Germany marks 25 years since fall of the Berlin Wall

With the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, Toronto’s German National Tourist Office met with travel media at the Goethe-Institut this week, discussing the evolution of tourism in the country since the milestone event.

Following the division of Germany into East and West after World War II, construction on the wall began in 1961 as Soviet-controlled East Germany sought to physically separate the two nations. Mounting opposition to the division on both sides of the wall reached its height in the late 1980s, culminating in a protest of some 70,000 Germans in the city of Leipzig on Oct. 9, 1989 - the wall would fall down one month later on Nov. 9. 

The official reunification of Germany took place on Oct. 3, 1990.

To mark the occasion of the ‘Peaceful Revolution’ in Leipzig, a Light Festival will take place this Nov. 9 along the wall’s 3.6 kilometre route, with a light installation tracing the path and a festival atmosphere with photography displays and musical performances.

Like every other aspect of life in Germany, the fall of the Berlin Wall impacted travel and tourism, as a formerly closed-off region became accessible again.

“Life not only changed for the people living in East Germany, but for people in the outside world too,” said Antje Splettstoesser, the GNTO's director marketing & sales in Canada. “The East all of a sudden opened up and became accessible to everyone else, including travellers.”

Between 1993 and 2013, Germany has seen an increase of 37.2 million inbound overnight stays (with 71.9 million overnight stays  in 2013 alone); during that 20 year period, Berlin saw an increase of more than 500 per cent in overnight stays, ballooning from approximately 1.9 million in 1993 to more than 11.56 million in 2013.

Of Germany’s 39 UNESCO World Heritage sites, 10 are located in the former East Germany.

For 2014, the GNTO is anticipating a total inbound travel increase of between one and three per cent, representing 72.6 to 74.1 million overnight stays. Looking ahead to 2020, the board is anticipating 80 million overnight stays from international visitors.