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Late December 1989 was an interesting time for me, particularly the 22nd. I was working in the labs at the Distillers Co., having gone straight there after school. The Christmas season was always an eye-opener. Typically, we’d head out for a departmental Christmas lunch at a pre-planned venue. With money accrued over the year, food, booze, and transport were all paid for in advance. Returning to work mid-afternoon, there was nothing left to do but wait for ‘Dear Colleagues,’ which involved a massive buffet laid out in the conference room, accompanied by free booze from the Distillers Co. catalogue of brands—everything from Talisker to Malibu and everything in between. It was always a messy affair, full of laughs, the occasional fight, and plenty of stories about past indiscretions.
By that time, I had a few years of working experience under my belt and had become accustomed to the excesses of a Distillers Christmas. You just went with the flow, drank the odd pint of water, and kept the food coming.
As ‘Dear Colleagues’ fizzled out, some went home to prepare for the evening festivities, while others retired hurt. Most of us would pile into a convoy of mini-buses and head to the DC disco, usually held in the function suite at Hillfoots RFC. The suite, located on the second floor of the clubhouse, had a dance floor that would bounce when things were in full swing. Quite alarming when sober, but not a concern for most of us by that time.
By now, you’re probably wondering, ‘Where is this all leading?’
Well, I went home that evening, worse for wear, to the most amazing thing. I staggered in to find my parents watching the breaking news… for the first time in 38 years, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin was open, and thousands of Berliners, East and West, were crossing and mingling in Pariser Platz.
The Berlin Wall was in the process of being hacked apart by the people of the city with whatever tools came to hand. It had begun in early November while the border guards looked on, unable, and probably unwilling, to stop the people from both sides from engaging in handshakes, hugs, and the mutual destruction of that hated barrier, which had segregated families and communities for decades. December 22ndwas when it really hit home that things had changed. The gate, closed on Sunday, August 13th, 1961, was officially reopened with Western Chancellor Kohl and Eastern Prime Minister Modrow walking toward each other and sharing a handshake. Writing this, I’m feeling quite emotional about it 35 years later – on that night, I sobered up very quickly while witnessing that historic moment.
Three days later, on Christmas Day, Leonard Bernstein led the Berlin Philharmonic in a rendition of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at the newly opened Brandenburg Gate. The choral movement “Ode to Joy” was particularly poignant, with “Freude” (Joy) changed to “Freiheit” (Freedom) for the performance. This was even more significant because, earlier in July of 1989, Herbert von Karajan had passed away at the age of 81. He would have been aware of the changes that were beginning but had not lived to see his beloved Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance.
Coincidence or hindsight, call it what you wish, but 1989 also saw a few notable events in the lead-up to reconciliation. As early as January 14th, Paul McCartney had released the Beatles’ “Back in the USSR” exclusively in the USSR. The ten-year Soviet-Afghan war ended in February, along with Iran placing a $3m bounty on the head of Salman Rushdie after the publication of The Satanic Verses. March saw Tim Berners-Lee submit the proposal document that became the blueprint for the World Wide Web, and on April 1st, Margaret Thatcher’s new local government tax (poll tax) was introduced in Scotland. Later that month, we had Hillsborough, where 94 Liverpool supporters lost their lives in Sheffield. In May, over 1 million Chinese protesters marched through Tiananmen Square demanding greater democracy, which ultimately led to a huge government crackdown on dissidents. Most of us will remember the unknown protester simply referred to as “Tank Man.” The Moscow Music Peace Festival was held on August 11th and 12th in the USSR, and various former Communist Bloc countries began the road to democracy, opening their borders and freeing their people.
So, Christmas and that year’s celebrations were more than memorable for a wide variety of reasons—some good and some not so good. The flavor of European and global politics tilted on its axis, but jumping forward to the here and now, some things are reverting, with a notional wall being erected a little farther to the East. Thankfully, we have the work of the gentleman who is now Sir Tim Berners-Lee, enabling us to reach out and make the world a smaller place where ideologies can be discussed and shared, friends can be made at a distance, and music is easily available to all to calm and uplift the soul.
It wouldn’t be me without looking at the music of the time and sharing that with you. So, in a similar vein as before, here is my take on what 1989 had to offer me…
But before we get to the music, here are a few before/after photos: the three black-and-white ones show the gate at the end of WWII pre-division, the day the gate was closed with tanks in the way, and the route the wall took around the gate. The colour pics are post-reunification, except the one with the people standing on the wall, which was November 1989, when it all started to happen.
