The Berlin Wall - History and Representation - Detailseite

ECTS Points: 5

Language requirements: English B2

The Berlin Wall was a media star – right from the forceful closure of the Berlin borders on 13^th August 1961 onwards. Its symbolic power during the Cold War did not end with dismantling it in 1990 and the loss of most of it relics afterwards. In fact, the “fall” of the wall produced another very influential climax of its worldwide visual representation, which added new meanings to the imagery of the Berlin Wall. It has since persisted as a complex symbol used in various contexts lending itself to various messages. These include the construction of memories of the Cold War period and the division of Germany and Berlin, but also usages as a symbol of the injustices of violent segregation and of threats to refugees in a more general sense. The course will give an overview of the history and iconography of the Berlin Wall as well as an introduction to recent German history. Developing skills of analyzing photographs and using them in the context of oral-history-interviews will be a special methodological focus.

Frederick Baker, The Berlin Wall: Production, Preservation and Consumption of a 20th Century Monument, in: Antiquity 67 (1993), pp. 709-733.

Hope Harrison, Driving the Soviets up the Wall. Soviet-East-German Relations 1953-1961, Princeton 2003.

Hans-Hermann Hertle, The Fall of the Wall. The Unintended Self-Dissolution of East-Germany’s Ruling Regime, In: Cold War International History Project Bulletin, pp. 131-164, retrieved from: http://zzf-pdm.de/Portals/images/mitarbeiter/2009_04_08_CWIHP_Bulletin_12_Hertle_Fall_Wall.pdf

Alf Lüdtke, The History of Everyday Life: Reconstructing Historical Experiences and Ways of Life, Princeton 1995

Patrick Major, Behind the Berlin Wall: East Germany and the Frontiers of Power, Oxford/N.Y. 2010

Gerhard Paul, Visual History, In: Docupedia-Zeitgeschichte. Begriffe, Methoden und Debatten der zeithistorischen Forschung, retrieved from: http://docupedia.de/zg/Visual_History_.28english_version.29?oldid=124081

Gerhard Sälter, The Berlin Wall explained in context: Rebuilding the Berlin Wall Memorial, in: C’era una volta il muro. A vent’anni dalla svolta tedesca, Rome 2011, pp. 191-207

Mary Elise Sarotte, The Collapse. The accidental opening of the Berlin Wall, 2014

Peter Schneider, The Wall Jumper, London 2005

Jens Schöne, The Peaceful Revolution – The Path to German Unity, Berlin 2009

Julia Sonnevend, Stories without Borders. The Berlin Wall and the Making of a Global Media Event, Oxford 2016

This seminar carries 5 ECTS.

For international incoming students and HU students.

Language requirements English B2 minimum.

NO registration via Agnes.

Application via Berlin Perspectives ONLY: BP Module application

International incoming students / Internationale Austauschstudierende.

HU-Studierende im ÜWP.