The Berlin Wall came down in 1989, and it came down once again at the sixth annual German Fall Lecture hosted by the St. Thomas German Program and sponsored by the German federal embassy Monday night at Woulfe Alumni Hall.
During the day, the German Club hosted a “Graffiti the Berlin Wall” event outside of the Anderson Student Center where people were able to write on a wall resembling the former Berlin Wall. After the lecture, the wall was torn down by students and lecture attendees.
St. Thomas students gather to tear down a replica of the Berlin Wall Monday, Nov. 4, five days before the 30th anniversary of the demolition of the Berlin Wall. (Justin Amaker/TommieMedia)
“As teachers, we are asked to ensure that our curriculum includes regular events and activities develop students historical as well as cross cultural and intercultural and linguistic proficiency,” German program director Susanne Wagner said. “This is what this event is doing.”
Wagner hosted the event and Jeffrey Engel was the keynote speaker. Engel is the founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
A reception preceded the keynote speech, where a small orchestra performed, German food was served and german history facts were displaced. Engel’s keynote was titled “Good Thing You Didn’t Know: The Real Story of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.”
During his keynote, he spoke on the history of the wall from beginning to end and even praised St. Thomas for the university’s education practices.
“This is the place where I think back on the place that actually is doing education the right way,” Engel said.
The Berlin Wall was a concrete barrier dividing the city of Berlin from 1961 to 1989. The wall cut West Berlin off from East Berlin and East Germany, which prevented East Berlin and East German citizens from emigrating westward.
“It’s as if Minnesota was split up and you couldn’t visit your relatives that were across the street because they built a wall,” sophomore and German Club Co-President Jayde Hoppe explained.
For the past six years, the German Club worked closely with the Department of Modern and Classical Language’s German program to put this event on annually. Their goal is to get people involved with German culture on campus.
“When you’re learning a new language and you’re learning about new cultures and you’re not there, it can kind of be a little more difficult to really get immersed in it,” Hoppe said.
Hoppe hopes people took advantage of the event to know more about German history and the history of the Berlin Wall.
“It’s fascinating,” she said. “You don’t have to know German to learn about it. It’s something that anyone can relate to.”
Justin Amaker can be reached at justin.amaker@stthomas.edu.