On Nov. 9, former Soviet leader and Bryan Series speaker Mikhail Gorbachev was cheered at an event commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago.
The New York Times reported that Gorbachev and Lech Walesa joined German chancellor Angela Merkel in making a symbolic walk across the Bornholmer Strasse bridge. They were retracing the steps of the first East Germans, Merkel included, surging to West Berlin when the wall crumbled.
"The bridge was packed shoulder to shoulder with people, and the biggest cheer came when Mrs. Merkel thanked Mr. Gorbachev for the reforming attitude he brought to the Soviet leadership. The crowd chanted, 'Gorby, Gorby, Gorby,'" the Times reported.
Gorbachev spoke in the Bryan Series in October 2004.
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