Berlin Wall - 20 years later (48 photos)

20 years ago on the night of November 9, 1989, after weeks of pro-democracy protests, East German authorities opened the border with West Germany. After 28 years of imprisonment in their own country, residents of eastern Germany flocked to checkpoints past astonished guards. Many people ran into the arms of their West German family and friends in tears. Thousands of Germans and world leaders gathered in Berlin on November 9, 2009 to celebrate “Mauerfall,” the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification, and to remember the 100 to 200 who died trying to cross the border. This issue contains photographs from different years related to the Berlin Wall.

1. Smoke from fireworks surrounds the quadriga of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin after the end of the official ceremony in honor of the anniversary of German reunification on November 9, 2009. (LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images)

2. In this photo, a man hits the Berlin Wall with a hammer on November 12, 1989, after the border between East and West Germany was demolished after 28 years. (AP Photo/John Gaps III)

3. A boy waves to soldiers on the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate on November 10, 1989. (John Tlumacki/Boston Globe staff)

4. People stand on the part of the Berlin Wall on Potsdamer Platz that was opened. on the morning of November 11, 1989. (John Tlumacki/Boston Globe staff)

5. Soldiers control the crowd after the fall of part of the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz on November 11, 1989. (John Tlumacki/Boston Globe staff)

6. Residents of East Berlin help residents of West Berlin to climb the wall on November 10, 1989. (AP Photo/Jockel Finck)

7. East Berlin border guards stand on the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate on November 11, 1989. (REUTERS/Staff/File)

8. East German border police refuse a handshake from a Berliner while standing on the east side near Checkpoint Charlie on November 10, 1989 after the border opened. (AP Photo/Lutz Schmidt, File)

9. A circus bear on its hind legs crosses the border into West Berlin through the demolished part of the wall at Potsdamer Platz on November 11, 1989. (John Tlumacki/Boston Globe staff)

10. East German Border Guard soldiers in the opening of a part of the wall demolished by demonstrators at the Brandenburg Gate on November 11, 1989. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

11. Residents of West Germany applaud East German citizens as they cross Point Charlie in their cars on November 10, 1989. Thousands of East Germans moved to West Berlin after the East German government opened its borders. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

12. Residents of West Berlin continue to sit on the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate on November 10, 1989. (REUTERS/David Brauchli)

12. a) Cars drive through the Brandenburg Gate on November 1, 1999. (REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch)

13. This photo shows the German Reichstag building (left) with the Berlin Wall on November 10, 1989. (GERARD MALIE/JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images)

13. a) And in this photo the same place, only without the wall, 20 years later on October 20, 2009. (GERARD MALIE/JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images)

14. In this photo, two young men pose in front of the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on June 6, 1989. (REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch)

14. a) And this photo shows a general view of Eberstrasse and the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on July 14, 2009. (REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch)

15. a) General view of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on July 14, 2009. (REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch)

15. a) General view of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on July 14, 2009. (REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch)

16. An actress dressed as an angel stands on the roof of a building in Berlin on November 9, 2009. Eight actors with artificial wings were part of the installation "Angels over Berlin", symbolizing the fate of various people in Berlin before the demolition of the Berlin Wall. (REUTERS/Christian Charisius)

17. Among the roses left by visitors, the couple peers through the six remaining sections of the Berlin Wall into the so-called “death zone,” where East German soldiers were ordered to shoot anyone who tried to flee to West Berlin. The photo was taken at the monument on Bernauer Strasse on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall on November 9, 2009 in Berlin, Germany. (Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

18. Detailed view of a scale model of the Berlin Wall along the line of the original wall in central Berlin on November 8, 2009. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)

19. A tourist poses with a scale model of the Berlin Wall near the original wall in central Berlin on November 8, 2009. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)

20. People walk in front of the original 10-piece wall at a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall in Los Angeles, California, November 9, 2009. (MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

21. Hammers and sickles are built into part of the former Berlin Wall at an exhibition in Moscow on November 9, 2009. (DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP/Getty Images)

22. People look at a 3.5-meter ice wall, which is part of an exhibition entitled "Work in Progress" representing the Berlin Wall, near the German embassy in London on November 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

A woman walks past tiles of the former Berlin Wall with the number of people killed each year while trying to escape to eastern Germany, at the Mary-Elisabeth Lüders House monument of the German parliament in Berlin on November 7, 2009. (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images)

24. A man walks past graffiti symbolizing parts of the Berlin Wall at an exhibition in central Sofia, Bulgaria, November 9, 2009. The art project, entitled “The Wall 20 Years Later,” commemorates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall and the Iron Curtain in Europe. (REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov)

25. A woman dressed as an angel takes part in the dress rehearsal of a theatrical production on the roof of Berlin on November 4, 2009. (MICHAEL KAPPELER/AFP/Getty Images)

26. Red roses were left in the cracks of the remaining part of the Berlin Wall during a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall in Berlin on November 9, 2009. (DAVID GANNON/AFP/Getty Images)

27. U2's Bono performs in front of the Brandenburg Gate on November 5, 2009 in Berlin, Germany. U2 performed a free concert supported by MTV Europe in honor of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

28. Spectators look at huge foam dominoes standing on the site of the former Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate on November 9, 2009 in Berlin. Around 1,000 dominoes, painted by schoolchildren and artists from around the world, symbolized the end of communist rule in Eastern Europe and marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in the German capital. (Henning Schacht-Pool/Getty Images)

29. Guard of honor with torches at Bellevue Castle on November 9, 2009 in Berlin. Berlin is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which led to the end of communist rule in East Germany and the reunification of the country. (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

30. Violinists on pedestals symbolizing the Berlin Wall play at the Place de la Concorde in Paris on November 9, 2009 during celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

31. Spectators view huge foam dominoes at the site of the former Berlin Wall near the Brandenburg Gate on November 9, 2009 in Berlin. (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

32. From left to right: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkazy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, German President Horst Köhler, Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton walk through the Brandenburg Gate during the 20th anniversary celebrations. anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in the German capital on November 9, 2009. (Michele Tantussi/Bloomberg)

33. People watch fireworks in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on November 9, 2009 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. (ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images)

34. Former Polish President Lech Walesa makes a gesture of approval before pushing the first dominoes along the route of the former Berlin Wall on November 9, 2009, during celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. (ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images)

35. Dominos fall along the former route of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Eckehard Schulz)

Spectators watch huge foam dominoes fall along the route of the former Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate on November 9, 2009 in Berlin. (Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

37. People take pictures of fallen dominoes near the Reichstag building in Berlin on November 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Fabian Bimmer)

38. A tourist walks along the old line of the Berlin Wall near Checkpoint Charlie in central Berlin on November 7, 2009. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)