A friend and I drove for hours into Berlin one day in 1989 to observe people chipping small bits off the Wall for souvenirs. That was only weeks before the wall officially fell - but already there was a atmosphere of hope and expectancy.

For my generation, who had never known a Germany without the division, it almost seemed impossible to believe that it could be done ...

As it happened the reunification wasn't without it's difficulties and disappointments, but it was a great moment nonetheless - and it marked the end of the Cold War!