He knew his German mother had fled the Russians, hidden inside a wardrobe in the back of a furniture van in 1945. And that she eventually settled in Australia in the 1960s, fully aware she had left her mother behind in East Germany.

But it was not until after the collapse of communism that the family discovered their long-lost member.

Mr Stoehr met his uncle in Weimar - another German city steeped in history - in 2005 and heard stories of life behind the Iron Curtain.

Families of German origin the world over tell similar stories of lost family and friends after the barrier split the capital as Cold War tensions replaced World War Two destruction.

It started as coils of barbed wire, which were upgraded to a brick wall and then morphed into a 160-kilometre concrete barrier that hemmed in West Berlin.

A panel of the wall, measuring 3.6 metres by one metre, is located at the Harmonie German Club, in Narrabundah.

On Sunday the club released 25 white balloons from its top to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the wall coming down.

The symbolic gesture mimics celebrations in Berlin, where an installation of 8000 helium balloons, lit from within, will be let loose to the sounds of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Mr Stoehr, the Harmonie German Club president, said the ceremony marked a significant point in history.

"It's not only German history but world history - it changed the world," he said.

"The Russians put the wall up basically overnight and the people of East Germany basically thought, 'That's the end of freedom'.

"[But in 1989] the people of East Germany had had enough and turned around and said 'enough's enough', and then the wall came down."

Mr Stoehr can remember the jubilation in 1989 when, as a 22-year-old, he watched on television the events unfolding a world away.

"It's amazing how quick 25 years has gone," he said. "The whole world at the time thought, 'This is it, we'll have a nice calm world now'. [But] now look where we are today."

Mr Stoehr said Canberrans wishing to see the wall were welcome to visit the club and experience a small piece of world history.

"Come and embrace our club - not just during Oktoberfest but year round."