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After the Fall of the Wall – From a Younger Perspective
There are those who experienced the Wall firsthand, who were there to hack away at the physical manifestation of the Cold War until it was just a jagged souvenir of graffiti-covered concrete. Millions more around the world watched the fall of the Wall on television, glued to images of East and West Germans pouring over the border and embracing each other, often as complete strangers. For these spectators too, the event is burned into memory. But an entire generation of young people has grown up in a unified Germany having no personal memory of the Wall and understanding the Cold War only secondhand. What does the Wall mean to these young people? Germany.info asked five American Fulbright teaching grantees in Germany to pose this question to their German students. Three of the teachers, Nicolette Van Dielen, Jason Doerre, and Heather Van Zee, teach English at schools in the former East German states of Saxony and Brandenburg. The two other teachers, Stephen Fairchild and Viola Schmid-Doyle, teach English at schools in the former West German states of Baden Wurttemberg and Rheinland-Palatinate. The responses provided by their students hint at both the trials and triumphs of German unification as well as the prevailing atmosphere in eastern and western Germany. More importantly, they reflect an appreciation of the event’s significance among the next generation of Germans and an optimism too seldom seen in discussions on this topic. The following are excerpts from these responses.
Grade 12 English class at the Sophiengymnasium in Colditz, Saxony, former East Germany English Assistant Teacher: Nicolette Van Dielen When I think about what the fall of the Wall means for me, then I have to say that it’s important for me that Germany isn’t “das Volk” (a GDR term for “the people”) anymore, but one people that holds together and survives times of crises. I am happy that there is no more Wall. - Sandy I have asthma and I and my parents are really thankful that the Wall fell because it means that we have better medical treatment than there was in the GDR, something which has helped me in the past and will continue to help me. Also, the “Wende” meant a lot for my sister. She finished school in 1992. After the “Wende,” and throughout the beginning 1990s, there were many arrests of former members of the Stasi. Many of my sister’s teachers were among them. There was so much unrest in her school and her teachers were constantly changing. In 12th grade alone, she had four different tutors. Because of this, she didn’t do as well as she should have on her Abitur (exit exam from Gymnasium). - Sarah When the Wall fell, I was only 3, and because of this have very few memories of this event. The only thing that I can remember is that we drove the Trabi to Hof to get our 100 DM “Begrüßungsgeld” (Welcome money) and that I bought a backpack for Kindergarten with my money. - Janine With the 100 DM Welcome money, my parents went to the West and bought me a play doctor’s bag, “Because we didn’t have anything like that here,” they later told me. - Sandra All of a sudden, it was possible for citizens of the GDR to travel to the West, something which we could do only after filling out a lot of forms and going through a lot of red tape. My mother always told me that she was really happy when she got 2 bananas a week for her kids – and that many because she knew the woman at the grocery store personally. It’s hard for me to imagine what it was like, since we have enough of everything now. - Anonymous The fall of the Wall had a huge meaning for me and my family. Everything changed. In the GDR, food was cheap, but “luxury items” were so much, that most GDR citizens couldn’t afford them. It took forever to get a certain item, like we had to wait for years to get a car. After the fall of the Wall, it wasn’t necessarily better for me and my family. But the electronic goods and wares are of greater quality now. - Anonymous I had a normal childhood, and the two years of it that I spent in the GDR were also normal. When the borders were opend, many people fled their homeland. But my family didn’t. I think that they had a nice life in the GDR, that had just built a house. Why would they give all of that up and start a new existence elsewhere? And start from the beginning again? There was never a question. There weren’t as many goods and we were certainly limited, but I don’t think that life was that bad in the GDR. You just did your best. Regardless, I think the fall of the Wall was a great happening: Germany was finally united again. For many of us, this meant Freedom! - A. Fest Of course the “Wende” brought with it a lot of bad for some people. People who were unemployed – a state which hadn’t even existed before – suddenly had no job, fanatic friends of socialism and their associates felt all alone, without any type of commitment. But all together, I think we (I myself was too young) felt a feeling of togetherness, of freedom. Now we could go everywhere, to America, to West Germany and beyond, and when I think about it, the best thing that happened was that the whole revolution happened peacefully and without violence or deaths. - Tobias E. I can’t really remember, but I know that my parents were really excited at the time. My father went a week later to the West to buy a new car. My grandparents had thought at that moment that it that it would be the third time that they held a new currency in their hands in their lifetimes. - Anonymous Grade 10 class at the Wermsdorf Mittleschule in Wermsdorf, Saxony, former East Germany Teaching Assistant: Jason Doerre
