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Students study abroad

Significance of Study Abroad and the Berlin Wall

By Dr. Martha Craig, associate professor of English

On Monday, May 25, 2009,  Berlin celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the Bundesrepublik and the 20th year since the Berlin Wall was dismantled. I was thrilled that all of our 16 students at this Study Abroad venue were eager not just to go to the celebrations, but to learn more about the history of Berlin since World War II. They are particularly intrigued by the story of the Wall. I am gratified to see this, because I identify with our students at this special time. I was in Berlin four times while the Wall was up, twice living here for several months while my father taught at the Free University of Berlin. I traveled into East Berlin frequently, and was deeply disturbed by the forced division of a city and a people and the intimidations of the strong military presence here. At the same time I fell in love with the people and the city itself. Both have heart and substance. I wasn't very much younger than our students are now, and I am moved to see in their eyes the same concern and eagerness to engage I felt then. They, too, are falling in love with the city — and, in a way, its history. It is heartening to see young people display the intelligence, courage, and imagination to venture into a new culture with all its baggage and try so hard to understand.

The celebration was lavish. Buoyed by a sea of joyful people, we watched and listened as Daniel Barenboim, sometime conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted the Berlin Orchestra in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. We saw pop stars. We stopped by the dozens of booths set up along the wide boulevard leading West from the Brandenburg Gate. I still marvel at the fact that I can walk back and forth through this favorite monument that was enclosed by the wall and barbed wire for 28 years. Berliners are very open, and all of us met new friends and engaged in great conversations. I won't close with John Kennedy's words "Ich bin ein Berliner," since that really means " I am a jelly doughnut." But I think all of our students join in saying, "Congratulations, Berlin! Thanks for including us in your celebration."

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