"During the course of the first six months of 1990, it was possible to see how the old city had gradually started to re-emerge again. The city's wounds were slowly beginning to heal. As of a certain point, the Wall (this previously awe-inspiring construction) started looking somewhat strange in its half-demolished state and people were no longer scared of it. Access was barred because it had fallen into disrepair and become dangerous.
At the beginning of May, the section of the Wall that ran between Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate had to a large extent disappeared and the entire breadth of the street was uncovered once again. At the time it was still possible to follow the former course of the Wall – there were the odd fragments of the Wall here and there until they too finally completely disappeared in June and were replaced by a hoarding. A handful of curious onlookers still hung around, although not as many as before.
Back then I found it remarkable that one of the first things to be done was to restore the Brandenburg Gate – a telling sign of both its significance in German history and for German unification."
Dagmar Lipper (West Berlin)
