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30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall: What happened to the euphoria?

November 7, 2019

Germany is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. But many in eastern Germany feel like second-class citizens left behind. Has it been a success story for everyone? Guests: Catherine Nicholson (France 24), Anthony Paterson (The Independent), Linda Vierecke (DW)

https://p.dw.com/p/3Se2N
DW Sendung To the Point Linda Vierecke
Image: DW

Linda Vierecke grew up in the former GDR and was seven years old when the wall came down. Today she works as a reporter for DW and just finished a documentary about the fall of the wall. She thinks: "It's only now, three decades after the Wall came down, that we realize how radical the change was for people in the East."
 

DW Sendung To the Point Catherine Nicholson
Image: DW

 

Catherine Nicholson works for France24. She believes: "Permanent euphoria is unrealistic: learning lessons from the past is more important."
 

DW Sendung To the Point Anthony Paterson
Image: DW

 

 

 

Anthony Paterson is a British freelance journalist, who witnessed the fall of the Wall first-hand in 1989. He says: "Thirty years on from the fall of the Berlin Wall, the far right is winning a worrying amount amount of support in the once communist east."