November 9, 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War barrier that divided East and West Berlin for nearly three decades. The wall was torn down after Communism collapsed in 1989. During the summer of 1989, tens of thousands of East Germans fled the communist regime.
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West Berlin citizens celebrate in the eastern part of the Checkpoint Charlie border crossing in West Berlin, Nov. 9, 1989, after the announcement by communist East Germany that it would open its borders to the west. (AP Photo/Lutz Schmidt) |
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People climb on the Berlin wall on Nov. 10, 1989. (AP Photo) |
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A long row of East German Trabant cars passing through Checkpoint Charlie into West Berlin is greeted by enthusiastic West Berliners, 10th November 1989. (Photo by EPA PHOTOS DPA FILES/AFP/Getty Images) |
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Berliners sing and dance on top of The Berlin Wall to celebrate the opening of East-West German borders in this Nov. 10, 1989 file picture. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File) |
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East German border policemen, right, refuse to shake hands with a Berliner who stretches out his hand over the border fence at the eastern site nearby Checkpoint Charlie border crossing point on Nov. 10, 1989. (AP Photo/Lutz Schmidt) |
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In a giant cloud of exhaust fumes of two-stroke engines, hundreds of East German cars wait bumper to bumper in front of the West German checkpoint Helmstedt to enter the west, Nov. 11, 1989. In front of the eastern checkpoint, the cars wait in line for a distance of 30-40 kilometers, a West German policeman said. The ride from Berlin to Helmstadt (about 200 kilometers) would last about 11 hours. (AP Photo/Claus Eckert) |
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Thousands of young East Berliners crowd atop the Berlin Wall, near the Brandenburg Gate (background) on November 11, 1989. (GERARD MALIE/AFP/Getty Images) |
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Two West German policemen prevent people from approaching as East German Vopos stand on and near a fallen portion of the Berlin Wall 11 November 1989. (GERARD MALIE/AFP/Getty Images) |
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West Berliners crowd in front of the Berlin Wall early 11 November 1989 as they watch people trying to demolish a section of the wall in order to open a new crossing point between East and West Berlin, near the Potsdamer Square. (GERARD MALIE/AFP/Getty Images) |
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East German border guards look through a hole in the Berlin wall after demonstrators pulled down one segment of the wall at Brandenburg gate in this November 11, 1989 file picture. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File) |
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A West Berlin policeman, right, and an East German border guard stand on ladders while talking over the Berlin Wall at Bernauer Strasse in Berlin, Nov. 11, 1989, where East Germany began to pull down the wall early Saturday morning. (AP Photo) |
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East German border guards use a hose to discourage West Berliners near Brandenburg gate, in Berlin, Nov. 11, 1989. The citizens from the west tried to demolish the wall, demanding it be pulled down. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau) |
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East German border guards demolishing a section of the Berlin wall in order to open a new crossing point between East and West Berlin, 11 November 1989 at the border line near the Potsdamer Square. (Photo credit GERARD MALIE/AFP/Getty Images) |
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A West Berliner prepares to hand over a FRG flag to East German Vopos through a portion of the fallen Berlin Wall near the Brandenbourg Gate early 11 November 1989. (Photo credit GERARD MALIE/AFP/Getty Images) |
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Berliners confront with East German policemen atop the Berlin Wall early 11 November 1989, near the Potsdamer Square. (Photo credit GERARD MALIE/AFP/Getty Images) |
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An unidentified West Berliner swings a sledgehammer, trying to destroy the Berlin Wall near Potsdamer Platz, on November 12, 1989, where a new passage was opened nearby. (AP Photo/John Gaps III) |
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East and West German Police contain the crowd of East Berliners flowing through the recent opening made in the Berlin wall at Potsdamer Square, on November 12, 1989. (PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images) |
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A man hammers away at the Berlin Wall, as the border barrier between East and West Germany was torn down after 28 years, in this Nov. 12, 1989 file picture. (AP Photo/John Gaps III, File) |
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An East Berlin border guard is hugged by an unidentified Berliner at Potsdammer Platz, Nov. 12, 1989, when East Germany opened the wall to the west at this historical landmark. (AP Photo/Rainer Klostermeier) |
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An East German border guard (R) shares a joke with a West German policeman (L) at the Potsdamer Platz (square) where a new crossing point into the West has been opened 12 November 1989 as a result of the opening of the Berlin Wall 11 November 1989. (Photo credit PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images) |
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A berliner holds up a hammer and a chisel early on November 15, 1989 in front of the wall at the Brandebourg Gate partly visible behind it as a crowd of people demonstrated for the destruction of the wall for a passage way between the East and the West near the monument. (Photo credit GERARD MALIE/AFP/Getty Images) |
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An East German policeman (Vopo) looks through a hole made in the Berlin Wall next to the Brandebourg Gate, on November 21, 1989. (Photo credit GERARD MALIE/AFP/Getty Images) |
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An East German artist offers to paint Vopos’ uniforms trying to prevent her from going on painting on the Berlin Wall, on November 21, 1989 in Berlin. (Photo credit should read PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images) |
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People from East Germany greet citizens of West Germany at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, December 22, 1989. (Photo credit PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images) |
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A view from the east of Berliners gathered on the Berlin Wall to celebrate the New Year and the effective end of the city’s partition, 31st December 1989. A banner reads ‘Good luck and peace for a new Germany – East Greets West’. (Photo by Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) |
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An East German boy chips away at a section of the Berlin Wall at the effective end of the city’s partition, 31st December 1989. (Photo by Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) |
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A young man peers into East Berlin though a hole in the Berlin Wall at the effective end of the city’s partition, 31st December 1989. (Photo by Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) |
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East German border guards lift a child onto the Berlin Wall at the effective end of the city’s partition, 31st December 1989. (Photo by Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) |
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East Berliners climb onto the Berlin Wall to celebrate the effective end of the city’s partition, 31st December 1989. (Photo by Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) |
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A view from the east of Berliners gathered on the Berlin Wall to celebrate the effective end of the city’s partition, 31st December 1989. (Photo by Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) |