Anoka-Ramsey Community College Faculty member Stephan Peter, his political science students, art students and Peter’s brother, Johannes Peter, have collaborated to create an event in honor of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The public is invited to this free event, Monday, Nov. 9, noon to 1:15 p.m., in the Coon Rapids Campus cafeteria.

A replica of the Berlin Wall, created by students, and an exhibition of wall photos and pictures will form the backdrop for a live video conference with Johannes Peter, who will be reporting from Germany atCheckpoint Charlie, one for three checkpoints along the wall where people were registered by military forces before entering East Berlin.

”The fall of the Berlin Wall marks an important historical turning point in international relations, the end of an era,” says Political Science Faculty member, Stephan Peter. “The U.S. has been the winner but we’ve also been projected into a new era with more uncertainties than that of the Cold War.”

Johannes Peter will share the happenings at the infamous checkpoint and the history of the wall. A discussion will follow.

More About the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) to separate West Berlin from East Germany. The wall came to symbolize the Iron Curtain between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc. Prior to the erection of the wall, 3.5 million East Germans had avoided  Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions by escaping into West Germany, many over the border between East and West Berlin.  The wall included guard towers along large concrete walls circumscribing a wide area containing anti-vehicle trenches and other defenses.  This area came to be called the "death strip.”) From the time the wall was erected in 1961 until it fell in 1989, approximately 5,000 people attempted escape from the east to the west. Estimated deaths range from 98 and 200 people.

For more information about the exciting events at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, visit www.AnokaRamsey.edu.

Anoka-Ramsey Community College students (shown) paint a miniature Berlin Wall for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall. The public is invited to view the wall and participate in a live video conference from Berlin Germany, Monday, Nov. 9, noon to 1:15 p.m. at the Coon Rapids Campus cafeteria.