For some of us, it is hard to imagine that many members of the freshman and sophomore classes were not even born when the Berlin Wall came down. But they might have gotten a taste of what it was like during a “reenactment” of the event on White Plaza sponsored by the Krupp Internship Program, the Stanford German Student Association, the Bing Overseas Studies Program and the ASSU. Check out the slideshow on the Stanford News site.

Karen Kramer, director of the Stanford-in-Berlin program, held a protest sign at the event on White Plaza marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

For those who want a real sense of what life was like in East Germany before the wall tumbled, there’s a course for that: “Downright DEFA: Films from the German Democratic Republic,” taught by KAREN KRAMER, director of Stanford-in-Berlin, who is teaching on the Farm this quarter. The class is held on the second floor of Pigott Hall (Building 260) in the German Studies Library on Tuesday evenings at 6.

Here’s the course description from the Stanford Bulletin: “Against the backdrop of the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, this film series will be an exercise in projected memory . . . through the images of its state film production agency, the DEFA. The films selected are a diverse and telling sampling of DEFA’s best.”

While some students are taking the class for credit, Kramer says all are welcome to attend the three classes that remain.

Also on film is a video on the Stanford-in-Berlin program, which features Kramer and GEORGE WILL, a 1955 alum who donated a villa to the program, as well as students ELLEN CERF, REMI SOBOMEHIN and WADDIE CRAZYHORSE, who share their Berlin experiences.

–Elaine Ray

Photo: L. A. Cicero