Events

The Annual Conference of the Austrian Studies Association is being held at the University of Waterloo. Co-sponsored by the Association, the Faculty of Arts at the University of Waterloo, the Waterloo Centre for German Studies, and the Austrian Cultural Forum, the conference brings together students and scholars from across North America and Europe.

Poster:

Herrschaft und Macht in der DDR Conference Agenda (PDF)

On May 27, the History department at the University of Waterloo and Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA) co-hosted the 'East Germany in the Cold War' conference at BSIA. Mark Kramer, Director of the Harvard Project on Cold War Studies, gave a thrilling seminar talk entitled "Cold War Myths and Realities: Understanding Today’s Threats and Challenges in Historical Perspective" on Monday, May 27.

Poster for photo exhibition, Dictatorship and Democracy

Revealing a total of 190 rare photographs, newspaper clippings and political cartoons from different European archives, the exhibition "Dictatorship and Democracy in the Age of Extremes" tells Europe's dramatic story of the 20th century – a past between freedom and tyranny, democracy and dictatorship.

Graffiti on Berlin Wall: "The world's too small for walls"

Twenty-five years ago and after protests and peaceful demonstrations, the Berlin Wall opened, the East German government resigned, and German unification was on the horizon. The year 1989 was an eventful year for East Germans: protests during the local elections in spring; the flight of thousands via Hungary and Czechoslovakia in summer; anti-government protests in Leipzig and other cities and towns in fall, and the fall of the Wall in November.

Mat Schulze, prof in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies and director of the Waterloo Centre for German Studies, was a student in Leipzig in 1989. He will talk not only about the political developments that year but also give an eyewitness account of protests, civic rights actions, and demonstrations in Leipzig.

Scaffolding and men in shadow, in front of a very large EU flag

Beginning with the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the last century saw the rise of Italian fascism and Soviet communism, the world economic crisis, and the rise of the Nazis to power in Germany, leading to the horrors of World War II.

Poster: title Fuehrerbunker in red Fraktur script, image of keyhole with light streaming through

Canadian composer Andrew Ager’s new chamber opera “Führerbunker” is receiving its premiere at the Registry Theatre in Kitchener.

Barracks in Kitchener, with men getting dressed into military uniforms, 1910s.

Learn how a city was pushed to the edge during the First World War - to the point of changing its name from Berlin to Kitchener through a controversial and high-tension referendum.

Black & white photo of the Victoria Park Pavilion on fire in 1916

Berlin’s name change to Kitchener was not just a simple vote. Tumultuous times divided the otherwise peaceful city into two groups, reflecting the Great War that had erupted in Europe two years prior and, in the end, made the name change in 1916 Berlin/Kitchener anything but simple.

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Austrian Studies Association Annual Conference

GDR conference: "Herrschaft und Macht in der DDR"

Public seminar: Cold War Myths and Realities: Understanding Today’s Threats and Challenges in Historical Perspective

Dictatorship and Democracy in the Age of Extremes: Spotlights on the History of Europe in the Twentieth Century

Dictatorship and Democracy in the Age of Extremes: Spotlights on the History of Europe in the Twentieth Century

The Dawn of Freedom—East Germany 1989

100 Years Since WWI: Dictatorship and Democracy in an Age of Extremes

Führerbunker: An Experimental Chamber Opera by Andrew Ager

Waterloo Region Museum: City on Edge

Von Berlin to Kitchener: Connotations and Cultures, A Discussion Panel