827 - Happy German Unification Day

I will never forget this day.

The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989.

I was in Hong Kong with the Cologne Opera, where we had just completed a tour opening the newly built Hong Kong Culture Centre. Prince Charles and Lady Diana were in attendance.

That in itself was memorable.

While waiting for buses to take us to the airport, I passed the newsstand in our hotel lobby.

The German Newspaper, Das Bild, caught my eye. The title story read Die Mauer Ist Gefallen (The Wall has Fallen.)

Here I was in Hong Kong, on the border of China, and I wondered how a wall as big as the Great Wall could fall. (It was early, and I hadn't had much coffee.)

I rejoined my colleagues in the lobby and asked if they had seen the newspaper about the wall falling.

About 15 of them got up and went to the newsstand. Screaming, crying, and celebrating echoed through the lobby.

Meanwhile, I sat there slowly, taking it in...."OH, THAT WALL!".

The Berlin Wall had fallen. I was glad no one noticed my embarrassment.

We boarded our return flight to Germany, and the party continued. It was one big celebration all the way back home. If I recall correctly, within an hour of takeoff, there was no more alcohol left on the flight.

This is the day the healing process began for Germany, 45 years after the atrocities of WWII had destroyed all sense of national pride.

For years, Germans had not understood why we Americans were always waving our flag.

They didn't understand national pride, even though most of them had been born during or years after the war.

I want to mention that I learned more about the horrors of WWII while in Germany than I ever learned in school in the US.

Germany has recovered and now has a sense of national pride.

I wish all my German friends, Frohen Tag Der Deutschen Einheit!!

Do you have an unexpected day of celebration that you can recall?