The stars of the 9 November event – around 1,000 dominos measuring 2.5 metres in height – are currently housed in an industrial warehouse in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin.
Since March, 15,000 young people and school pupils have
been creating designs related to the fall of the Wall for these huge dominos as part of an action specially aimed at a young target group. The Domino Action has received support from artists and well-known patrons, including the Nobel Peace Laureates, Muhammad
Yunus from Bangladesh, Nelson Mandela from South Africa and Vaclav Havel from Czech Republic, as well as the wall artists, Thierry Noir and Kiddy Citny. The event organisers, Kulturprojekte Berlin, who have been commissioned by the Land Berlin (local government) to run the theme year, are now providing information for the first time on the current preparations for 9 November.
Moritz van Dülmen, the Managing Director of Kulturprojekte Berlin said, “The idea of our action, whose motto is ‘Be there! Make history with a domino effect’, will become particularly clear here. Each of the dominos will tell its own story of the fall of the Wall from the perspective of young people, sometimes in a thoughtful way, at other times with sadness, or as a documentary, a thriller or with humour. I am very happy that this project has proved to be so successful and that we have been able to reach the generation of those who were born after the Wall fell.”
All of the dominos can be viewed during the weekend before the FESTIVAL OF FREEDOM
in the open-air Domino Gallery in the streets between Potsdamer Platz, the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. The dominos will form a line of around 1.5 kilometres before playing an important role in the event on 9 November, when they will create a symbolic reminder of the chain reaction that the fall of the Berlin Wall caused in Germany,
Europe and the whole world. The dominos will be set up close to the former borders of the Wall. Traffic will be disrupted at times as a temporary reminder of the borders of 1989. All Berliners and guests of the city are invited to visit the gallery from 7 November. The organisers will provide further information about the traffic and street closures in the area around the Brandenburg Gate between 4 and 11 November closer to the time.
FESTIVAL OF FREEDOM
The highlight of the theme year in Berlin is the Festival of Freedom at the city’s worldfamous landmark, the Brandenburg Gate. Thousands of spectators are expected to attend the commemoration and celebration of the historical events of 9 November, which will take place in the presence of actors from the GDR opposition groups, contemporary witnesses, and representatives from politics and culture. There will be an emotional opening
of the event during an open-air concert at Pariser Platz, which will be performed by the Berlin Staatskapelle and the Male Choir of the Staatsoper Berlin, conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
The Governing Mayor of Berlin and official host of the event, Klaus Wowereit, will welcome the Federal President Horst Köhler and Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as many invited heads of state and government, including the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, the British Prime Minister, Gordon
Brown and Hillary Clinton, the United States Secretary of State.
People such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Lech Walesa, who played an important role in the historical events of 1989, are among the prominent domino patrons and will also be actively involved in the evening event. Representatives of the GDR opposition groups, Marianne Birthler, Roland Jahn and Katrin Hattenhauer, will
remind people about the important historical events, that is, the Peaceful Revolution started by people on the streets.
The ca. 1.5-kilometre long line of dominos will form an unusual stage. School pupils, apprentices and young people from Berlin, as well as artists from Berlin and the whole world, have painted these oversized dominos. They have dealt with the history of the Wall and made a contribution to ensuring that this fantastic event can take place. They will also be involved at many stages of the evening event. Through their commitment, they have expressed the joy about this special anniversary – the fall of the Wall twenty years ago – in the whole world, and particularly in Germany and Berlin.
Thomas Gottschalk, one of Germany’s best-known TV personalities, will present the event. He will receive professional support from Guido Knopp (ZDF) and Klaas (MTV).
With their help, thousands of people will experience the scheduled fall of the dominos over the course of the Domino Gallery and at the Brandenburg Gate (Platz des 18. März).
The symbolic fall will stop twice – its course will be deliberately held up. This will provide an opportunity to remember the dramatic moments of twenty years ago and the most important actors of the time in various ways. Lech Walesa, the former chairman of the Polish union, Solidarity, and the former President of Poland, will knock over the first domino
close to the Reichstag.
A first pause will provide time for a talk with Mikhail Gorbachev, the former President of the Soviet Union, and Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the former Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany.
There will also be interviews with the Nobel Peace Laureates and a Korean artist from the Goethe Institute during the event. As part of the Wall Trip project, the Goethe Institute organised the painting of 21 dominos in countries that are still divided by walls, such as Korea, Cyprus and Mexico.
The varied programme will be supported by artists from Germany and abroad. Adoro, five young opera singers who combine classical and pop music in a particularly moving way, will perform the song “Freiheit” as part of the musical programme. As an international guest, the singer Jon Bon Jovi will perform the song “We Weren’t Born To Follow” during the event.
When young Berliners, as representatives of the thousands of young participants of the Domino Action, and their dominos move to the centre stage of the event, they will be accompanied by the group, Stamping Feet, who will perform impressive drum rhythms.
Right before the last dominos fall in front of the Brandenburg Gate and in the presence of all of the guests, Paul van Dyk, the “World’s No. 1 DJ” and a Grammy Award nominated artist, will perform the world premiere of his song, “We are one – Hymne”. The emotional highlight created by the fall of the last dominos will be rounded off with a firework display.
ZDF will broadcast the event live. There will be twelve screens along the course of the Domino Gallery, so that people on the streets will be able to watch the event as it unfolds.
The prelude will start at 17.00 on both sides of the Brandenburg Gate and will be presented by Radio Berlin 88.8 (rbb), in their program the live translation of the international greetings will be send.
Open-Air Exhibition, “The Peaceful Revolution of 1989/90”
From 7 May until 14 November 2009 (extended until 3 October 2010), the Robert Havemann Society, in cooperation with Kulturprojekte Berlin, is presenting and honouring the events of 1989/90 in a large open-air exhibition, “Peaceful Revolution”, at Alexanderplatz.
The exhibition deals with the liberation movement in the GDR and provides information about the events of the Peaceful Revolution in texts and images, with the focus on its actors.
The exhibition is open 24 hours per day and is free of charge. The project is sponsored by the Foundation of the German Lottery Berlin and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, thanks to a resolution passed by the German Bundestag (German Parliament).
Until 10 November, those interested can get information about the events from the red information staircase at Washingtonplatz / Hauptbahnhof (main train station) every day from 11.00 – 20.00 or from the Internet at www.mauerfall09.de /
www.fallofthewall09.com.
