On 9th November 1989 I was in Cologne, at the radio HQ of BFBS, prepping the next day’s breakfast show. Then the world changed. Instead of picking three hours of music and writing some gags before heading for the bar, I found myself producing my friend Alton Andrews’ Drive Time programme as our colleagues based in Berlin described the incredible scenes live to our audience across West Germany, Holland & Belgium. It was a blur of activity, I don’t remember any details, I’m not even sure if I ever made it to the bar. Pretty sure we didn’t play David Hasselhoff’s “Looking For Freedom” though.
A few months later I started presenting the breakfast show from Berlin. The Wall was still there, but the city was becoming less divided, with East Berliners loading their trabants with treasure from West Berlin supermarkets. That’s what was important about that other 9/11. The world got better. The lives of millions of people got better. And who did they have to thank? Mostly themselves.
The chain of events that led to the Wall coming down started in September 1989. Hungary had removed it’s defences along the border with Austria, and thousands of East German tourists took advantage and crossed the border. Thousands of other East Germans were prevented from reaching Austria, so they swamped the West German embassy, refusing to return home. The same thing happened in Czechoslovakia. This kicked off the Peaceful Revolution in East Germany, which pushed the East German authorities into easing travel restrictions and resulted in thousands of East Berliners gathering at the Wall on 9th November demanding access to the West.
That day saw a shift in the political landscape, changing Germany, Europe and the world. And ordinary people did it. That’s worth remembering.
What will we do next?
No comments:
Post a Comment