The Book of the 35th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Freedom is the theme of the book marking the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The book presents the thousands of posters from the open-air installation and brings together diverse voices from politics, culture and society. Celebrities, artists, politicians and contemporary witnesses reflect on the history of that time, share memories, argue passionately and make tangible what freedom means to them. Available free of charge on November 8 and 9 along the route and on November 10 at the Campus for Democracy!

Among the contributing voices are two GDR civil rights activists who were active together in the Friedenskreis (Peace Circle) in the 1980s but today have very different views on the war in Ukraine. We also hear from two legendary GDR-born footballers, Axel Kruse and Christian Beeck, who talk about knowing when to leave and when to stay. Is it possible to compare the conditions for protest in the repressive GDR to our present-day situation in a democratic Germany? That’s the focus of a discussion between artist Gabriele Stötzer and climate activist Luisa Neubauer. Ukrainian writer Yuri Andrukhovych and Belarusian political activist Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya take a look at Ukraine and Belarus and trace the different paths taken in those countries in 1989/1991. Journalist Hami Nguyen and filmmaker Neco Çelik also express their ambivalent relationship to 1989 from a post-migrant perspective.

As a book of thousands of voices, however, the key function of the Book of Freedom is to showcase the posters and signs created in the lead-up to the anniversary. The book serves to transform the people who designed these posters into co-authors, thus creating a lasting testimony to their creative commitment and engagement with the values of the 1989/90 era.

The book will be handed out free of charge on 8–9 November along the route of the open-air installation and on 10 November on the Campus for Democracy.