Berlin and the Berlin Wall: self-guided short course – sample resources

This is a taster version of our full self-guided short course on Berlin and the Berlin Wall, which is available free to members (£54 for non-members).

The full version contains 6 filmed webinars from the original live course, and 28 articles, podcasts and other resources supporting the course content.

Introduction

The Berlin Wall became a symbol of a time in history, and a physical defining point in an otherwise covert series of battles. To study and explore the Berlin Wall is to explore how the Cold War manifested itself in Central Europe and the impact it had on one nation in particular. In this self-guided course participants are invited to learn about the wider context of the Cold War as experienced in Europe and specifically to understand how the wall and events in Germany influenced European politics and international relations. How the German people continued to be a focal point of history throughout the twentieth century is another theme alongside how an historic city survived to be once more the capital of a nation. 

The resources available on these pages are a small sample of the full online short course. The full course brings together films, podcasts, articles, and specially filmed webinars to take you through the history of the Berlin Wall. There is a mixture of broad-brush pieces and the interrogation of specific questions and issues. The recorded sessions offer stimulation to anyone now approaching the subject and will help anyone new to the course to see how others have explored the topic and wrestled with the questions of why Berlin, how important was the Wall as a physical structure and what impact did it have for those across Europe? The legacy of the wall in a new and invigorated Germany for Germans and the future of the EU are also touched upon.

Access the full short course on Berlin and the Berlin Wall