The Berlin Wall was no good. It was the division of ONE state and ONE people. It came from a fight between the USA and the Soviet Union and because of it, lots of people were killed trying to flee to West Germany. In the GDR, everyone had work, everything was safe. There weren’t as many crimes as today. But everyone was happy when the Wall fell. -Anonymous The time when the Wall was up between West and East Germany was quite troubled. In the West they had more than in the East. They had different fruit than we had here in the east. In the east, everything was stricter. Some people even say better. But it is still great to be a complete Germany now. -Anonymous The Wall was a wall straight through Germany! It forced many people to desperation! Although the Wall doesn’t exist anymore, it is still up in some peoples’ heads! The division between West and East will never be erased from peoples’ heads! -Anonymous Grades 7-13 at the Humboldt-Gymnasium in Cottbus, Brandenburg, former East Germany Teaching Assistant: Heather Van Zee I was born almost two months after the fall of the Wall. So I didn’t experience it. Bit I think if people had relatives on the other side they were happy to meet again. In the GDR you couldn’t get many things like special fruits or records. After the fall of the Wall people weren’t watched by the Stasi. Now we’re a “united” country, but in the minds of the people we’re still divided. In the West you get more money, but life is more expensive. I think we’re still “Wessis” and “Ossis.” And most people think the fall of the Wall was bad. They always say, “In former times everything was better.” The fact is, in the GDR lots of things were good, some were bad. But many people would be happier if the Wall would still stood, especially elderly people. -Karo First of all I was born after the fall of the Wall. I think that loads of people suffered under the wall, but older people wish that the Wall was still here these days. To be honest I don’t actually know much about the consequences of the wall and of the fall of the Wall, because I moved to France when I was seven years old. My family doesn’t like to talk about that subject, because my grandmother had to go to one of the labor camps and my grandfather had to fight in that war. I only know that the west was really rich and had exotic fruits, for example. The Germans who lived in the West were always allowed to visit the east (GDR) when on the other hand, the Germans living on the east side, weren’t allowed to go to the west. I think that life, at that time, was better in West of Germany. Nowadays, not all people from the west are rich. It is good that the Wall fell, because like that we got rid of the Stasi and were allowed to go and travel around. -Judith Zinnow When the Wall fell, West and East Berlin were united again, and through that, the suffering ended. Siblings, couples and friends found each other again. I don’t know how it used to be and my parents don’t either because they were living in Vietnam. I also see myself as Vietnamese, and I don’t know much about the fall of the Wall. -Thai Thao Tran When I hear “The fall of the Wall” I chink about November 9, 1989, the day on which people stormed over the wall, that it would be possible to pass over the border without problems. Many citizens just couldn’t believe that it was all over. I thought it was impressive and very touching the way families were reunited after years and could take each other into their arms. My parents have told me a lot about those times since I was just a baby then, and I’m happy that the Wall fell. Today thank heavens there is also no more Stasi and in its place, democracy. -Johanna Schillmer, 15 When the Wall was broken down, the BRD and the GDR were united into one Germany. Before the fall some families were divided. Some lived in the BRD, some in the GDR. When I was born 23.9.1989, the wall still was standing. At this time the divided people could’t visit each other. In the GDR the people didn’t have many foods (fruits). Rarely, they get special fruits like Bananas (exotic fruits). They often could eat “Spreewälder Gurken” or stuff like this. If they wanted to buy a car, they had to wait about two years and then the could buy a “Trabi.” About the BRD I don’t know so much but I think there just the men went to work and the women stayed at home. In the DDR both parents had a job. Today we are one Germany and everybody can travel as much and everywhere they want to. But with the fall of the Wall there are more robberies and unemployment today than before. -Juliane Wittig, age 15 With the fall of the Wall the BRD and GDR were united. I don’t know how it was before the fall of the Wall, but my parents told me a lot. I already know that the people in the GDR hadn’t so many goods for daily use. After the fall of the Wall all Germans had the same goods free for use. If the people wanted to have exotic fruits they had to wait for Christmas or Easter. The people in the GDR also weren’t allowed to travel in other countries or in the BRD. They also had to wait some years if they wanted to have a car. Some people in the DDR wrote letters, but at the Wall, the letters were opened and the money was taken out. Now, 15 years later, there are also some differences between West Germany and the East of Germany in economy. -Theresa Passer, age 15 11b English class at Thomas-Strittmatter-Gymnasium, St. Georgen im Schwarzwald, former West Germany English Assistant Teacher: Stephen Fairchild
