Fall of the (real) Wall remembered

Yesterday was the 15th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down. Or at least people being allowed to climb over it. It was more a day of reflection than celebration, though. Germany still has a lot of problems and people talk about the “Mauer im Kopf” or “Wall in the head” still exisiting.
It’s also the anniversary of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, when Jewish shops and synagogues were openly destroyed by Nazi supporters. So I guess it’s more appropriate to keep the day quiet, and it seemed to be about honouring those who died trying the escape the East more than anything. Anyway, I though this Guardian article was good and this Spiegel article (in English) had some points, even if it was a bit flip in making them.
Fifteen years ago I was 11 years old, and admittedly not too clued up when it came to world affairs. I can't claim to have been in Berlin on that memorable day and I didn't leap on a plane to at least be part of the moment a few days late. You won't see my excited face in those photos of people dancing on the Wall. Hey, I had school to think about (school being the place where they taught no European history).
All I can remember about November '89 is my mother glued to the TV saying, "Shona, it's a historic event, the Wall is coming down!" I knew about something called the Berlin Wall but that was about as far as my expertise went.
My father, on the other hand, was in Berlin in the late 1970s and saw both East and West. As I was a baby, he brought me a German teddy bear home. Maybe that's why I feel a bond with Germany.