Emotional stories about the fall of the Berlin Wall

With the slogan "25 Years - 25 Stories" the capital’s marketing campaign be Berlin invited Berlin’s entrepreneurs to tell their personal company story and to explain how the fall of the Berlin Wall influenced the development of their company. An editorial team selected the top 25 stories out of 180 submissions. “Our goal was to put a face to all those companies and to introduce the stories to the public,” said Melanie Bähr, Managing Director of Berlin Partner.

"Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Berlin has developed into a dynamic and innovative metropolis which attracts talents from all over the world", explained Dr. Stefan Franzke, Managing Director of Berlin Partner.

One is the story of Wolfgang M. Sacher, Managing Partner of GO!. "The Time Magazine in New York called me on the morning of November 10, 1989, and asked if we could bring the rolls of film taken the night before by the magazine’s photographers from Berlin to New York - for the cover of the following Monday’s issue," said Sacher. Thus began a race against time.

Back in the GDR era, Petra Hoyer secretly sold Havana cigars and self-made fashion. Until the day the mid-twenty year old single mother faced the decision of her life. “After the fall of the Berlin Wall, everything was turned upside-down. I had to decide quickly whether I should take a secure job or go into business myself”, said Hoyer. Today her company is the largest of its kind run by a woman in eastern Germany. How it turned to be like this and how Hoyer was able to prevail in the sometimes harsh and male-dominated world can be read here: http://www.be.berlin.de/petra-hoyer

More company stories: http://www.be.berlin.de/25stories

CONTACT:

Annabell Noll

Spokeswoman

phone +49 30 46302-599

e-mail: annabell.noll@berlin-partner.de\