Watch: eight Vine videos to relive the historic fall of the Berlin Wall

Watch: eight Vine videos to relive the historic fall of the Berlin Wall
By Euronews
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To mark the 25th anniversary of the tumbling of the Berlin Wall, we have brought together eight key videos, to help you relive this era-defining moment in European history.

1961: construction of the Berlin Wall
This is footage of the Berlin Wall being constructed in 1961. It was originally made of cinder and barbed wire, before later being replaced by concrete. It stretched for 45km through Berlin, dividing the city in two. It extended for a further 120km around west Berlin, separating it from the rest of East Germany. Watch the full video

August 19, 1989: The picnic that changed history
The first holes in the Iron Curtain appeared on the Austrian-Hungarian border on August 19, 1989. The occasion, a peace demonstration called the Pan-European Picnic, saw the border gate symbolically opened for three hours. It happened on the road from Sankt Margarethen im Burgenland (Austria) to Sopronkőhida (Hungary). German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, speaking in 1990, said it was this event in Hungary that saw “the first stone knocked out of the [Berlin] wall.” Watch the full video

November 1989: Chipping away at the Berlin Wall
Here young and old get involved in chipping away at the Berlin Wall, ahead of heavy machinery arriving to move things along much faster. Watch the full video

November 9 1989: Police passive as the Berlin Wall begins to tumble
This footage shows crowds beginning to cross the Berlin Wall outside the city’s Brandenburg Gate. Then, as sections begin to fall, we see the symbolically-important image of police looking on, passively. Watch the full video

November 9, 1989: Celebrations as Berlin Wall begins to fall
These are the joyous scenes on the night the Berlin Wall began to tumble, on November 9, 1989. Watch the full video

November 9, 1989: Families reunited as wall tumbles
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, thousands crossed over to be reunited with their families and friends. During the night, many of them gathered on the streets of Berlin to celebrate. Watch the full video

November 9, 1989: Joy as friends and family are reunited
This footage shows the thousands who waited until daylight to cross over the Berlin Wall, the smiles and laughter evident as families and friends are reunited. Watch the full video

November 13, 1989: Rostropóvich plays during fall of Berlin Wall
Russian musician Mstislav Rostropóvich, one of the best cellists of the 20th century, performed as people were destroying the Berlin Wall on November 11, 1989. Rostropóvich had his Soviet citizenship restored in 1990. He died in 2007 after being treated for cancer. Watch the full video

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