History of East Germany

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

"Tearing down the wall in our minds will take longer than any demolition company needs for the visible wall." This famous quote by the writer Peter Schneider describes, in some respects, the Germans' relationship to their history, a relationship that persists to this day. The German Democratic Republic, the GDR, lasted 40 years and shaped not only the mentality and thinking of the East Germans who lived there, but also of the West Germans who had to live with it. Even after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain, the GDR continues to have an impact: in images, symbols, and concepts of historical memory, a romanticized "Ostalgie" (nostalgia for East Germany), but also in its material legacy. The memory of the GDR can be explored particularly vividly in Berlin: The memorial sites, many of which have now become museums and memorials, bear witness over time to the history of a vanished state. Program: In this seminar, we will explore the GDR memorial sites in Berlin together and examine their significance within the historical context of the city's history. In this seminar, we will explore these memorial sites by examining historical sources, photographs, and eyewitness accounts.