{"id":1226,"date":"2009-11-09T12:38:48","date_gmt":"2009-11-09T17:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=1226"},"modified":"2012-03-29T15:42:20","modified_gmt":"2012-03-29T20:42:20","slug":"20th-anniversary-of-the-fall-of-the-berlin-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=1226","title":{"rendered":"20th Anniversary of the Fall of The Berlin Wall"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Wall

Wall @ Mason<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Today marks the 20th<\/sup> anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which divided Berlin as well as the three Western sectors of Germany from the surrounding area of Brandenburg.\u00c2\u00a0 Originally composed of barbed wire, the Wall was 95 miles long and eventually 13 feet high and as wide as 100 feet.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 It included a lighting system, 40 yard “death strip”, watch towers, trip alarm fences, and sharpshooter stations. There were two walls facing East Berlin. The purpose of the Wall was to stop people from leaving East Germany This was due primarily to the catastrophic economic situation resulting from forced collectivization and persecution by the SED party and state security services. During the 28 years of the Wall’s existence\u00c2\u00a0 nearly 475,000 East Germans escaped to the West. In addition, 125 people died while attempting to escape.<\/p>\n

The\u00c2\u00a0 end of travel restrictions between the border of East and West German was anti-climatic and was first announced by Gunter Schabowski, a member of the Politburo and newly elected Central Committee Secretary for Public Information during an interview with a journalist for the Italian Press Agency on November 9, 1989.\u00c2\u00a0 Parts of the Wall were taken down over the next couple months and a crossing point was made at the Brandenburg Gate on December 22, 1989. Today only six fragments of the Wall remain standing as a reminder of this outrageous injustice.<\/p>\n

George Mason University and other organizations in the area have planned a number of events to commemorate the\u00c2\u00a0 fall of the Wall. Here are some that you should not miss:<\/p>\n

George Mason University – Fairfax Campus<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Center for History and New Media<\/span> http:\/\/chnm.gmu.edu\/freedomwithoutwalls\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Making the History of 1989 – http:\/\/chnm.gmu.edu\/1989\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Nov 9<\/span><\/p>\n

12:00 Unity Walk Location: South Plaza<\/p>\n

1:00 Demolition of Wall Replica Location: near Clock Tower<\/p>\n

Nov 10<\/span><\/p>\n

1:30 Talk by German Novelist, Peter Schneider Location: Ballroom, Sub II<\/p>\n

Nov 17<\/span><\/p>\n

1:30 \u00e2\u20ac\u01531989, The Berlin Wall: The View from the Ambassador\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by German Ambassador, Dr. Klaus Schiaroth Location: TBA<\/p>\n

University Libraries
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Wall Exhibit Location: Special Collections & Archives (C Wing, 2nd Floor)<\/p>\n

\"Wall

Wall @ Mason<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/h1>\n

Goethe-Institute,\u00c2\u00a0 Washington, DC<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Nov 4 – Jan 8<\/span><\/p>\n

“Iconoclash: Political Imagery from the Berlin Wall to German Unification”, an exhibition co-curated by Marion Deshmukh, Associate Professor of History and Art History, George Mason Univeristy<\/p>\n

Nov 9th<\/span><\/p>\n

9-6:30 “The Rise and Fall of our Own Berlin Wall”: Includes construction and decoration of “The Wall” throughout the day. Ulrich Braess, Director of the Goethe-Institute, will preside over the “fall of the Wall” around 6 pm. Films showing different perspectives about the Wall will also be presented.<\/p>\n

6:30 Wende Flicks Series: “Jana & Jara” (This series features films by East Germans)<\/p>\n

Nov 16<\/span><\/p>\n

6:30 Wende Flicks Series: “Burning Life”<\/p>\n

Nov 23<\/p>\n

6:30 Wende Flicks Seris: “Heart Leap”<\/p>\n

Nov 30<\/span><\/p>\n

6:30 Wende Flicks Series: “Leipzig in Fall”<\/p>\n

My next post will feature our exciting recent acquisition of 7,439 posters from East German cultural, film, performing and visual arts, and political organizations. In addition, we have also acquired a photographic archive of the Wall from its construction to its fall.<\/p>\n

