Breaching the Berlin Wall: Berlin Boy (1989)

Figure 1.--The Berlin Wall was finally breached on November 9, 1989. The SED government announced that travel restrictions for East Germans had been lifted. That night the people of East Berlin surged into the western part of the city. Hundreds of thousands of Berliners celebrated throughout the night. Even more East Berliners crossed the next day. Soon Berliners with hammers and chissels and sledge hammars began demolishing the hated wall by hand. The Berlin boy here has a very determined look as he goes about to destroying this symbol of tyranny. I imagine it is one of those memories that will stay with him ll his life.

The Berlin Wall was finally breached on November 9, 1989. The SED government announced that travel restrictions for East Germans had been lifted. That night the people of East Berlin surged into the western part of the city. Hundreds of thousands of Berliners celebrated throughout the night. Even more East Berliners crossed the next day. Soon Berliners with hammers and chissels and sledge hammars began demolishing the hated wall by hand.

The Berlin boy here has a very determined look as he goes about to destroying this symbol of tyranny or to obtain his little piece of history as a souvenier.. I imagine it is one of those memories that will stay with him ll his life. Unfortunately we do not know who the boy was. Given he is on the Western side you would think he is most likely a West Berliner, but we can not be sure about this. And we have no way of knowung hust what is on his mind.

A German reader writes, "Well, I am not so sure if this boy is really 'determined to destroy the hated wall' so much. Yes, actually he is destroying it but for another reason. Lots of Berlin children did this and mostly their reason was to improve their situation of pocket money. They took pieces of the wall and sold them to tourists. That was reported in the newspapers. My mother was shortly after the opening of the wall in Berlin and bought several of these pieces that are still today a decoration in her living room."

Amother reader writes, "This image gave the article much impact. The boy and his memory and what he did became part of the political situation that was developing in East Germany at the time. He took part in a momentus event not as a byestander but as a willing helper in the struggle for political change."

It would be facinating to know, but we can not be sure just what was on this Berlin boy's mind. The image does illustrate, however, an important point th HBC constantly makes--children were present throughout the momentous events of history. Historians largely focus on leaders and adults when writing history. Yet the children were there as well. Here we see a young Berliner chipping away at the Wall with the same fervor as the adults around him.

Created: 6:09 PM 10/1/2006
Last updated: 6:09 PM 10/1/2006