November 9, 2009, marks the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall.  The anniversary is being celebrated at Duke with an exihibit and a variety of activities under the title "Freedom without Walls: Fall of the Berlin Wall 1989-2009."

The student-curated exhibit is on view in the cases on the second floor of Bostock Library outside the Duke Libraries' International and Area Studies Department. The work of students in Christophe Fricker's German 148S, Special Topics in Literature and Culture, the exhibit features the Berlin photographs of Vincent Cianni. The students discovered the Cianni photographs in the Duke Special Collections Library while they were doing research on the fall of the wall. During a class session in the Rare Book Room, students interviewed Vincent Cianni about his stay in Berlin via skype. The captions of the photographs in the exhibit reflect their discussions with the photographer.

Other student-organized events marking the anniversary of the fall of the wall include: 

•October 30, from 1pm   Graffiti Contest - Win a trip to Berlin!  West Campus Main Quad
•November 2, 7:30pm   Major Speaker: Vera Lengsfeld   Schiciano Auditorium
•November 4, 5pm   Speech Contest - Win a trip to Berlin  East Duke Parlors
•November 7, 8pm    Gala   Freeman Center
•November 8, 12noon   Charity Run   Al Buehler Cross Country Trail

Details of all of these events can be found at the fall of the wall website.

Photo courtesy of the German Embassy, Washington, DC

• heidi.madden@duke.edu
• 660-5984