Berlin Wall: Domino Effect

Thousands gathered in Berlin Monday night despite steady rain to watch as a line of giant dominoes three-quarters of a mile long toppled along the path where the Berlin Wall once stood.

The night marked two decades of a unified Germany as well as the end of the 40-year Cold War.

One thousand giant domino pieces (made of fabric-covered polystyrene foam, illustrated below) tumbled one after the other in a visual performance meant to mimic the fall of the wall itself. The dominoes were lined up over 1.2 km (0.75 miles) from the spot formerly known as Checkpoint Charlie to the Reichstag.

The Goethe-Institute helped distribute the over-sized domino pieces around the world so they could be decorated by students, artists and intellectuals in advance of the commemorative "Festival of Freedom." Several public figures also decorated dominoes, including European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek who contributed to the toppling of the dominoes.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel greeted world leaders, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Brandenburg Gate (pictured above), which once divided the city. Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev and former Polish President Lech Walesa, both of whom heavily influenced the fall of the Berlin Wall, also attended the ceremony.  

Both Merkel and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown praised ordinary East Germans who helped bring down the wall.

"This wall was torn down not by leaders, not from on high, not from military might," said Brown. "This wall was torn down by the greatest force of all: the unbreakable spirit of the men and women of Berlin."

And it's no doubt those average men and women who are rejoicing most on this 20th anniversary of the wall's fall.

Watch a video of Monday night's domino event below:

Top photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Second photo courtesy of mauerfall09.