The Events of 1989 Revisited - Lively discussion at University of Chicago Roundtable
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- (© Deniz Yalcin)
Twenty years ago, during the so-called Autumn of Nations, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania all experienced popular uprisings that heralded the end of the Cold War and transformed the balance of power in the world. At an evening press conference on November 9, 1989, East German Politbüro member Günter Schabowski accidentally announced that the border with West Germany had been opened "with immediate effect". The resulting celebration and tearing down of the Berlin Wall stands as one of the single most recognizable moments of political transformation in the 20th century.
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The University of Chicago public roundtable revisited these events and sparked a lively discussion about the initial and subsequent transformations in Eastern and Central Europe. Consuls General Onno Hückmann of Germany, Zygmunt Matynia of Poland, Istvan Mezei of Hungary, Marek Skolil of the Czech Republic, and Robert Zischg of Austria shared their personal recollections of these remarkable times. Where were you when the Berlin Wall came down? What impact has it had on your life? And it became very clear: freedom can never be taken for granted.
Learn more: Freedom Without Walls: 1989 - 2009 - 20 Years Fall of the Wall
The University of Chicago roundtable event was cosponsored by the International House Global Voices Program, Doc Films and the Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies, in cooperation with the Consulate of the Czech Republic's "Velvet Redux" program.
