In biblical times, a trumpet fanfare caused the fortifications around the city of Jericho to tumble to the ground. In the 18th century, a furious mob sacked the Bastille in Paris, sparking the start of the French Revolution and sounding the death knell of the monarchy.
But, in November 1989, not a drop of blood was shed as German citizens stormed across the Berlin Wall that had divided the city and became an icon of repression, marking the end of the cold war and the start of a brave new era.
In previous weeks, hordes of East Germans had slipped through the rapidly crumbling Iron Curtain via Hungary to Austria. As the exodus increased, the East German authorities bowed to the inevitable and finally opened the border gates to West Berlin on November 9. Thousands flocked through the crossing points as the entire city celebrated long into the night, while in the days that followed hundreds descended on the wall to chip off a souvenir. Ironically, just the previous January the long time leader of East Germany, Eric Honecker, had predicted the wall would stand for another 100 years; like the wall itself, his words vanished in a cloud of dust.
Some 20 years on, Berlin will be marking this special anniversary with a series of festivities, while casting a thoughtful eye over two decades that have witnessed the reunification of the country, the introduction of a new currency and the transfer of the capital from Bonn to Berlin. Germany has essentially reinvented itself through force of circumstance in the space of less than a generation.