At midnight East Germany’s Communist rulers gave permission for gates along the Wall to be opened after hundreds of people converged on crossing points.

They surged through cheering and shouting and were be met by jubilant West Berliners on the other side.

Ecstatic crowds immediately began to clamber on top of the Wall and hack large chunks out of the 28-mile (45-kilometre) barrier.

Link | Timeline of the Wall | Interactive Map of the Wall | PBS Documentary | Image: U.S. Department of State

It appears the inhabitant of the humble flat fled in a hurry and shrivelled bread rolls still lay in a string bag.

Grocery brands from the Socialist state filled the kitchen.

“When we opened the door we felt like Howard Carter when he found the grave of Tutankhamun,” Mark Aretz told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

“Everything was a mess but it was like a historic treasure trove, a portal into an age long gone.”

Documents show the flat had been occupied by a 24-year-man who had been in some trouble with East German authorities, and must have fled before the Berlin Wall came down in November of 1989. A wall calendar was turned to August 1988. Link -Thanks, Paul!

Oh, and one more thing: Xinyu is the grandson of Chairman Mao.

Mao’s blog is largely dedicated to an appreciation of his grandfather, who died when he was six years old. The founder of communist China is still admired by many people here -despite the fact that millions died because of famine and conflict during his rule (an official Communist Party verdict delivered after his death ruled – with precision – that Chairman Mao was 70% right and 30% wrong).

"The greatest happiness of my life and satisfaction come from a real understanding of a great man. And he is my grandfather," grandson Mao writes.

Link | Mao Xinyu’s blog (in Chinese) – via TYWKIWDBI