|
Beginning on October 8, 2009, Sister Cities of Nashville will host a month-long series of
events commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and celebrating our sister-city relationship
with Magdeburg. This
program will be produced in conjunction with the nation-wide public diplomacy campaign of the German Embassy in Washington,
"Freedom without Walls." See www.freedomwithoutwalls.org. "Needless
to say, Nashville's very active and successful partnership with Magdeburg, which was in the former East Germany, would not
have been possible without these heroic events," said Sister Cities board member, Douglas Berry, who is also Honorary
German Consul for Tennessee.
Calendar of Events
Thursday, October 8 and Friday, October 9, 4:00 p.m. Magdeburg's world famous puppet theatre will
perform "Oscar and the Lady in Pink" at Nashville's Downtown Public Library. The shows are free and open to
the general public. (Appropriate for ages 9 and up.)
Thursday, October 8,
11:30 a.m. Helmut Herdt, Director of Magdeburg Public Works, will talk on "Environmental Issues before and after German
Reunification: the Example of the Magdeburg City Public Works Department" at the Ezell Center at David Lipscomb
University. $20 for lunch and lecture. RSVP to info@themediationgrouptenn.com. Friday, October 9, 7:00 p.m.
A reception and premier of the documentary "Gewendete Leben"
("Redirected Lives"), which is about the change of life in Germany since the fall of the wall in 1989, will
take place at Watkins College of Art and Design. . Admission is free. Please RSVP to director@scnashville.org.
Saturday, October 10,
12:00 noon Dedication of the Magdeburg Greenway portion of the Nashville Greenway and commemoration of 100th anniversary of
Morgan Park to take place in Morgan Park. The event, which is held in conjunction with Oktoberfest in Germantown, is
sponsored by Sister Cities of Nashville and the Metro Department of Parks and Recreation along with the historic Germantown
and Salemtown neighborhoods.
Sunday, October 11, 3:00- 5:00
p.m. Following the grand opening of the "Magdeburg: Autumn 1989" photo exhibit, which will be attended by Magdeburg Vice-Mayor
Rudeiger Koch, Mayor Karl Dean, and representatives from the German Consulate in Atlanta, Sister Cities of Nashville
will host a wine and cheese reception. This event will be open to all Sister Cities members and will take place in the
courtyard at the Downtown Public Library. Sister Cities of Nashville members may RSVP to the reception by emailing director@scnashville.org. Monday, October 12 - Sunday, October 25 A photo exhibit, "Magdeburg: Autumn 1989," depicting the peaceful demonstrations that led to the
fall of the wall will be presented in tandem with the Downtown Public Library’s permanent display which showcases the
Civil Rights movement in Tennessee. Research indicates that the peaceful demonstrations initiated by Martin
Luther King and other Civil Rights leaders greatly influenced the tenor of the demonstrations in Germany decades later.
The exhibit is free and open to the general public during the library’s regular hours of operation, and would
be ideal for school groups. School groups wishing to schedule a field trip to the exhibit should contact
Andrea Blackman, andrea.blackman@nashville.gov. Thursday, October 22, 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
"Nonviolence and Peaceful Change: A Sister
Cities Dialogue" will bring leaders of Civil Rights Movement in Nashville together with guests from Magdeburg's
1989 freedom demonstrations in a discussion of connections, comparisons, and common lessons of the two movements. The
event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information. Sunday, October 11 – Wednesday, October 28 An artistic exhibit developed by the Magdeburg
Puppet Theater called "Puppet Theater Under Two Political Systems, " depicting through pictures and photographs
the different realtities for performing artists under different forms of government. Admission is free to this
exhibit in the Downtown Public Library and open to the general public.
October - November 2009 (and throughout the school year 2009-2010) Sister Cities of Nashville
board member and Honorary German Consul Douglas Berry will make presentations to area schools on “Freedom Without
Walls,” a discussion of the events leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the liberation of Eastern Europe from
Communist dictatorship He will be joined by Sister Cities member Claudia Schenck, who grew up in Dresden,
in the former East Germany, and participated in peaceful demonstrations there as a 16-year-old. Schools wishing
to schedule a presentation should contact Heather Cunningham at director@scnashville.org. For additional questions regarding the presentation, please contact Douglas Berry at dberry@hubbardberry.com.
|
|
|
Hubbard, Berry
& Harris, Pllc
|
|
