THE fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 led to the re-unification of Germany and paved the way for it to emerge today as the most powerful nation in the European Union and Angela Merkel as the most influential European politician.
To mark the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Chancellor Merkel will walk across the former border crossing at Bornholmer Strasse in northern Berlin accompanied by Lech Walesa, the former Polish president and Michael Gorbachev, the former S
oviet leader.
It was at this point 20 years ago that guards gave up trying to hold back crowds of east Berliners, among them Angela Merkel.
The fall of the Berlin Wall was the high point of the peaceful revolution which spread rapidly across the countries of East Europe during 1989 and transformed the map of the continent almost overnight. It was also a triumph for the people of Europe who took to the streets demanding change without a shot being fired and matched the foresight and courage of those who, following the Second World War, took the first steps to launch what is now the EU.
Mrs Merkel is the first female Chancellor of Germany, the first from the former Communist east, and only the second German chancellor to be invited to address the US Congress – the other was Konrad Adenauer in 1957.
Her recent election victory strengthened her position as Chancellor of Germany, replacing the grand coalition with the Social Democrats with a fully centre right government in coalition with the Free Democrats.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the process towards German re-unification became unstoppable despite the opposition of Margaret Thatcher who thought Germany would become too powerful and a threat to peace. The re-unification of Germany was formally concluded in October 3, 1990, and paved the way for the emergence of Germany as the most powerful and influential EU country.
It was also an exhilarating time for members of the European Parliament. Three days after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a meeting was held in Lisbon followed by one in Berlin to discuss "the common future of Europe" when Willie Brandt, himself a former MEP, spoke of his serious doubts that Germany would unite.
In November, Chancellor Kohl of Germany and President Mitterrand of France came to Strasbourg to address the European Parliament. And in January 1990 Alexander Dubcek from Czechoslovakia arrived in Strasbourg to attend Parliament and receive his Sakharov Prize. Members of the European Parliament in the Socialist group, which included British Labour MEPs, met in Berlin in February, visited the Reichstag, and made a ceremonial crossing which was claimed to be the first group of westerners to pass through the Brandenburg Gate.
A high-profile public hearing was held in the Volksbuhne Theatre in East Berlin with Nowegian Prime Minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland, as keynote speaker amid great excitement and a feeling of renewal. The European Parliament set up a temporary committee on the unification of Germany in February 1990, meetings were arranged in Germany and with the European Commission, and President Mitterrand made a state visit to East Germany.
Jacques Delors insisted there had to be a European answer to the historic challenges, saying that a new and larger Germany had to be consolidated into the greater Europe and lose its own currency.
The East Germans had their own election in March, a decision to opt for unification followed, Gorbachev made it clear the Russians would not intervene, and political union with West Germany took place on October 3, 1990.
All-German elections were held a month later. It was agreed after much debate that in order to reflect its 16.7 million new citizens, Germany could have 99 MEPs in total, and the accession of a new country took place without the normal years of negotiation.
The fall of the Berlin Wall has led to the emergence of a new Berlin, a vibrant European city, much changed since my first visit there when, along with a group of students from Bradford Technical College where I was teaching, I queued at Checkpoint Charlie to enter East Berlin. Today Berlin is a building site, an exciting workshop, a place for experimentation, a meeting place for architects, artists, musicians who are rebuilding the city and returning it to its former glory and magnificence.
German unification has still a long way to go in terms of full economic convergence and the level of unemployment in the east is twice the level in the west.
Nevertheless, the quality of life in the six eastern Lander, or states, has improved dramatically and added six years to average life expectancy.
The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for the emergence of Germany as the most powerful country in the European Union and Mrs Merkel as the most influential politician in Europe.
Mrs Merkel, who took to the streets of Germany demanding the fall of the Berlin Wall, has been given a new and strengthened mandate by the voters of her country. How she uses that mandate will determine the future course of Europe.
Michael McGowan is a former MEP for Leeds and President of the Development Committee of the European Parliament.