Introduction
On 4 November, 1989, on East Berlin’s central square the Alexanderplatz, more than half a million people gathered for the first legally-sanctioned protest in the German Democratic Republic's (East Germany's) history. (1)
That day, protestors and attendees of the Alexanderplatz Demonstration demanded “Die Wende.” Or, political turn-around from the Communist regime imposed by the Soviets during the Cold War. (2)
Consequently, within days, the entire SED ruling party Politburo resigned and on the night of 9 November, 1989 the Berlin Wall collapsed. (3)
The proximity in time and space of these events therefore begs the question of what connects the Alexanderplatz Demonstration to collapse of the Berlin Wall?
This digital humanities exhibit explores that connection in five parts...
Looking back at the history contained within and contextually around the Alexanderplatz demonstrations, observers of the past find this event was the tipping point in a gradual collapse of the Berlin Wall as well as the Communist SED regime in the GDR.
In short, the wider context of Cold-War East Germany culminated in the 4 November, 1989 Alexanderplatz Demonstration. Through media magnification, the protest's airing of contentious politics resulted in political challenge and change by the GDR government regarding social rights: in particular, transit reform. The point of collapse, however, was reached when total political uncertainty resulted from broad social change, and more & greater social change ensued leading later to the 1990 reunification of split-Germany and post-reunification social impacts. This exhibit also explores further connections between protest and collapse of the Berlin Wall.
For all those who experience my exhibit, Collapse of the Berlin Wall, the hope is to create mindfulness about an often mythologized event. Through applying the ever useful category of gender so much about both the past and present are revealed, enabling and challenging people to choose a more equitable world.
Please, enjoy.
-Robert J. Stidham, Curator.
All citations are in end-note format and can be found chronologically on the final page of the exhibit. For those interested, a full bibliography is also available- many of which resources are electronic or available through your local library.