One of the earliest escape attempts to bypass the Berlin Wall was by Heinz Meixner in 1963. He removed a convertible’s windshield and deflated its tires as low as possible. He, with his fiancee and her mother hidden, then drove up to the boom barrier, sped under it, and escaped into West Berlin.
In 1989 two brothers flew ultralight…
In 1989 two brothers flew ultralight planes over the Berlin Wall into East Germany to rescue a brother they’d left behind when they escaped years earlier. They landed at a park inside the DDR, picked up their brother, and flew back to West Berlin in less than 20 minutes.
The post In 1989 two brothers flew ultralight… appeared first on Crazy Facts.
In 1963 a man from eastern Germany…
In 1963 a man from eastern Germany stole a tank and drove it into the Berlin wall, fleeing to the western side of the country.
More Than 100,00 Ribbons Were Hung Above the Berlin Wall to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of Its Fall
It’s been 30 years since the first bricks of the Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989.
East German officials had just announced that all German Democratic Republic citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin, and that was only the beginning.
. . (Foto 1: (c) @kulturprojekteberlin, David von Becker) #nomorewalls #kulturprojekteberlin #mauerfall #fallofthewall30 #fallofthewall #friedlicherevolution #berlin #berlin365 #visit_berlin #brandenburgertor #poetickinetics #skynetart #patrickshearn #makingofThe process of German reunification would take another year, but November 9 is the day the country remember remembers this most Peaceful Revolution that happened only 30 years ago.
To celebrate one of the most important events in world history, artist Patrick Shearn and his team at Poetic Kinetics installed a huge art piece as a symbol of the unification effort.
today as we visit one of the highlights of the festivities! #visionsinmotion #poetickinetics #mauerfall30 #FatTireBerlinThe a massive kinetic installation was called Visions in Motion and went on display from November 4-10, 2019. The 20,000-square-foot work measured 450 feet in length at the Brandenburg Gate, the site of the former wall.
Shaped like the wall, the piece actually flew above the site and contained around 120,000 colorful streamers – 30,000 of which had handwritten messages from people in Germany and around the world.
The artwork was inspired by the words of Germans, how they did not have weight by themselves, but still wielded power.
In a statement, Shearn said:
In light of the state of affairs in the world today, I feel it is a time to be bold, gather together with a unified voice, and throw our shared colors and our dreams skyward for the world to see.
It was just 30 years ago that communism was cutting Germany and its people in two. And though walls may be built to keep people out, but those same walls keep people in.
The post More Than 100,00 Ribbons Were Hung Above the Berlin Wall to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of Its Fall appeared first on UberFacts.
This Is Why Germans See David Hasselhoff as a Symbol of the Fall of the Berlin Wall
It’s been 30 years…
1989 seems like a long time ago, but this year is still recent in the memories of the people of Berlin, Germany. Until 1989, the Berlin Wall divided the city and its citizens, with those on the east living in Communism, and those on the west in Capitalism. The wall was was heavily policed, and attempting to cross was a deadly act of courage.
Thankfully the city (and the country) was eventually reunited. Many factors contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and, weirdly, to some Germans David Hasselhoff is a symbol of its removal.
Yes, the guy we best remember for a being the hot 1980s super-stud from Baywatch has a special place in modern German history.
We may know Hasselhoff best for being a fake lifeguard, but Germans associate him with their freedom.
That’s because, in addition to acting, Hasselhoff also sings. His first album, 1985’s Night Rocker, was pretty successful when it was came out, but he became iconic in Germany in 1988 when he released a song called “Looking for Freedom,” in an album with the same name.
Though it was released in June 1989, many Germans were still listening to it when the wall came down several months later, on November 9, 1989.
To be clear, the star insists that he’s not responsible for the fall of the Berlin Wall in any way.
But it’s logical that some German fans at the time associate his song with the momentous event in history because of its timing.
Hasselhoff has spoken to various media about his memories of this era. He told TIME he was moved by his experience touring in Germany in 1989. When he was asked to perform, he said, he’d only do it if he would be allowed to perform at the wall, WHICH HE DID.
Of the experience, he said,
“I remember it like it was yesterday. There was a camera on the crane, and I wasn’t playing to the camera. Usually you play to the camera. I just kept bending over and playing to the crowd because I was so moved by the experience.”
No matter what Hasselhoff says about his connection to the Berlin Wall, it’s clear his German fans will always have a special place for him in their hearts because he was the man who sang about freedom.
Is there anything that surprised you about David Hasselhoff and his special place as a pop culture icon in Germany? Let us know here!
The post This Is Why Germans See David Hasselhoff as a Symbol of the Fall of the Berlin Wall appeared first on UberFacts.
East Germans defected by various…
East Germans defected by various ways like digging long tunnels under the Berlin Wall, waiting for favorable winds and taking hot air balloons, sliding along aerial wires, flying ultralight aircraft and, in one case, driving a sports car at full speed through the basic, initial fortifications. 00
Two families escaped over the Berlin Wall…
Two families escaped over the Berlin Wall by building a hot air balloon. A mechanic and a mason, used their mechanical know-how to build a hot air balloon engine out of old propane cylinders. Their wives pieced together a makeshift balloon from scraps of canvas and old bed sheets. 10
Berlin Wall: Frieda Schulze’s escape
Often, the border between West and East Berlin used to pass directly to homes. So, in most cases, the entrance was on the eastern side, and the windows looked out to the West. When building of the Berlin Wall started, many residents used to jump from the windows to the street, where they were caught […]
In 1963, an East German soldier named Wolfgang…
In 1963, an East German soldier named Wolfgang Engels stole a tank and drove it through the Berlin Wall at top speed to try and escape.
In 1962 news channel NBC paid a West Berlin team 50,000DM ($150,000 today) to dig…
In 1962 news channel NBC paid a West Berlin team 50,000DM ($150,000 today) to dig under the Berlin Wall, on the condition that NBC could film the escape. 29 East Germans managed to escape, and the resulting NBC film, The Tunnel, won 3 Emmies.