\"SC&A

1 of 7,439 posters in the SC&A DDR Collection<\/p><\/div>\n

Please click here to return to vault<\/em>217.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which divided Berlin as well as the three Western sectors of Germany from the surrounding area of Brandenburg.\u00c2\u00a0 Originally composed of barbed wire, the Wall was 95 miles long and eventually 13 feet high and as wide as 100 feet.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 It included a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[117,118,130,126,127,131,119,123,128,122,129,125,120,124],"class_list":["post-1226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-recent-acquisitions","tag-berlin","tag-berliner-mauer","tag-bernauer-strasse","tag-brandenburg-gate","tag-ddr","tag-death-strip","tag-east-berlin","tag-east-germany","tag-fall-of-the-wall","tag-germany","tag-november-9-1989","tag-the-wall","tag-west-berlin","tag-west-germany"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ep5i-jM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8053,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=8053","url_meta":{"origin":1226,"position":0},"title":"29 Years After the Unimaginable","author":"admin","date":"November 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"November 9th marked the 29th anniversary to the beginning of the fall of the Berlin stop. On November 8th a press conference from the East German communist party spokesman Guenter Schabowski suggested that the gates of the Berlin Wall would be open. Speculation swarmed throughout the press room and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "GMU Fairfax Campus"","block_context":{"text":"GMU Fairfax Campus","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=272"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/C0235B03_01.jpg?fit=1200%2C862&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/C0235B03_01.jpg?fit=1200%2C862&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/C0235B03_01.jpg?fit=1200%2C862&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/C0235B03_01.jpg?fit=1200%2C862&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/C0235B03_01.jpg?fit=1200%2C862&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4795,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=4795","url_meta":{"origin":1226,"position":1},"title":"Scenes from Behind the Wall: Images of East Germany, 1989-1990","author":"Bob Vay","date":"December 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In late December 1989 two young men, Page Chichester and Helmut Brinkmann, were drinking and watching a soccer match on television in the city of Bonn in what was then called West Germany.\u00a0 Brinkmann suddenly suggested that they tour East Germany, beginning the next day.\u00a0 The two stayed up all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Photography collections"","block_context":{"text":"Photography collections","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=198"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photographers Page Chichester (left) and Helmut Brinkmann (right) at the Berlin Wall during their eight-day trip to East Germany. Restricted to personal, non-commercial use only. For permission to publish, contact Special Collections & Archives, George Mason University Libraries, speccoll@gmu.edu.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/pagehelmut.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/pagehelmut.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/pagehelmut.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/pagehelmut.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7487,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=7487","url_meta":{"origin":1226,"position":2},"title":"Jewish American Heritage Month – George and Ira Gershwin","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"May 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2006, President George W. Bush proclaimed that the month of May in the United States would officially be known as Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) - a month to celebrate the significant and varied contributions of Jewish Americans to American culture. The proclamation of JAHM was the long-awaited success\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "SCRC interest"","block_context":{"text":"SCRC interest","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/porgyandbess3.jpg?fit=781%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/porgyandbess3.jpg?fit=781%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/porgyandbess3.jpg?fit=781%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/porgyandbess3.jpg?fit=781%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2503,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=2503","url_meta":{"origin":1226,"position":3},"title":"Notes from a Photograph Collection","author":"admin","date":"July 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Although the Oliver F. Atkins Photograph Collection contains tens of thousands of prints, negatives, and slides, there is also a small amount of papers that consist of handwritten notes, correspondence, and caption guidance forms.\u00a0 These documents assist with identification, such as the Ku Klux Klan photographs from December 1965 for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Klavern.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7564,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=7564","url_meta":{"origin":1226,"position":4},"title":"V-E Day – The Jerome Epstein Collection","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"May 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This post was written by Ben Brands, L. Claire Kincannon Graduate Intern. Ben has a Bachelors of History from the College of William and Mary, a Masters of History from George Mason University, and is currently a PhD candidate in History at George Mason University. As the inaugural L. Claire\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Digital Collections"","block_context":{"text":"Digital Collections","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=557"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/VEDayBlog_Photo2.jpg?fit=767%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/VEDayBlog_Photo2.jpg?fit=767%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/VEDayBlog_Photo2.jpg?fit=767%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/VEDayBlog_Photo2.jpg?fit=767%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1605,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=1605","url_meta":{"origin":1226,"position":5},"title":"East German Poster Collection Political Series Finding Aid","author":"admin","date":"April 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Since January Special Collections and Archives staff have processed a portion of the East German Poster Collection thanks to a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources. The first series-level finding aid on the political posters is available here. Project assistants Lauren Shutt and Sean Tennant cataloged each\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/PL-0514-copy_sm.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1226"}],"version-history":[{"count":57,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3372,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1226\/revisions\/3372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}