The borders were open, but would they stay that way? The urge to react to the fall of the Wall was omnipresent after November 9, 1989. Theatres, stadiums, and concert halls in West Berlin spontaneously opened their events to audiences with GDR passports on the weekend after the Wall had come down. Those who showed their East German passport were admitted free of charge. A spontaneous festival at the Deutschlandhalle went even further: free admission for all! On Sunday, November 12, the "Concert for Berlin" took place. Not far from the exhibition grounds in West Berlin, the free event was aimed at young people from East and West.
"The fact that we're together like this now is something we owe to the demonstrators and the democracy movement in the GDR!", Udo Lindenberg cheerfully shouted, met by overwhelming encouragement from the audience. For years, the artist had not been allowed to perform in the GDR, although he had campaigned for a tour there since 1976. Now, three days after the fall of the Wall, audiences from East and West gave him a rapturous welcome. Especially his text passages that are openly critical of the dictatorship in the East were met with resounding approval. The singer expressed his strong belief that more changes were coming. But not everyone was convinced that the Wall would remain open.
The situation at the border was still uncertain, to the point that the organising team had to move the festival from the grounds by the Reichstag building to the Deutschlandhalle. Inside rather than outside and far away from the border guards of the GDR. Nevertheless, it could be heard on the streets, as countless people hung their radios out of their windows and filled the streets with the live broadcast. This way, too, word of the concert spread. In the end, it lasted eleven hours and attracted a good 50,000 people who came to the concert hall throughout the day.
Stars from all over the world took part: Joe Cocker and Die Toten Hosen were among those who interrupted their current tours for this. Nina Hagen, BAP and Udo Lindenberg were well-known to all from the radio. But it was mainly the audience from the East that sang along enthusiastically when GDR bands like Pankow, Silly and Die Zöllner took their turn.
The joint performances of the artists created a rousing atmosphere. When the Wall was mentioned, the audience chanted: "Tear it down, tear it down, tear it down!" Young people from the GDR were hopeful that it would not be the last festival they celebrated with music enthusiasts from the other side of the city. A montage of the performances was even screened at the Berlinale a few weeks later, underlining how much the evening’s joyful frenzy hit the zeitgeist.
