The city of freedom celebrates 35 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall

Berlin, 5 November 2024 Berlin, the city of freedom, is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on 8 and 9 November. To celebrate this important anniversary, the German capital is hosting numerous events and activities. Several hundred thousand guests from all over the world are expected. And even before and after the actual anniversary, the historic events will be commemorated in numerous formats.

Programme of events on 8 and 9 November
One of the highlights of this year's celebrations is the four-kilometre-long open-air presentation of 5,000 historical and newly designed posters on the theme of freedom. It can be seen on 8 and 9 November and follows the course of the former inner-city Wall between Invalidenstraße and Axel-Springer-Straße. Another highlight of the anniversary days is the Festival for Freedom along this route. On 9 November between 8 and 9 pm, the entire area will be transformed into a large stage on which up to 1,000 volunteers - Berliners and guests - will play songs about freedom. All revellers are invited to sing along.

Worth seeing and in a historically significant location: the democracy festival ‘Revolution! -and then? ‘ in the former Stasi headquarters, now the Campus for Democracy in Lichtenberg. Among other things, workshops, guided tours and an exhibition deal with the topic of revolution. The festival ends in the evening with a performance by the Russian band Pussy Riot.

Accommodation is still available for the anniversary days. Interested travellers can book hotels on this page.

Exhibitions and guided tours around the anniversary
Even after the anniversary weekend, the events of 1989 are still a topic in many places in the city. The Berlin Wall Foundation is organising events and guided tours until 14 November under the motto ‘Remembering the Revolution | Shaping Democracy’. The renowned exhibition centre C/O Berlin is showing the photo exhibition ‘Dream on - Berlin, the 90s’ until the end of January 2025. Until February next year, the Humboldt Forum is hosting an exhibition on the Palace of the Republic, which stood on this site during the GDR era. A model of the Palace of the Republic and original parts of it can be seen in the large GDR exhibition at the DDR Museum. You can find more events about the divided city and the fall of the Wall on this page. Information on tours, guided tours and tickets can be found here.

Special offers from visitBerlin for the 35th anniversary
visitBerlin has also organised a number of activities and offers to mark the historic date. For example, on 12 November, the Berlin Wall Memorial Visitor Centre will host a storytelling salon with contemporary witnesses on the topic of ‘Life behind the Berlin Wall’. The videos with interviews with contemporary witnesses on this page are also informative and exciting.

The official Berlin app ABOUT BERLIN has been expanded to mark the anniversary. A cycle tour along the Wall Cycle Path, for example, provides fascinating background information on the history of Berlin's division. There is also a website about the Berlin Wall and further information in various blog posts. An episode of the podcast ‘Berlin Unboxed’ is centred around ‘The night the Wall fell |35 years of the fall of the Wall’. A two-minute video is available on YouTube.

Further information
More at visitBerlin.de/en/35-years-fall-berlin-wall. As supplementary material, we have compiled a short version in the factsheet and before-and-after photos for your reporting in the download portal. There is a lot of content on visitBerlin ‘s social media channels for the anniversary of the fall of the Wall, i.e. on Instagram, TikTok, facebook and LinkedIn. Corresponding hashtags are #visitberlin, #mauerfall35, #mauerfall and #berlinwall.