THE opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was of extra significance to long-standing Denshaw resident Baerbel Grayson.
Last month (November) marked 30 years since former East German citizens, denied free access to friends and family in the west for 38 years, were given permission to cross the border.
Less than 12 months after the historic moment, the re-unification of Germany was completed.
So, when Denshaw village cinema marked the November 9 anniversary by showing Balloon – the true escape story of two East German families in a home-made, hot-air balloon – Baerbel took the opportunity to introduce both showings.
A cinema volunteer and retired German teacher, Baerbel described how, on November 9, 1989, she had arrived home from work at Blue Coat School and was cooking the family meal.
“My youngest son, then 13 years old, rushed into the kitchen claiming he had seen the Berlin Wall opening.
“Unbelieving, I followed him into the sitting room to see for myself the historic event unfolding.
“The meal that night never got cooked as I finished up sitting in front of the TV crying; crying for the fact a carbuncle on the landscape of Europe was being demolished.
“Crying for the opportunity my friends and family in East Germany would now have to enjoy the same freedom with which I had grown up in West Germany.”
Baerbel added: “But the event unfolding wasn’t just happening at the Berlin Wall, it happened all over the German border.
“I lived about an hour’s drive from the wall and would sometimes go and look at the wall and the watchtowers staffed with two or three border guards.
“There were villages on either side where families used to be together. But once the border was established people on either side couldn’t do what families usually do.
“Once a year, when I worked at Blue Coat, I would take groups of 50 children to Germany and one of the visits was to the border.
“The kids used to find it incredible and to bring something they might not even have been aware of or never discussed with their parents, to bring that so near to them was quite an experience.”
Balloon is a reminder history was made only a handful of decades ago when Iron Curtain countries threw off their Communist shackles.
“I had family in East Germany and I remember an uncle of mine would load up his car with many things unavailable in the east and would go to visit.
“The film makes it quite clear what life in East Germany was like.
“People were watched all the time by government spies of the Stasi who were everywhere.
“Just about everybody spied on everyone else. We even had couples in the clergy where one agreed to spy on the spouse and report any derogatory remarks about the state.
“And this was heart-breaking when it all came out when the Stasi files were released for public viewing.”
The year after the wall opened Baerbel and her husband visited East Germany to see relatives, some for the first time.
“The infrastructure was completely outdated-pre-World War II. It almost bankrupted west Germany to update the infrastructure which then became some of the best in Europe.
“We went to see an uncle of mine who owned a small farm and joy of joy he let my husband drive his Trabbie (Trabant) round the village.
“We spent the whole day with him which was lovely. I was glad I met him because I could talk about all the things my mother had told me about the family on the other side of the fence.”
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