DATE=11/5/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=BERLIN WALL ANNIVERSARY - OVERVIEW
NUMBER=5-44703
BYLINE=GIL BUTLER
DATELINE=BERLIN
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:

INTRO:  Ten years ago (11/09/89), a defining symbol of 
the Cold War began to be demolished.  The infamous 
Berlin Wall, constructed by Communist authorities to 
keep their citizens from escaping to the West, came 
down without a shot being fired.  Less than a year 
later, Germany was officially united in a huge 
celebration at the Brandenburg Gate that featured the 
music of Beethoven, conducted by Kurt Mazur, a hero of 
the peaceful revolution. Correspondent Gil Butler 
traveled to Berlin to see what remains of the Wall and 
how German unification has progressed since the 
euphoria of those heady days in November 1989. 
/// Opt. Here is the first in a series of reports on 
the anniversary. End Opt.///

       /// CHORAL ODE TO JOY UP, THEN OUT ///

TEXT: /// ACT. SOUND OF WALL DESTRUCTION ON NOV. 
9,1989 (UP AND FADE/KEEP UNDER TEXT)///

They were called "woodpeckers", the East Germans who 
began the demolition piece by piece until the 
authorities completed the job with heavy machinery.  
The infamous Berlin Wall started coming down on 
November 9th, 1989, when East German authorities, 
pressed by increasing demonstrations, announced that 
the border would be open for private trips.  That led 
to a flood of East Berliners heading for the West.

            /// BRING UP SOUND OF DEMONSTRATION ///  

The Berlin Wall was a 100 kilometer-long concrete 
contrast between the Communist East and the democratic 
West.  For 25 years it was a very effective barrier to 
freedom of movement. Little remains of the Wall now, 
but in these remnants, you can see what it looked like 
in 1989.  The four-meter high concrete wall, the 
watchtowers, the killing zone where automatic machine 
guns would open fire.  At least 100 people were killed 
over the years trying to escape across the wall. 

Now, where the wall cut through the city, construction 
cranes have replaced watchtowers. It is the largest 
urban construction project in Europe and when it is 
finished, there will be a new center of Berlin in 
place of the grim no-man's land that had once 
separated East from West.

The 10th anniversary of the fall of the Wall is a time 
for reflection about how it came about and what 
progress has been made since 1989.

How it came about is clear. The German Democratic 
Republic -the G-D-R - was failing.  Under Mikhail 
Gorbachev, the Soviet Union was adopting liberalizing 
policies -- policies the East German leader, Erich 
Honecker, rejected.  During the official celebration 
of the G-D-R's 40th anniversary, which the Soviet 
leader attended, democracy demonstrators hailed Mr. 
Gorbachev and chanted "Gorby-help us."

            /// DEMONSTRATION ACT, FADE UNDER /// 

Erich Honecker's fate was sealed when Mr. Gorbachev 
simply said, "He who lags behind events, loses." That 
was a clear signal Moscow had no intention of coming 
to the East German leader's aid.

The Protestant Evangelical church was at the forefront 
of the demonstrations that eventually brought an end 
to the totalitarian German Democratic Republic. 

Evelyn Zupke was one of the organizers at the 
Gesthemene Church in East Berlin.

            /// ACT.  ZUPKE (IN ENGLISH) //

      I couldn't believe it.  I saw thousands of 
      people there out on the streets and this was 
      really unbelievable and exciting.

            /// END ACT // 

The Wall may have fallen but people in both eastern 
and western Germany say there are still mental walls 
separating them.  Germans say it may take more than a 
generation to demolish that kind of wall.

Unification has come with a great price.  Eastern 
Germany still lags behind.  Unemployment is high.  
Many West Germans resent the burden represented by the 
East - especially since the German economy is having 
difficulties supporting high levels of social welfare. 

But to an outsider, seeing Berlin for the first time 
without a dividing wall, it seems worth the price. 
(Signed)

/// OPT. MUSIC UP AND OUT ///

NEB/MGB/SP/KL




05-Nov-1999 14:16 PM EDT (05-Nov-1999 1916 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.