Mauerfall

[Tecumsehsbones]

25 years ago, border passages through the Berlin Wall were opened. Germans on both sides were free to travel. The Cold War was over. Berliners started hacking at the Wall, knocking out chips and chunks. It was the greatest party of the 20th century.

Despite everything the U.S., Britian, France, East Germany, and the Soviet Union could do to try to stop it (and they tried), the Wall came tumbling down.

Fröhe Mauerfall!

 

[Walter]

It were a glorious day. Stupid commies.

 

[Sal]

25 years ago, border passages through the Berlin Wall were opened. Germans on both sides were free to travel. The Cold War was over. Berliners started hacking at the Wall, knocking out chips and chunks. It was the greatest party of the 20th century.

Despite everything the U.S., Britian, France, East Germany, and the Soviet Union could do to try to stop it (and they tried), the Wall came tumbling down.

Fröhe Mauerfall!

watch a documentary on this last night

those people certainly did suffer

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

I've given up trying to articulate what it meant, living behind the Wall. It wasn't bad, really, West Berlin was a blast.

It was just. . . there I go again. It's impossible to articulate. But Berliners don't need to.

 

[Sal]

Stories Behind the Berlin Wall

it's a short video

there are many

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Other stories of the Wall. . .

In 1983, a group of Royal Irish Rangers climbed the wall, found a motorcycle parked outside an East German Volkspolizei barracks, and painted it white. The next morning, the constable came out, looked at his bike, and went back inside. He came back out with a sergeant, they both looked at the bike, and went back inside. They came out with a lieutenant, all three looked at the bike, and went back inside. After 20 minutes or so, a car pulled up, and a senior officer got out. All four of them looked at the bike, and went inside. . .

This continued until they had seven VoPos of ascending ranks standing around looking at the bike.

The next night, just to make sure credit went where due, the Rangers climbed the wall again, climbed the leg of one of the guard towers, and painted a Union flag on the underside of it.

 

[Spade]

Thank the gods our walls promote freedom and democracy.

 

[Walter]

Thank the gods our walls promote freedom and democracy.

Which walls are those?

 

[Blackleaf]

I remember as a kid the children's Saturday morning TV show Wacaday, which was broadcast between 1986 and 1992 and hosted by Timmy Mallett and Michaela Strachan (who now co-hosts Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch).

Arguably the most popular feature of the show, and one that ran throughout nearly the entire run of Wacaday, was Timmy's game Mallett's Mallet. Two child contestants would sit opposite each other on pink and yellow stools and each time a child says a word the child opposite would have to think of a word that links that previous word. However, these "rallies", started by Timmy, would often begin with some very unusual words to make the competition more interesting. If a contestant failed to link their next word to the last one within a certain number of seconds then they would get hit on the head with Timmy's trademark - his huge pink and yellow foam mallet. The person with the most "bruises" lost - receiving a Wacky Plaster which was stuck on to any part of their face for them wave at the viewers at home, while the winner won something that ranged over the years from a Wham! LP to a Super Nintendo! However, when the Berlin Wall fell down Timmy would often give real pieces of the wall to the kids as prizes. Actual real pieces. He called it the "Bleh-lin Wall" because his famous catchphrase was "Bleh!" Even today, whenever I think of the Berlin Wall, I automatically call it the "Bleh-lin Wall", because that's how I remembered it as a kid, and just seeing Timmy giving bits of it to kids on Mallett's Mallet. So around Britain there'll now be people in their Thirties who have bits of the Berlin Wall.

I couldn't find a clip of him giving away a piece of the Berlin Wall as a prize, but here's a clip of Mallett's Mallet on Wacaday from 1987:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=EUfv-tAfXn4

Incidentally, Timmy Mallett was eventually forced to stop hitting kids on the head with his mallet because the show's producers thought kids playing Mallett's Mallet at home may use real mallets!