German Studies Forum
1949-1989-2009
The Path to German and European Unity
Organized by the Waterloo Centre for German Studies
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.
Marc Bauder will talk about how he and his brother, Christopher, conceived and executed a public art installation to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the
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.
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.