The 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall
Germany kicked off celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the epochal fall of the Berlin Wall Friday. An installation featuring 8,000 white balloons pegged to the ground along a 15-kilometre stretch of the Wall’s former 155-kilometre path are illuminated. The glowing orbs, which from above will look like a long string of pearls, are to be released Sunday from their ropes and set free into the night sky, to the stirring strains of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”.
A person passes by the installation 'Lichtgrenze' (Border of Light) in front of a painting depicting former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev kissing his East German counterpart Erich Honecker (R) along the East Side Gallery, the largest remaining part of the former Berlin Wall.HANNIBAL HANSCHKE/Reuters
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev^makes an impression with his hands in cement as he visits the former Berlin Wall border crossing point Checkpoint Charlie.HANNIBAL HANSCHKE/Reuters
The installation 'Lichtgrenze' (Border of Light) along a former Berlin Wall location is illuminated at Garten Strasse in Berlin.PAWEL KOPCZYNSKI/Reuters
A light installation of balloons tethered to lamps illuminates the course of the Berlin Wall along the Spree River near government buildings.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
A light installation of balloons tethered to lamps illuminates the course of the Berlin Wall along the Spree River two days before the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Wall.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
People watch the start of the light installation Lichtgrenze (Light border) on the course of the former Berlin wall.TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP / Getty Images
People pass by a light installation of balloons tethered to lamps illuminating the course of the Berlin Wall near the Reichstag.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
A row of lanterns that are part of the light installation Lichtgrenze (Light border) on the course of the former Berlin wall are pictured next to the television tower in Berlin.TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP / Getty Images
A part of the inner city of Berlin will be temporarily divided from November 7 to 9, with a light installation featuring 8000 luminous white balloons to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.HANNIBAL HANSCHKE/Reuters
People walk under stands with balloons placed along the former Berlin Wall location at East Side Gallery, which will be used in the installation 'Lichtgrenze' (Border of Light) in Berlin.HANNIBAL HANSCHKE/Reuters