Marketing and Japanese senior Kristen Lotrey writes a message in Japanese on the replica Berlin Wall on Oct. 27, 2014, at Wells Hall for the 25th anniversary of its destruction. The installment features two interactive kiosks with information regarding the wall's history. Dylan Vowell/The State News
—For 28 years, freedom was limited, families were separated, and individuals were cut off from job opportunities by a 12-foot-high concrete barrier — t he Berlin Wall. The wall, which divided West Berlin and East Berlin in Germany from 1961 to 1989 was also a symbol of the divide between democracy and communism during the Cold War.
This semester, the MSU German Studies program is commemorating the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The commemoration includes a replica of a section of the Berlin Wall in the B wing of Wells Hall. Students are encouraged to scrawl their names and draw on the gray slab, mirroring the graffiti on the actual wall.
German professor Tom Lovik said it’s amazing that some students look at the replica of the Berlin Wall and have no idea what it represents.
“I always sense uncertainty when I see students observing the wall — they don’t know much about it,” Lovik said.
But Lovik said its meaning is not minimal.
“The falling of the wall unleashed incredible euphoria for everyone, those who were German and those who weren’t,” said Lovik. “It represented change without violence.”
The wall was torn down on Nov. 9, 1989, and Lovik said that makes it a prominent part of recent history.
“It becomes so easy to forget about history — we’re just trying to teach some students a few things about the lives these people used to live in Germany,” said Lovik.
In addition to the replica segment of the wall, the German program’s commemoration includes a Tuesday night film series, informational displays, and docents explaining the wall’s history.
Kate Schaller, a second year graduate student in German studies said it is surprising that many people are not familiar with the Berlin Wall and the Cold War era.
Schaller encourages students to imagine what life would have been like during that period.
“I think the commemoration is most important for people who were not alive during the time,” said Schaller. “It is important to realize that this was a turning point in German history.”
To Lovik, the Berlin Wall commemoration shows the growth of Germany into the strong economic power it is today.
“Everyone remembers the totalitarianism, the communism,” Lovik said. “Well, now Germany has a new reputation.”
On Nov. 6 the German Studies program will host a gala event from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Wells Hall Atrium and Presentation Space on the second floor of the B wing. The event will include a reception and panel discussion with experts and individuals with firsthand accounts of the Berlin Wall.
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