Titanium

From the 7th to the 9th of November 2014 the 15.3 kilometer frontier that once divided the Berlin city center has been re-imagined in light by 8000 illuminated balloons the so called LICHTGRENZE. Running through the heart of Berlin, from Bornholmer Straße to the Oberbaumbrücke.

On the 9th of November the LICHTGRENZE was also the central part of the official memorial festivities of the Federal Republic of Germany. In a televised spectacle 8000 volunteering Berlin citizens, the so called “balloon patrons” released their balloon in a choreographed manner into the Berlin night sky. Each with an attached message related to a personal connection to the Berlin Wall and its fall. The Wall of Light, just like its 1989 solid counterpart, with the help of the citizens literally vanished into thin air.

Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world were strolling along the LICHTGRENZE for 3 days and nights talking, interacting, learning, understanding, enjoying. More than one million people were taking part in the final balloon release event also representing the highest amount of visitors in history for Berlin in November. Thousands of TV, radio and newspaper publications were reporting the event world wide accompanied by countless Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media posts. LICHTGRENZE went from 50 to 250.000 hits on Google in 1 month and became the official “german word of the year” in 2014.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the “Fall of the Berlin Wall” from the 7th to the 9th of November 2014, an extraordinary light installation – The LICHTGRENZE (The Border of Lights) – has been created for 3 days and nights all across the city of Berlin. It was following the 15.3 kilometer long former route of the wall separating the western and eastern part of Berlin.

On the 9th of November the LICHTGRENZE was also the central part of the official joint memorial festivities of Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany. In a televised spectactle 8000 volunteering Berliners, so called “balloon patrons” released their balloon into the Berlin night sky. Each carrying a message describing a personal connection to the Berlin Wall and its fall. Like the original Berlin Wall in 1989 the Berlin Wall of Lights 2014 was dissolved by Berlins citizens.

Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall the differences between the east and west part were clearly visible. But the scar had grown over so fast that no one today could really tell anymore where the wall exactly used to stand. This was the main inspiration for LICHTGRENZE – to mark the Berlin Wall once again and give people an opportunity to discuss its historical impact and understand the importance of its fall as the fundament of todays Berlin.

The use of light was intended as a symbolic nod to the Peaceful Revolution that eventually led to the reunification of Germany. Protests held in in October 1989 saw 70,000 demonstrators protesting against the German Democratic Republic (GDR) authorities, carrying candles as a symbol of their peaceful intentions. A month later the Berlin Wall fell when checkpoints were opened to allow passage between the two halves of the city.