As the western world looks at the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I though I’d make my own modest contribution. I had the fortune to study in East Berlin in 1987-88, just before the wall fell. Sure there were tensions (communist darling Rosa Luxemburg’s
Freiheit ist immer die Freiheit des anders Denkenden
was provocatively thrown at the regime) but I don’t think anyone really thought at the time that the wall would fall any time soon.
On a personal level, the experience in East Berlin taught me a lot about critical thinking – such as how to read between the lines and why that is so important. I also learned to speak my first foreign language (full immersion works) and met my future soul-mate – not too bad for a year’s work.
