DANIEL WALTHER GERMAN PROFESSOR
For most, if not all of our students, the Berlin Wall is something relegated to the past, to history books.
For them it does not constitute a part of their consciousness, let alone a sense that it is a part of their identity.
Thus, for Wartburg students, the world consists in part of the fact that the USA is the lone superpower and is no longer divided between East and West. Just look at what is happening in eastern Europe, where many of the former Soviet satellite states are now members of the European Union and even NATO.
Yet the world that our students know today would not exist without the events that preceded it. And, an important historical phenomenon that shaped and made possible the world of now was the fall of the Berlin Wall, that symbol of the world’s division for much of the second half of the twentieth century.
Of course, there were many players that contributed to bringing it down, such as Mikhail Gorbachev and George Bush Sr. But, in the years and decades prior to 1989, countless individuals lost their freedom protesting against the repressive East German government or even their lives in trying to flee from it.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Wartburg College, with generous financial support from the German Embassy, will commemorate this important historical event beginning the week of Nov. 9 (the day the Wall came down).
But this celebration is more than simply remembering a significant milestone from the past. It is also an opportunity to remind us of the countless barriers we still face in the post-Wall world. Not only are there still physical walls separating people, such as the Israeli security barrier, but also invisible ones that divide people in terms of race, gender, religion, ethnicity and sexuality.
So, during the week of Nov. 9, avail yourself of the numerous opportunities for accidental learning to inform yourself not only about the past, but also about the present and the future (go to http://www.wartburg.edu/withoutwalls for more details).
Yes, knowing the past is essential for changing the present and directing the future.