May 19th Field
Question – Berlin Wall Documentation Center
Remaining chunks of the wall and demarcation of where it
once existed across the city of Berlin are constant reminders that Berlin was
previously a divided city. Similarly, some of this exists outside of the Berlin
Wall documentation center; there is an artistic brass structure where the wall once was (photo 1).
There are also outdoor plaques, which describe the evolution of the wall and
the gradual reinforcement of the boundary to prevent people from crossing. The
plaques also discuss buildings that were torn down in order for this wall to
exist. For example, the Reconciliation Church that was torn down. The damaged cross
that broke off during its demolition lies outside the documentation center (photo 2).
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| Photo 1: Artist structure showing the previous location of the Wall |
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| Photo 2: Cross from the Reconciliation Church |
The outdoor portion of the documentation center and other
remaining sites of the wall across the city give a clear idea of the geography
and evolution of the wall, but once you go into the documentation center you
really get a feel of how it impacted the people of Berlin. And the strongest
themes coming from the exhibit are those of grief. There is also a strong focus of the dictatorship of borders. There are
several personal stories of divided families and those trying to flee to the
west; it shows many people who went to great lengths to escape and people who even
worked to help several others. The center also touches upon how the wall
affected everyday lives in both the east and the west. Additionally, there is a
relatively large section of the center dedicated to showing the fall of the
wall in 1989. Seeing the huge number of people who took to the streets and that were
celebrating its demise was rather powerful.
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| Photo 3. Story of a family divided by the construction of the Wall |
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| Photo 4. Equipment used by Hubert Hohlbein to swim across Jungfern lake into West Berlin. Once he arrived he build a tunnel to help 57 others escape into West Berlin. |
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| Photo 5: Taking photos by the wall was prohibited in East Berlin. These newlyweds took a photo anyway. |
3 comments:
What do you think was more interesting- the exhibit inside of the Documentation Center consisting of pictures and text or the real objects, plaques, monuments and the preservation of the Wall outside of the Documentation Center?
While your question wasn't directed at me, I feel like I should express my thoughts as well, Brooklyn. I feel pretty strongly that the outside could not have as much of as impact without the things inside the Documentation Centre. Inside, we learned of quote a few wall related things, that wasn't specific to people or families. Many of these things we also learned in classes and discussions before we visited the site, such as how some homes on the border would be completely inaccessible because the wall ran through a portion of it. Without this knowledge, the lines on the ground and some of the small information poles outside wouldn't have had as much of an impact as they did knowing it.
I agree with Vince. And I think it was the combination of the objects, stories, pictures, text and actual wall that allow the documentation center to have a strong effect on visitors. To answer your question Brooklyn, I'm not sure that one part was necessarily more interesting than the other, but that they really played off of each other and are more interesting and moving together.
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