© 2024 WLRN
MIAMI | SOUTH FLORIDA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

MDC Unveils Berlin Wall On 25th Anniversary

Jessica Meszaros
/
WLRN

This past Sunday marked 25 years since the Berlin Wall was torn down. A wall that for nearly 30 years cut off the free West Berlin from the communist East Berlin and East Germany.

Miami Dade College commemorated the anniversary by unveiling a four-ton piece of that wall donated by Germany.

It was raining on and off at the downtown Wolfson campus -- similar weather to 25 years ago in Germany when the Berlin Wall was knocked down.

Hundreds of Miamians were wearing complimentary black, red or yellow shirts to view the cement wall. Some enjoying pretzels, sausages and German beer while holding up their umbrellas.

Credit Jessica Meszaros / WLRN
/
WLRN
Just as the piece of the Berlin Wall was unveiled, it started to rain.

MDC president Eduardo Padron says this piece of wall is symbolic for some immigrants in Miami.

"You have a lot of people here from Venezuela, people here from Cuba, people here from a lot of other places that are suffering from totalitarianism that are suffering from communism," he says.

Fabiola Ferradaz has lived here for about 50 years, after leaving Cuba when she was 12. She says having this piece of the Berlin Wall in Miami is important to her.

Credit Jessica Meszaros / WLRN
/
WLRN
Pretzels, sausages and German beer were served at the outdoor event.

"I'm of Cuban descent, so I can sympathize with a country being under communism," she says. "I think it symbolizes the wish of people to become free."

But for Petra Liebl-Osborne, who moved here from Germany 15 years ago, the wall symbolizes something else.

"For me, it's a little piece of home being exported," she says. "And on the other hand, a symbol for the whole world."

More On This Topic