35 Jahre Mauerfall: Reya, Fall of the Berlin Wall in Rostock

My personal experience of the fall of the Berlin Wall

I was 15 years old and lived in Rostock, far away from what was happening in Berlin. The fall of the Wall hardly played a role in my everyday life back then - it seemed so distant and abstract. At our school, the main thing I noticed was that many of my classmates were suddenly missing. They had gone to the West, which was completely unimaginable for all of us before. It was fascinating to see so many people suddenly taking advantage of this new opportunity.

For me personally, the whole thing was exciting, even though I didn't understand the full extent of what was happening until much later. At the time, I was mainly looking forward to the fact that it would soon be possible to buy Western products in the stores. The idea of simply being able to travel to the West seemed unreal - it was completely unthinkable until recently.

Over the years, I became more and more aware of what a huge opportunity this historic moment really meant - the freedom to experience new things and make my own decisions. Today, I am deeply grateful that the Wall came down. It changed not only my life, but the lives of many people in the former GDR and the whole of Germany forever. It brought us opportunities and freedoms that we couldn't even imagine before.

Read the other personal Wall stories from our community here.