was reunited a year later.