'For many, this was the final end of Second World War'

Dubai: History has an uncanny ability to fade away into the recesses of one’s mind. But UAE-based Germans say they can never forget the fall of the Berlin Wall — a moment that marked a definitive change in world history as well as their lives.

Twenty years after the Iron Curtain was finally lifted, German residents recalled the anxious wait behind the Wall and the relief every blow of the hammer brought with it.

Markus Stebich, an architect and interior designer, was 25 years old when the Berlin Wall fell and clearly remembers the events that preceded it, like loosened border controls between several countries.

He said: “There was definitely a sense of something in the air. But I don’t think anyone was prepared for what happened and how quickly it happened.”

Having moved to the US at the age of five, the Berlin Wall’s fall was a moving experience for Stebich, reconnecting him to his native land. “That night, those incredible events and the incredible relief that everything was taking place peacefully brought a few tears to my eyes. You couldn’t help but be moved by it all,” he said.

Stebich went on to live in Germany after the unification and was involved in various rebuilding efforts.

Changing perception

Another German expatriate, Norbert Wirth, lived in West Germany and his recollections of the communist regimes are limited to his visits to Hungary, his mother’s home country.

The 39-year-old managing director said: “I remember the wonderful citizens of Hungary - very hospitable and friendly, with a lot of time for each other. This was in stark contrast to the people in West Germany and I presumed that socialism was a good system and people in East Germany must also be happy.”

However, the situation began to change from 1987, according to Wirth, with people organising public demonstrations to voice their criticism. When residents of East Germany finally crossed over, Wirth began to realise that this was the beginning of the end.

“People started to celebrate, regardless of whether they had relatives in the German Democratic Republic or not. For many, this was the final end of the Second World War.”

Stephan Melchior, who manages an educational institute in Dubai, better understands the historic moment in retrospect, as he was only 15 years old when the Wall fell.

He said: “For me and my family, not much changed after [the collapse], except that more and more people from the ‘East’ came to Munich - into our schools, into our lives. Today, I better understand how the situation must have felt for the people from ‘over there’, as we called them.

“Yet, even today, some people from other countries ask me if I come from the East or the West. My answer, with a smile on my face, is: ‘I’m from the South’. Why does it matter anyway?”