November 9, 1989 - Berlin Wall Comes Down - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

When Mikhail Gorbachev took control of the Soviet Union in 1985, he brought about change well beyond his own borders. In East Germany, the Berlin Wall symbolized the divide between East and West, freedom and oppression. The East German government had put up barriers in 1961 to prevent the flow of millions of East Germans to the West. Once completed, the wall stood 12 feet high and 96 miles long. Thousands tried to make it across. Many made it, but 246 were killed trying. Even when the cold war officially ended and countries like Hungary and Czechoslovakia eased up travel restrictions, the flow continued. Finally, a change of leadership in East Germany led to liberalization. The East German government announced that as of November 9, 1989, travel restrictions would be lifted and the gates of the Berlin Wall would open. Thousands of people took to the streets with picks and axes to tear down the wall and East and West Germany were soon unified as they had been before the second world war.

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