A University of North Texas department is remembering the fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago with a series of events this month and next.
Most citizens of East Germany — formally the German Democratic Republic — were surprised on Nov. 9, 1989, when the government announced it would open its borders at select checkpoints along the Berlin Wall.
The flush of freedom, though, sent both East and West Germans to “Checkpoint Charlie” to hammer away at the Berlin Wall with hammers and chisels. Before long, a party broke out, with East and West Germans dancing and cheering along the wall.
The UNT Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures continues its commemorative series about the fall of the wall with a free screening of The Legend of Paul and Paula (Die Legende von Paul und Paula) at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Room 176 of Sage Hall.
Released in 1973, the film is considered to be one of the most successful films made in East Germany. It follows the fateful meeting of Paula, a single mother who works in a supermarket, and Paul, a bureaucrat with big ambitions and a wife. They fall in love, and eventually must decide if Paul will sacrifice his family and his respectability for Paula.
Two UNT students will present their research on Germany at 4 p.m. Oct. 27. An exhibit of posters inspired by the 25th anniversary of the wall’s fall, made by students from UNT students, Denton High School and other North Texas high schools, will be presented from 3 to 5 p.m. Nov. 3 in the Exhibit Hall on the first floor of the Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building.
— Staff report
