Brandenburg Gate Revitalized

For years, my memories of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate were of an eerie no-man’s land in the middle of the Berlin Wall, with guardhouses and tank barriers and the sad thought of frustrated and wasted lives trapped on the other side, with little reason to hope. Kennedy’s “I am a Berliner,” Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” and a rising tide of people power all combined to change history. Today, every time I come to this symbol of a united Berlin, I find a festive, almost carnival atmosphere. On this visit, it was a celebration of fifty years of French-German friendship, and the French police band was sounding great.

If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.

Comments

4 Replies to “Brandenburg Gate Revitalized”

  1. Filmed on July 13? Gee that is quite a time delay Rick. Are you mailing (that’s snail mail) these videos back to the US? :-) I thought the new-fangled internet blogs allowed for instant communications? Oh well…. I see the beard is growing out nicely. Is this a new look for you there? It’s ok, if a bit aging on you……my opinion: shave it.

  2. i remember driving slowly past the Brandenburg Gate on a bus with DDR tour guide and all the barbed wire and soldiers back in the early 70’s. It was truly magnificent to be able to walk through it on my own six years ago. What a great transformation. (and don’t miss the Holocaust Memorial that is back behind the US Embassy. It’s wonderfully moving.

  3. Unfortunately I didn’t know you were in our lovely “Hauptstadt”, otherwise I would have invited you for a typical “Berliner Abendessen”!
    Next time you come to visit Berlin please give me a ring – you’ll find my contact data on my website.
    And – last not least: your German is excelllent, not far from perfect. ;-)

  4. Thought we saw Rick at Versailles today (Sunday July 28). Certainly the rest of all humanity was there! Yikes!

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