Angela Merkel sopke to BILD as Germany marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The German Chancellor was still a physicist in East Berlin when the dramatic events of November 9 1989 played out, and she spoke to BILD about the momentous day.

BILD: Chancellor, everybody knows that on the evening of fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, you were sitting in a sauna and then went to West Berlin. Where were you on the tenth? 

Merkel: Shortly after seven in the morning I was already at my desk at the Academy of Sciences. In the evening I went to West Berlin again with my sister.

BILD: Were you already thinking about reunification then?

Merkel: No, not concretely. Many of my friends had hoped for an individual ‘third way’. I saw it differently. I was not sad at all that with the fall of the Berlin Wall all theoretical chances for some kind of socialistic GDR vanished. 

BILD: When was the first time you became were aware of Helmut Kohl, politically?

Merkel: When he became Chancellor in 1982. At home, we treasured Helmut Schmidt very much, but I found the malice aimed at Helmut Kohl there unfair. I well recall when I observed the [East German leader Erich] Honecker visit with Helmut Kohl in Bonn in 1987. I watched Eastern and Western TV at the same time and remember how different the viewpoints of the commentators were. 

BILD: And in the days after the Wall came down?

Merkel: I found Helmut Kohl determined and level-headed. I was speechless when shortly after the fall Kohl was booed in front of the Schöneberg Town Hall.  

BILD: Life in the GDR changed fast and completely...

Merkel: For many people it was a big change and a drastic upheaval. Although, the carpet wasn’t pulled out from under people’s feet right away. Life went on.

People lived in the same homes with the same furniture and slept in the same bed. And there are workers who are still employed by the same companies today.

BILD: After the ‘Wende’ (‘Turning Point’), there was a collision of two ways of thinking about freedom, security and social justice. How do you rank these values? 

Merkel: I don’t want to lose freedom for any price. And I want a kind of freedom that offers people as much security as possible. 

BILD: What will you do over the next four years to develop this freedom?

Merkel: People need to have work. That’s my central focus for the next four years. To be able to make your own money, and be in control of it is a big part of personal freedom. The state must help those who need help.

But somebody who can live from their own energy should be given the chance to do so. 

BILD: Is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall different than previous anniversaries? 

Merkel: It is interesting that the 20th anniversary is getting so much more attention than the tenth anniversary. There is a desire in many people to find out more about it. Many people even ask me about my experiences of my time in the GDR. Not until now have many people been interested in what daily life was like. 

BILD: November 9 isn’t just the date when the Wall came down in 1989, but also of the burning of synagogues in 1938. How do you explain how the German people were capable of both? 

Merkel: For burning synagogues and the Holocaust I have no explanation. It was and remains incomprehensible.

BILD: There are over 30 state and government leaders in Berlin to celebrate the anniversary. What should they take home with them? 

Merkel: It should be a day of memories of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It should remind us all what unbelievable joy we had with the reunification of Germany and Europe. The Brandenburg Gate is a symbol for the whole world of the fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of the Cold War. All Germans and Europeans can be happy about the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago. And actually also the whole world.

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