However, the part of the exhibit that I
found most interesting was the focus on the individual. Outside there were
these circles representing where individuals died trying to cross over. Although
they do not list specific persons names they still provide individual
instances. Inside there were videos of East and West Berliners talking about
all different aspects of the wall (creation, movement between the sections, fleeing,
daily life, etc.). Some stories were depressing or scary but others were almost
emotionless and that was the most surprising. One woman from the West talked
about how she moved to a different area so she wouldn’t have the constant
reminder of the wall. This suggests that the wall in some regards became almost
commonplace in society.
There were also individuals mentioned throughout the whole
museum, used as personal examples of different aspects of the wall (resistance,
fleeing, punishment, etc.). For example, the solider Gerd Sommerlatte, who
while on patrol duty jumped the barrier and fled to the West only to be hauled
back by officers weeks later. These individual stories make the wall more
personal and more real, something that is not always achieved when just walking
along the wall.
A small side note, while looking at the notes written by people visiting the exhibit I noticed that one theme was people asking for prayers for North/South Korea. After spending sometime in South Korea, I learned that many civilians there use the fall of the Berlin wall as a sign of hope for their own country. I find this very powerful, because the fallen Wall has become a symbol to more than just the German population.
3 comments:
I also really like the individual focus of the Documentation Centre. What you said about South Korea using the fall of the fall is really interesting. I believe that the fall of the wall should be celebrated, but I love the fact that is can be used as a symbol for hope. It is amazing what people can do when they work together and try to change something that is wrong.
I really need to look more into global news as I was not overly aware of what is going on in North and South Korea. So the prayers in the documentation centre make much more sense to me now. One can hope that thier views of the Berlin Wall of hope can be translated to thier own wall.
As this museum contained quite a bit of information, I find it interesting that each of us seems to have certain things or stories that stuck with us most. For instance, the fact that you remembered those specific stories (the soldier who got dragged back to the East, or the woman who moved areas of town to escape the proximity to the wall) are different than what I had taken out of the museum. This is more than likely due to the limited amount of time that we could spend here, but it goes to show how many different perspectives and experiences there were towards the contruction of the wall.
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