For many people who lived in the GDR, it was a miracle. Nobody thought it would happen that fast. Everything changed since the Day of Reunification. The supermarkets had other goods; the clothes were more progressive and so on. Some people thought it was good, others thought it was bad and wished they had their old country back. -Katharina When the Wall fell I was too little to understand what had happened. We learned about it in school in history class, but it’s difficult for me to understand what it meant for the people there. Statistics say that every third German wants the wall back! I think this is very sad, because we are one nation. Together we can solve our problems! -Lena-Maria It was a historical highpoint that means little for me in general because I was born in 1988 and have grown up with a unified Germany. I think it was important because perhaps the GDR would now belong to Russia. And perhaps the end of the Cold War wouldn’t have happened the way it did. But on the other hand, it costs “West Germany” a lot of money to include the GDR into the BRD. -David For me, the fall of the Wall in 1989 is something very important in German history and even in world history. The years of the ‘Cold War’ were a very dangerous time for the world population. Every day could have started another big war, with atomic arms between Russia and the USA. So it was a time of fear. Today we’ve a better feeling, because there’s peace in Europe, and a big war is nearly impossible. In my opinion the fall of the Wall was a big step to peace and unity. -Elias When the Wall fell my parents could travel in foreign countries like Italy or Spain. Before the Wall fell, my parents could only travel to Hungary or Poland. For me, the Fall of the Wall doesn’t mean anything important, because I can’t remember how it was when the Wall stood. The only thing is that if the Wall hadn’t fallen, I’d have to live in Berlin and couldn’t live in St. Georgen. -Anonymous It means that Germany is ONE Germany, not segregated with a stupid wall. -Amelie I think the fall of the Wall was very important for the unity of Germany. I think West-Germany and East-Germany were always one land and the peoples’ hearts were together, but with a wall in the middle. Also, the people in East Germany are free now! -Anonymous The fall of the Wall means for German people that they’re not longer divided but instead unified. It is the ‘new feeling of freedom.’ Families that were divided found each other again. For me I’m happy that the Wall isn’t there anymore. -Julia For me and my family it doesn’t mean anything. For Germany it’s good because it was no longer a divorced country. -Alexander I think it was very good for the people in the east, because they are free now. And so Germany became a peaceful land. My family and I live in southern Germany and so we are just happy for the people in the east. -Christina It means that there is one Germany – one unity not two parts. In my opinion it is good for all Germans. We are one land and I think it is important to live peacefully together. There is so much war – it isn’t necessary that there is war in your own country. The fall of the Wall was good for Germany. Many people haven’t got the same opinion because of the money. But I think you shouldn’t look always for money – a peaceful unity is more important. -Verena
10th grade English study group at the Konrad-Adenauer-Realschule in Landau, Rheinland-Palatinate, former West Germany Teaching Assistant: Viola Schmid-Doyle
Germany is now one country and not divided in two parts, in east and west. And Germany has not two national football teams, rather one team. My parents must pay solidarity tax for the people who lived in the DDR. -Johannes Hublitz It means to us that Germany is now one country. One effect is that many unemployed people came from East Germany to West Germany to find work. Another effect is that West Germans must pay solidarity taxes for eastern Germany. A good thing is that the families who were divided by the Wall were able to reunite. An important person is Helmut Kohl. He was the first Chancellor after the fall of the wall and he brought us Germans together. -Marc Carré Schoppe, Matthias Münster, and Jannis Hörner Now Germany is one state and not two. It is good that the wall is down because it was very difficult to drive from the GDR to the "normal Germany." The country was broken and the people in the DDR were poor, very poor. The people in "normal Germany" who had relatives in the DDR couldn't see them. It’s not always good. The "Ossies" are now free and some have crazy ideas. -Moritz Zöllner The fall of the Wall didn't change many things in my life. I've got some relatives in East Germany, but we haven't contact with them. Some of my relatives in West Germany don't like people from East Germany. They think that these people are backwards and silly. I don't think so. I know some people from East Germany and they are like us in West Germany. -Lukas Roch It means that there is only one Germany and not two. There aren't prejudices about East Germans and West Germans. Finally it means for me that all people in Germany have the chance to live together in peace. Germany is an example for the whole Europe. It shows that it's possible that in the future Europe can be one big country. -Florian Bach Now the Wall is gone. Families from the "GDR" can now visit their friends without problems. I think since the fall of the wall the economy has gone down. The "Ossies" complain that they want jobs because they have no job. In the DDR there was lots of agriculture in the past because they had to feed all the Russian people. -Janine Diedenhöfer The German Embassy would like to extend our thanks to all of the teachers and students who participated in this project. |
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 15 Years After the Fall of the Wall
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