Austria

Andreas Würfl, at the army in 1989

What was the sense of November 9th for you in 1989?
In this year I have been a reserve soldier in the Austrian army. When November 9th arised it was finally clear that the threat of our neighbors, imaged in that time as enemies, simply disappeared from one day to another. After years of tension in the hot “Cold War” with Pershing II and so on, we were able to feel for the first time an easing. The hope for long termed peace in Europe has been strengthened enormously. It was a good day for all of us.

What is the meaning of the event today?
The year 1989 marked the beginning of the best chance which Europe ever got in history. This is something I also try to give further and communicate to my children every day. From nowadays perspective I have to state that the chance was also used, even though a lot more would have been possible.

Which is the day you remember first from 1989?
Unforgettable are the days when the first citizens of the German Democratic Republic entered Austria via Hungary. I have been active in a student fraternity during my studies and we created an “open house” for GDR refugees out of our fraternity building. In short time many people found that out and also came to celebrate with us. Although we organised enough beer for everybody, the request for bananas and cola was unstoppable. We just had Pepsi Cola, but our visitors didn’t mind. We were really surprised when we saw that and within two hours all supermarkets in the area have been sold out of bananas.

What should be 2039?
Enough bananas for everybody… I hope for the European integration of the Balkan states and eventually Moldova as well as Ukraine. We need strong partnership and close agreements with Russia and Turkey. The European common and security policy must be our next target and should be functioning properly that time. Important for me would be a wider consciousness of all groups in our societies, that all of us are Europeans. A reduction of tasks for the national states makes definitely sense.

Philipp Niederschick, four years old in 1989

What was Iron Curtain for you?
As having felt the direct social effects of the Iron Curtain for only the first four years of my life, I cannot relate to this topic from personal memories, whereas from later on gathered knowledge. In such frame, the Iron Curtain was the separation between free countries and totalitarian systems, the cleavage in between free market and command economy, but most of all, it represented an unwanted limit in between citizens of the same continent - Europe. A more emotional approach should not be overseen, therefore I have to mention that the more impressive impact of it was the splitting in between mentalities of people, a gap which we are still trying to fight even nowadays: mentalities shaped by rights and liberties (such as freedom of speech) and mentalities kept under control by strong propaganda and fear.

What means the fall of the wall twenty years after?
While answering to this question, I should take into account that Austria has long been seen as a 'transit country'. In many ways I would agree to such a label, but adding a more metaphorical touch to it, and saying that Austria was more of a bridge in between West and East. Still being somehow the border line in between old Member States and new Member States, such international context was reflected in Austria mostly in the mixture of cultures that can be witnessed especially in the big cities of the country. Influences from the West side of Europe were kept where they were considered to be beneficial, and inputs from the more Eastern societies were welcomed, along with immigration. Therefore, the initial purpose of the fall of the wall was achieved, and stood as a guarantee for the continuous process of European Enlargement. Without this historical moment, nothing seen today would have been possible: no free common market, no free travelling, no direct transfer in between people and people's culture. And I am witness of all this and a beneficiary of a happening which took place years ago.

What should be 2039?
Considering that no sacrifice should be taken for granted by latter generations, I strongly believe that it is our generation's duty to ensure that the enforcement of totalitarian rule should never happen again, and on the other hand, we should ensure that the road to democracy is facile to the younger states that just entered or are about to enter the European Union. With such perspectives and such realistic efforts in store, I make of 2039 a year of celebration in all democratic European states, a year in which economical and political gaps will be over passed by all Member States. I mentioned this because of a saying that goes around mostly in the Eastern countries, which consists of the following words: 'It will take old communistic states at least 50 years to reach the Western level of living'. I surely hope that by 2039 we will look back and witness that it took Europe less than 50 years to level all its Members. We will actively participate in this upper goal, using the most important European instruments we are freely given now: the European values.