What I Learned About German Reunification

Among the benefits of working on a college campus are attending lectures and other learning opportunities. Those I don't make it to I watch on Channel 62, but last week I got personal perspectives that were much more than I got from textbooks by attending a fall of the Berlin Wall symposium.



Dr. Susanne Wagner, who teaches German at UALR, organized "Perspective, Progress, and Promise - After the Berlin Wall: 20 Years of German Reunification" with the help of Dr. Steve Edison at the Reynolds College of Business building. Wagner suggested, "Knowing German creates business opportunities."



Dr. Anthony Chelte, dean of the Business College, who has made five trips to Germany including this semester to work out a partnership with UALR, welcomed attendees and told us that Germany had gotten rid of all of its economists (Ph.D.s) and hired westerners.



Dr. Stephen Farrelly, assistant professor of philosophy at UALR, was 14 at the time of the fall and became interested 10 years later. He painted a picture for us of his likely dinner conversations as a kid. His parents worked for the CIA and did not like Communists. Finding repressed people, he described how Germany's economic collapse happened quickly and its social ramifications. If you admitted to being a Christian, you weren't able to work at a university. He talked about power vs. violence and that the many nonviolent protests were an expression of power.



A panel discussion included speakers giving their perspective on the fall and experiences during that time. Participants included Dr. Andrew Drummond, assistant professor of political science at UALR; Thorsten Gottfried, cultural attaché for the German consulate general in Houston; Dr. Peter Höyng, chair and professor of German Studies at Emory University; Lenka Horakova, global project manager for Europe at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission; Dr. Rolf T. Wigand, professor of information science and management at UALR; and Rob Lentz, vice president of Acxiom Corporation.



I didn't know Wigand, who moderated the session, was from Germany. He lived in West Berlin in the late '60s (wall was built in 1961). Guards patrolled with dogs. You were killed if you tried to escape. You could leave by train in three directions. Leaving by car was a very controlled procedure. He was active in track and field and often had trips for meets. Luggage was inspected. "If you had soap, they would cut it up to see if you were hiding something. Toothpaste would be opened at the other end." Cars were inspected for mirrors. He recalled a scene of people being shot for climbing over the wall. Wigand was a professor at Arizona State when it fell. He and his wife were glued to the TV until the wee hours of the morning. "I didn't think I would ever experience that. I cried." He showed a piece of the wall. This is the closest I will ever get to it.



Gottfried admittedly thought going to the movies with his girlfriend in '89 was more important than the fall. Ten to 20 years later he was much more troubled. Gottfried questioned how things would be different if the Soviet Union came in with force. It was a clear alternative to do nothing. He said the people of Eastern Germany achieved unity and this is something they should be proud of.



Höyng asked what are we celebrating Nov. 9. Pride. But there are some problems with that. "We can't forget - they also started two world wars." Nov. 9 is significant for several occasions. In 1918, World War I ended. In 1938, there was systematic destruction of synagogues during the height of Nazi terrorism. However, the celebration of 1989 is rarely connected with the other dates. "You can't have one without the others."

Horakova, who has finance and international business degrees from UALR and previously worked at our Institute for Economic Advancement, said Arkansas exported to 162 countries last year totaling $5.8 billion and sustaining about 1,000 businesses in the state. The largest exported product is in electrical machinery at 23 percent. More than 100 foreign-controlled companies are in Arkansas employing nearly 34,000, of which 51 percent are in manufacturing. I had no idea of this volume. Many German businesses have now heard of Arkansas because of Nordex, a German wind turbine company to bring 720 jobs to Jonesboro. Horakova went with Gov. Beebe recently to visit leaders of Nordex in Hamburg.



In '89, Lentz, a college student, "went to Berlin to witness what was happening." He showed us his T-shirt that said, "I was there." He knew with the celebration and hope that he was witnessing something very gratifying. Lentz said a sequence of events changed the country's landscape, and it is now one of the largest economies and trading partner. "The social structure between the two sides was challenging." Drummond talked about the significance of the Lisbon Treaty signage and that it is "one of the things to be proud of."



What else I learned:

• Germany is the No. 1 export country in the world - mostly cars (Mercedes, Volkswagen).


• A few weeks ago a German received a Pulitzer in literature - the 11th for the country.


• Germany is one of the leading countries of solar power.


• German is the most spoken language in Europe today.


• I also heard on Frontline this week that Germany has the third strongest economy in the world.

And I learned why the computer geeks on campus always bring their laptops to meetings because I spilled water on my handwritten notes from this symposium as I was carting around my office in a bag due to our office flood. But I was mostly reminded how thankful I am to live in a free country.