Arts | Society

20 Jan 09

Oxford is marking 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall

With the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall this year, Oxford is marking the occasion by uniting experts on Germany for a seminar series entitled Remembering the GDR – 20 years on, the first time such an analysis has been done.

As well as marking the anniversary the series, which started today (20 January 2009), explores what has become of the state of the GDR that existed for 40 years.

At the seminars, experts from Oxford will claim that despite all attempts, the two former Germanies are still separate and always will be.It has been claimed that 40 years would be needed to come to terms with the socialist state and this year marks the halfway point of that process. Rather than reflecting on the history of the GDR (former East Germany), this interdisciplinary seminar series examines the changing representation and remembrance of the GDR since unification from a variety of perspectives such as culture, politics, philosophy, and history.

During 2009, there will be a packed calendar of events in Germany to celebrate the 20 years since the fall of the Berlin wall. Exhibitions will focus on the changing face of Berlin, the peaceful revolution of 1989, the unification of Germany and a huge ‘Festival of Freedom’ in November at the Brandenburg Gate will celebrate with a multimedia staging of the symbolic fall of the wall.

But despite the celebrations, series organiser Professor Karen Leeder, Professor in German and Fellow and Tutor at New College, says the two Germanies are far from united. She said: ‘It seems that despite the fall of the Wall and the political rhetoric, there are still two German states with very different histories, attitudes, and prospects. Culture has been vital in articulating the disappointments of the silent majority, but also the attempts to assert a sense of personal identity and history far from the bombast of ideological certainty.’

The seminar series runs for eight weeks. Prestigious academics from both Oxford and other institutions will be taking part. Papers from the seminar series will form a special edition of Oxford German Studies, which will appear in November 2009 to mark the anniversary proper.