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Staff writer

The evening of Nov. 9, 1989, was warm as Johannes Peter sensed something was about to happen and joined others at the Berlin Wall.

He was there when the gates opened and people were allowed to freely cross from East Berlin to West Berlin.

And 20 years later, Johannes Peter was there again, at the site of Checkpoint Charlie, relaying his experiences then and now to students and faculty members gathered at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Coon Rapids.

Johannes Peter participated in a live video conference in the college’s cafeteria.

The Nov. 9 conference was organized by Stephan Peter, Johannes’ brother and an Anoka-Ramsey Community College faculty member.

Under an umbrella sheltering him from the rain, Johannes Peter stood at Checkpoint Charlie, describing for those gathered in Coon Rapids, what life was like when the wall stood 20 years before.

According to Johannes Peter, Checkpoint Charlie was an international crossing point for those with stamped passports to travel from West Berlin into East Berlin.

Johannes also described that night 20 years ago, when things changed.

He said he gathered from news reports and statements from leaders that something was about to happen.

Nothing had been announced, but Johannes said he sensed a change was coming and went to the Berlin Wall.

Sometime that evening, the gates were opened and people could freely cross between East and West Berlin.

Both Johannes and Stephan Peter described for those assembled how people from East Berlin began traveling to West Berlin.

The front pages of East Berlin newspapers printed maps of West Berlin the following day so that East Berliners wouldn’t get lost.

“The whole day it was full of people,” Johannes Peter said.

He described how people started tearing down the wall, because to feel and destroy it was a part of working out their feelings about the wall.

Johannes Peter also shared what the area is like today, turning his camera to show those gathered a sign designating Checkpoint Charlie.

Today the area is enjoying growth, he said.

The Berlin Wall was constructed on a road that ran through the historic shopping district.

With its removal, shops in the area are again flourishing and people come to the area to pay homage to what has happened.

Besides the video conference, complete with a question and answer session, the walls behind the video screen were filled with reminders of the Berlin Wall.

Art students had created a replica of the Berlin Wall, complete with graffiti.

There were also pages taken from Johannes Peter’s book about the Berlin Wall.

Rep. Jerry Newton, DFL-Coon Rapids, who was stationed in the area while serving in the military in the late 1960s, also shared his experiences with those gathered.

The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 by East Germany to separate West Berlin from East Germany.

The wall came to symbolize the Iron Curtain between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc.

Prior to the erection of the wall, 3.5 million East Germans had avoided Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions by escaping into West Germany, many over the border between East and West Berlin.

The wall included guard towers along large concrete walls circumscribing a wide area containing anti-vehicle trenches and other defenses.

This area came to be called the “death strip.” From the time the wall was erected in 1961 until it fell in 1989, approximately 5,000 people attempted to escape from the east to the west. Estimated deaths range from 98 to 200 people.

Kelly Johnson is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it