Wende is the term that most Germans use without thinking twice. It’s been a common word, which existed long before 1989, and while it is since then strongly li

Wende is the term that most Germans use without thinking twice. It’s been a common word, which existed long before 1989, and while it is since then strongly linked to the events around the time when the Berlin wall fell, you’ll have a hard time finding a German who knows of how this word was used by the East-German political party (SED). Spoiler: It was used to mean the opposite of what actually happened (i.e. more power to the party). The parent comment’s link brings you to the transcript of an interview with a former German law professor who, knowing the SED’s usage of the word, made sure to always describe what happened in 1989 as a revolution. This is actually one person begging other German speakers to start using what he thinks is the correct word. Ain’t gonna happen. If East-Germans stood up for themselves in the required numbers to overthrow their leaders, I guess Germans would use the word revolution. But that’s not what transpired. In 1989 a system collapsed. Communism. While that may also always qualify as a revolution in academic circles, German people chose Wende, which simply means turnaround.