The Berlin Wall at UVA

Supported by the offices of the President and the Provost, the Vice Provost for the Arts and the Hefner Collection.
The Berlin Wall at UVA  made possible by Robert & MeiLi Hefner.

Berlin Wall Symposium
The Fall of a Symbol, The Will of a People
November 3–9, 2014

Download Full Program (pdf) >

The Berlin Wall Symposium is a dynamic, week-long multidisciplinary exploration marking the 25th Anniversary of the historic fall of the Berlin Wall. Through lectures, exclusive presentations and live performance, the Symposium brings together experts and artists from throughout the UVA community and beyond to highlight some of the cultural, political and historical implications around one of the watershed moments of the 20th Century.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014
Kings of Freedom Chalking
by mural artist Sam Welty
The Community Chalkboard and Podium: A Monument to the First Amendment
Charlottesville Downtown Mall

Rock and the Wall: American Music as Rebellion in East Germany
Lecture by Grace Hale
UVa Professor of History & Director of the American Studies Program
5:30pm | Reception to Follow
Auditorium of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014
Nach Berlin: Kapitol Architectures
Lecture by Karen Van Lengen
William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Architecture
5:00pm | UVa School of Architecture
Campbell Hall Room 153

Urban Planning in the Walled World of West Berlin: 2 Projects
Lecture by Alex Wall
UVa Visiting Professor, Architecture & Landscape Architecture
6:00pm | Reception to Follow
UVa School of Architecture
Campbell Hall Room 153

WORLD PREMIERE
W\E: a Theatrical Piece of The Wall
Writer, Doug Grissom, UVa Associate Professor
Director, Colleen Kelly, UVa Associate Professor
UVa MFA Acting Company
8:00pm | FREE
Helms Theatre, Drama Building

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014
Blind Faith: My Life as a Jewish Self-Hating Communist in the GDR
Reading & Discussion with Writer, Salomea Genin
2:30pm | Auditorium of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

Panel with Dr. Sergei Khrushchev, Dr. Klaus Larres, Dr. Mary Beth Stein & Dr. Allen Lynch
Sponsored by the UVa Center for Politics & the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
6:30pm | Dessert Reception to Follow
Auditorium of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2014
Roundtable with Eduard Fuehr and Janet Ward
Fuehr, German Architectural Historian and Theorist & Ward, Author & Professor, University of Oklahoma
3:00 | Reception to Follow
Byrd Seminar Room, Harrison Institute

Fall of the Wall Undergraduate Prize
Contest Presentations & Awards
5:00pm | Auditorium of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

The Wall in the Head: German-German Confrontations and Arguments (1952 – 2014)
Lecture by Eduard Fuehr
5:30pm | Reception to Follow
Auditorium of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

Virginia Film Festival presents
Wings of Desire Details>
8:00 pm | Downtown Mall – Regal 1

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2014
Ghetto, Wall, Curtain, Shield: Berlin and the Bordered Urban Condition
Lecture by Janet Ward
Launching the German Cities in Transnational Context Series
2:30 pm | Byrd Seminar Room, Harrison Institute

W\E: a Theatrical Piece of The Wall
Writer, Doug Grissom, UVa Associate Professor
Director, Colleen Kelly, UVa Associate Professor
UVa MFA Acting Company
5:00pm | FREE
Helms Theatre, Drama Building

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Virginia Film Festival presents
41 on 41
Discussion with Executive Producer Mary Kate Cary, Andrew Card, Marlin Fitzwater, and Barbara Perry
3:45 pm | UVA Newcomb Hall Sponsored by The Miller Center

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014
25th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Virginia Film Festival presents
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Discussion with Douglas Keeney and Allen Lynch (UVA)
1:00 pm | UVA Newcomb Hall Theater
Supported by the Library of Congress, The Miller Center, and Virginia Festival of the Book

Virginia Film Festival presents
Red Army
Discussion with director Gabe Polsky
2:15 pm | Downtown Mall – Regal 4

W\E: a Theatrical Piece of The Wall
Writer, Doug Grissom, UVa Associate Professor
Director, Colleen Kelly, UVa Associate Professor
UVa MFA Acting Company
4:00pm | FREE
Helms Theatre, Drama Building

25th Anniversary Ceremony & Moment of Remembrance at the Berlin Wall at UVA
5:30 pm | Followed by Reception in Newcomb Hall

Virginia Film Festival presents
Wałęsa: Man of Hope
7:00 pm | Downtown Mall – Regal 2

Berlin Wall Symposium Participants

• Office of the President
• Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost
• Vice Provost for the Arts
• School of Architecture
• The American Studies Program
• Center for German Studies
• The Center for Politics
• Corcoran Department of History
• Dance Program
• Department of Drama
• The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
• Department for Germanic Languages & Literatures
• Harrison Institute and Small Special Collections Library
• The Miller Center
• The Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics
• The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression
• The Virginia Film Festival

In the News

• UVA Today: Gone But Not Forgotten: Why the Berlin Wall Maintains a Grip on Us | February 08, 2018, by Matt Kelly
• Cavalier Daily, University remembers fall of the Berlin Wall, 25 years later  | November 3, 2014, by Katherine Wilkin
• Daily Progress, UVa to mark 25 years since Berlin Wall’s fall | November 2, 2014
• UVA Today, UVA Architecture Professor Shares Memories of Berlin Wall’s Fall | October 30 2014, by Robert Hull
• UVA Today, Berlin Wall Symposium to Celebrate 25th Anniversary of Historic Fall Nov. 3-9 October 24, 2014, by Robert Hull
• Daily Progress, Berlin Wall Comes to UVA | April 2014
• WVTF Radio IQ, UVA Welcomes Berlin Wall Exhibit | April 16, 2014, by Sandy Hausman
• The Hefner Collection, The “Kings of Freedom”: Four Panels of The Berlin Wall from The Hefner Collection are on Exhibit at the University of Virginia | April 15, 2014 by Metra Nichols
• UVA Today, Berlin Wall’s ‘Kings of Freedom’ Art Unveiled on UVA’s Grounds as Symbol of Liberty | April 14, 2014, by Robert Hull
• UVA Today, ‘Kings of Freedom’ Art to be Unveiled Friday at Berlin Wall Installation | April 9, 2014, by Robert Hull
• UVA Today, UVA MEDIA ADVISORY: Public Unveiling Ceremony of ‘Kings of Freedom’ Art Berlin Wall Installation on UVA Grounds | April 9, 2014, by Robert Hull
• NBC29, Four Panels of the Berlin Wall Installed at UVA | March 10, 2014
• UVA Today, Berlin Wall Coming to UVA Grounds | March 5, 2014, by Robert Hull