The Berlin Wall: From Construction to Demolition

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Dr. Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius is Professor of History at the University of Tennessee, where he has won multiple teaching awards and is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship. A native of Chicago, he earned his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Liulevicius has produced nine recorded lecture series on topics including: turning points of modern history, global explorers, espionage, World War I, diplomacy, dictatorships, the history of Eastern Europe, and Communism. He is the author of two books on German relations with Eastern Europe.

 

Overview

Built by East German Communist forces without warning in 1961, the Berlin Wall became the iconic structure symbolizing the decades-long Cold War.  It stood for 28 years, dividing the capital of Germany and housing armed border guards standing ready to shoot escapees. Then, in the unexpected upheavals of 1989, it was torn down by eager crowds. This lecture examines why and how the Berlin Wall was built, how it was challenged, subverted, tunneled under, spray-painted, and mocked, and then how and why it was toppled. In this course, we’ll explore the ideological meanings given to this concrete structure, the lived experience of those separated by it, and how the Wall continues to play a role in collective memory long after its collapse.

Reviews

5.0

7 reviews
5 stars
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Joni Greeni

Would if I could

Since your system once again has me locked out I can’t watch what I presume would have been an excellent program. But I’ll never know, will I.
My review is your system is awful!!! You probably don’t want to post this!

2 years ago
Debby Randall

excellent Berlin Wall lecture

really superb and for someone who lived during this time as a young person, so informative!

2 years ago
Mary Cronin

Oh Jonie, relax!

The lecture was very well done, could have enjoyed more visuals, but professor was terrific

2 years ago
Tania De La Torre

Very informative

Excellent speaker with great information about this piece of history, only sorry there was not enough time for him to address all the questions. I appreciate his book recommendations on this topic!

2 years ago
jeffrey goldstein

Excellent Presentation

Explanations, photos, historical backgound – all very well done!

2 years ago
EDWARD WALSH

The Berlin wall from construction to demolition

The Berlin wall from construction to demolition.
What a spectacular speaker who is this full of knowledge and knows how to express himself and to cover points that we would otherwise raise questions about. I have always maintained as an excellent teacher is someone who presents the topic and then covers all of the circle of the types of questions people might have of him/her. At the end of the class teacher may say do you have any questions and because nobody does their people assume that the listeners did not understand the presentation.. that is hardly the truth. I was graduating from high school at the time that the Berlin wall was built but I didn’t know much about it other than those darn communists from Russia created it to control people. How inspiring this lecture has become! A gold star to our professor!

2 years ago
EDWARD WALSH

The Berlin wall from construction to demolition

The Berlin wall from construction to demolition.
What a spectacular speaker who is this full of knowledge and knows how to express himself and to cover points that we would otherwise raise questions about. I have always maintained as an excellent teacher is someone who presents the topic and then covers all of the circle of the types of questions people might have of him/her. At the end of the class, a teacher may ask, “do you have any questions ,” and because nobody does have questions, people assume that the listeners did not understand the presentation.. that is hardly the truth. I was graduating from high school at the time that the Berlin wall was built but I didn’t know much about it other than those darn communists from Russia created it to control people. How inspiring this lecture has become! A gold star to our professor!

2 years ago
Natalie Wallace

Fantastic!

The group really enjoyed this presentation. The speaker spoke clearly and was easy to understand. Also great pictures in the presentation

2 years ago
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