Chapman University Freedom Without Walls Ceremony
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- Chapman University Freedom Without Walls Program Coordinator Karen Gallagher, Chapman University President James L. Doti, Consul Michael Ott, Exchange Student Josefine Borrmann, Chapman University Trustee David Henley, and Guy Fox, transportation sponsor for Chapman's segment of the Wall.
- (© Consulate General Los Angeles)
The German Consulate General participated in the closing ceremony for the month-long Campus Weeks Freedom Without Walls campaign at Chapman University on Tuesday, November 10, 2009.
The Campus Weeks, a part of the German Embassy's Freedom Without Walls campaign to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by reaching out to the generation born after the Cold War, included such on campus activities as workshops, concerts, film screenings, as well as speech and wall art contests.
The day-long celebration started off with a four-part Freedom Without Walls symposium held from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm. The panelists, comprised of Chapman University professors and guest professors, held discussions on the impact of the Berlin Wall and the Cold War under the headings: “Material and Metaphorical Walls,” “Walls of Europe and the Americas,” “Cold War,” and “Germany Before and After the Fall of the Wall.”
After the conclusion of the symposium, the grand finale closing ceremony took place at Liberty Plaza, in front of Chapman University's very own piece of the Berlin Wall. Replica wall segments designed and painted by Chapman University art students and art professors, as part of the Freedom Without Wall campus weeks projects, were also on display.
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- Wall segments designed and painted by Chapman University art students and art professors as part of the Freedom Without Wall campus activities.
- (© Consulate General Los Angeles)
Guests were welcomed by the Chapman University Singers and brass quartet performing the chorale from the last movement of Beethoven's 9th symphony. For this music, Beethoven used a poem by Friedrich Schiller entitled “Ode an die Freude” or “Ode to Joy.” It had a special meaning for the Chapman ceremony, because back in 1989 when the piece was played in concert shortly after the Berlin Wall came down, the word“joy” was switched to “freedom.” The Chapman singers made the same switch when they sang the song.
Karen Gallagher, instructor of German at Chapman University and the Freedom Without Walls program coordinator, welcomed guests and introduced the speakers. The speakers were:
James L. Doti, President of Chapman University, who told the anecdote of how Chapman University had to “get it's own piece of the Berlin Wall” and how it all came about.
David Henley, Chapman University Trustee, served as a foreign correspondent in Berlin around the time the Wall was built and told the story of how he helped to reunite two children from East Berlin with their parents who had escaped to the West.
Michael Ott, German Consul for Culture, Press and Legal Affairs presented the West German perspective of growing up during the time after the wall fell. “It is freedom that we celebrate here today, not just a political and physical freedom but also a freedom of mind and spirit,” he said.
Josefine Borrmann, a German exchange student attending Chapman University, reminisced about growing up torn between two cultures. Born in 1987, she was just four-years-old when her East German parents moved to the West. She told of being taught East German values by her parents while growing up in the West. She felt like she did not belong to either culture.
Uta Schorlemmer, German professor from Occidental College, presented the East German perspective, talking about “The Fall of a Utopia.” She closed with a quote from Rosa Luxemburg: “Freedom is always the freedom of others.”
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- Karen Gallagher with a German language student and tutor.
- (© Consulate General Los Angeles)
Karen Gallagher relayed her close connection to that historic time that predated her birth. Her mother grew up in the American sector of West Berlin and became the first German to receive a care package from US General Lucius Clay on Christmas Day in 1948. She also told about her East German relatives and her own experience living in West Berlin in the 1970s and 1980s.
Chapman University's Music Professor Roger Lebow performed a brief piece from Bach's “Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello.” This piece also had a special meaning because Mstislav Rostropovich played from Bach's Suites at Checkpoint Charlie beneath the rubble of the Berlin Wall shortly after its fall in 1989. Lebow closed the ceremony with the statement “great things come from small beginnings.”
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 truly marked the beginning of a new era in history. It signified the end of the cold war, and the beginning of a fully united Europe. It gave proof that peaceful change is possible, even in the moments when it seems most unlikely.
