beyondBeijing2008.com

MOEDLAREUTH, Germany – It felt like I was in a time warp when a colleague and I recently visited the small village of Moedlareuth, a farming community in central Germany that was once cut in half by the infamous border that divided Germany – known to Americans as the “Berlin Wall.”

Even 19 years after the “fall of the wall” – which led to the final collapse of communist East Germany and to the start of an economically difficult, but unexpectedly smooth reunification process – it was an emotional visit.

Memories of a difficult past were triggered when we saw remains of the old bulwark running through town and sat down at the local museum to watch a film about the dark chapter of German history that luckily culminated on Nov. 9, 1989.