THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An iconic picture of East and West Germans celebrating atop the Berlin Wall as its destruction commenced, stood out among the exhibits at Manaveeyam Veedhi on Saturday. The wall had divided the Germans for almost three decades before that. Pasted atop a model of the semi-destroyed Berlin wall, the photos told stories of a terrible past and the recovery of a nation from the days of fear, anxiety and death. The one day exhibition was organised as part of observing the 30th anniversary of the fall of Berlin Wall in Germany. The event organised by Goethe Zentrum in the city saw a good turnout.
“The wall marks the getting together of East and West Germany. It was demolished in 1989. On the day of its 30th anniversary, we wanted to make such a huge historic movement stand out and be understood. In Germany, even today you get to buy pieces of the wall. We made the model seen at the venue in such a way that the broken state of the wall was well depicted with the remains strewn across the ground,” said Kannan Nair, a representative of Goethe Zentrum.
“We received good response. The photos were mostly from internet and featured present-day Germany, as well as the events of the fall of the Berlin Wall. People asked about the photos we had displayed and the details of the event,” said Kannan. The model wall was made as real as possible with slogans and symbols, that were part of Germany during the period, adorning the wall.
The original wall had a height of 3.6m and was constructed three decades before its demolition. Removal of the wall began on the evening of November 9 in 1989 and continued for weeks. The fall of the wall also marked the first critical step towards German reunification.