Witnessing
history in the making
"Hearing
of the events in Berlin I flew in to the city from my base
in London. I'd grown up in the shadow of the Cold War and
to be a witness to this momentous piece of history was thrilling."
- Richard
Moore
|
Some
amusing anecdotes from Berlin
The
autumn of 1989 was political history in the making. People power
across Central and Eastern Europe was forcing communist governments
to give up their grip on power.
For
anyone interested in politics it was astounding, for a journalist
it was breathtaking.
I
had thought about flying down to Romania from London when the revolution
began there but could not get the time off. I regretted that and
so when the Berlin Wall opened I just had to go there.
Two
photographer friends of mine and I flew into Tempelhof airport and
arrived amid absolute chaos. We had no accommodation booked and,
of course, the city was overcrowded with East Berliners and media
contingents from around the globe.
It
took us an afternoon to find a place to stay - a private apartment
owned by an elderly gentleman whose son lived with him. It was comfortable
and warm, as European apartments are, and then we set off to check
out the Wall.
Over
the next few days and nights we walked for blinking miles, saw plenty
of remarkable things - including a snowfight over the Wall - and
photographed a part of history.
The
weather was very cold -12C at night with 30cm of snow - and during
the day it got to about -8C.
The
cold affected our camera batteries and also our fingers. In the
digital age you have no idea how difficult it is to change rolls
of film when your fingers are frozen to the bone.
That
said the Berliners were great and so was their beer and pork. Their
boiled sausages you can keep though.
My
time in Berlin was exciting and I hope my photos give you an idea
of the times and show the sheer joy of
East Germans released from communist shackles and West Germans able
to meet with their friends and families again.
-
Richard Moore
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