"Was the revolution truly peaceful?"
Burkhard Kieker, CEO visitBerlin
As an assistant to the CEO of Lufthansa, the young journalist had been assigned to cover events on the other side of the Berlin Wall. He first heard the news of its opening while sitting on his sofa at home. Moments later, he found himself at the Oberbaum Bridge.
"Looking back, it was definitely one of the most intense nights of my life," says Burkhard Kieker. "You could feel that history was being made right then and there. There was no need to think twice."
Description
The video is one of several interviews with contemporary witnesses conducted by visitBerlin on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The interviewee is visitBerlin Managing Director Burkhard Kieker. At the time of the fall of the Wall, he was assistant to the CEO of Lufthansa and reported on what was happening on the other side of the Wall. In the interview, he talks about how he welcomed the first people at the Oberbaumbrücke border crossing on 9 November. Historical footage from rbb is shown alongside the interview. The visitBerlin logo can be seen in the top right-hand corner. The subtitles of the video can be switched on and off in the YouTube player under settings. For a transcription, the video should be viewed directly on YouTube.