'My dad could've been a famous international bodybuilder' - Berliners on the wall
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Translation by:
cafebabel.com
Some don't have a clue what to say about the wall, others feel emotional or nostalgic for what might have been. Germans interviewed on the streets of their capital aged 80, 16 or 37 essentially feel the same
Anna Bornschlegel and Manon Kurzenne from the francophone cultural magazine Berlin Poche ('Berlin Pocket'), criss-cross the German capital in the hunt for the voice on the street, as the country celebrates
'My dad was the bodybuilding vice champion in the former east Germany. Had the wall fallen earlier, he could have had a successful international career. But the wall needed to fall. Germany should never have been split into two. Communism appeared to be an ideal regime, but in practise it never worked'
'It's the best thing that ever happened to Germany. When we think about the fall of the wall, we feel so moved that it literally makes our hair stand on edge'
'Yes, the wall came down indeed, but the funniest thing is that you can often distinguish the people from the west from the people from the east in the streets'
'Of course, it's awesome that the wall came down! I'm not an Ossie (East German) anymore'
'The fall of the Berlin wall is a very important event for all Germans and we have to celebarate it to remember it'
'I don't think that the wall completely fell that day. Older people can't forget that Germany was once divided. But there's a difference between generationals, and for younger people, it is just a part of our history'
'I don't really know anything about the fall of the wall. But yes, it's good''
Translated from Les Berlinois et le Mur : chair de poule et histoire ancienne