The fall of the Berlin wall

What was termed the iron curtain demarked east and western Europe, from the end of world war II until 1990 when the Berlin wall, which seperated east and west Germany, began to be dismantled by the German military.
In 1989, a series of revolutions in eastern europe marked the end of the Soviet Union. German reunification took place in 1990. Since then many east German factories have shut down leading to mass unemployment and complaints that the young have little opportunities other than joining the German armed forces. East German street and place names commemorating socialist heroes have gradually been replaced.