4. Chancellor Merkel’s Speech
In her speech on November 9, 2019 at the Chapel of Reconciliation, Chancellor Angela Merkel ended with a poem by Reiner Kunze.
| the wall When we pulled it down we’d no notion just how high it is in us We’d grown accustomed to its horizon and to being out of the wind. In its shadow none of us had thrown a shadow And now we’re standing here stripped of every last excuse. (Trans. Richard Dove) | Die Mauer Als wir sie schleiften, ahnten wir nicht, wie hoch sie ist in uns. Wir hatten uns gewöhnt an ihren Horizont und an die Windstille. In ihrem Schatten warfen alle keinen Schatten. Nun stehen wir entblößt jeder Entschuldigung. (Reiner Kunze) |
- Written in 1990, the collective ‘we’ has a particular meaning. How has that meaning changed in the thirty years since the Wall fell?
- Who is the ‘we’ of the poem? Who is now “stripped of every last excuse”?
- What effect did the Wall have on the people who lived in its shadow?
- In reciting this poem to conclude a speech in 2019, what potential messages was Chancellor Merkel sending?
5. Lichtgrenze
For the 25th anniversary of the Wall’s fall, thousands of lighted balloons were placed along a fifteen-kilometer section of the course of the Wall. This video, released by the creators of the project, shows scenes from the night of November 9, 2014. As the balloons are released from their stands, a string with a message attached to each hangs below. As you watch the video, reflect on the meanings and symbolism of this artwork.
- How does this recreation of the Wall’s path give new meaning to the period of division?
- What are some of the meanings of this art installation? How does this work change or alter the meaning of the Wall?
- What symbolic meaning do you see in the individual elements: the poles, the balloons, the swaying in the wind?
- Imagine you wrote a message attached to a balloon. What would it say?
hiddenberlinbook.wordpress.com 