Feature story

Altered reality: What came after the Fall of the Wall

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Photos courtesy of Colin McPherson (copyright 2004)

November 9 is the 15th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, symbol of the ideological battle-line that had divided Europe since World War II.

It is one of many dates marking the beginning of the end of Soviet-led communism – from September 1989, when the Hungarian government first opened the border for East German refugees, to the reunification of Germany in October 1990, to the demise of the Soviet Union itself at the end of 1991.

But the image of tens of thousands of euphoric people pouring through suddenly opened access points in the Wall that separated East and West Germany evokes all these new beginnings.

In honour of that day in 1989, the EBRD is taking a look at how people's lives have opened up in the countries that began the transition to free-market democracy 15 years ago. Each day until the anniversary, on the EBRD’s website, people from across the region talk about their past, their present and their aspirations for the future.

Stories:

• “I want to double my labour force to 100 – and open a private shop”
  9 Nov 2004 -From the collective farm to entrepreneurial success in the Fergana Valley
  
  
• "The biggest change was that nobody covered our losses if we lost money. That there was nobody looking after us was a real shock."
  8 Nov 2004 - For Yakov Vorokhovsky post-Wall life began when he took over the high-tech company where he'd been a Soviet worker
  
  
• "People want to live here because there is work here"
  5 Nov 2004 - Dom Development is building houses in Warsaw for Poland's new middle class
  
  
• "We know how to make the best out of limited resources"
  4 Nov 2004 - Every day is an opportunity for improvement at the Slovak aluminium producer Slovalco
  
  
• "We need professionals who can guarantee constant perfection"
  3 Nov 2004 - For Tatyana Plyusnina, the events of 15 years ago set the stage for prosperity
  
  
• "1989 was a dream come true. But life is more complicated"
  2 Nov 2004 - After 15 years of change Hungary is focusing on the future
  
  
• "Nie ma wolności bez Solidarności"
  1 Nov 2004 - Jan Krzysztof Bielecki looks back at a time when solidarity earned his country freedom

1 November 2004