Contemporary Witnesses
Photo: Gesa Simons
Contact with contemporary witnesses is important to the work of the Berlin Wall Foundation. This oral history work sheds light on everyday life with the Berlin Wall and the German-German division and makes it more understandable. It is also a way to give victims and their relatives a voice. The memories of contemporary witnesses are collected, preserved and made accessible to the public in our archive. We are currently broadening our understanding of subjects related to flight, the Wall and division to include a wide range of historical experiences and topics. These include previously marginalized perspectives, such as the experiences of migrant communities or queer people. We would like to help make these experiences more visible within the culture of remembrance.
We want you
We are collecting memories of the Berlin Wall, German-German division and exodus to the West from the time of Cold War and continuing into the 1990s. We would like to preserve these biographical stories and make them visible and accessible to the public. We are not (only) interested in dramatic events and experiences, but also in everyday experiences that are not usually portrayed. If you want your story added to our archive, we would like to hear from you.
Interviews
We conduct biographical interviews with contemporary witnesses whose personal experiences are connected with topics related to the Berlin Wall and the German-German division. The focus varies depending on the site. The Berlin Wall Memorial’s collection contains interviews with people who experienced flight and escape, everyday life in East and West Berlin, and life during the period of transformation. The Marienfelde Refugee Center Memorial also focuses on experiences of flight, emigration and German repatriation, as well on people’s experiences after they arrived at the refugee center. Biographical interviews make it possible to take the entire life of an interviewee into account.
Collection & Research Opportunities
Our extensive archive is based on over 500 interviews with contemporary witnesses. They provide an insight into the history of everyday life and the topics addressed by the Berlin Wall Foundation. The audiovisual material is supplemented by individual bequests from interviewed contemporary witnesses. Journalists, researchers, students, school pupils and other interested parties can research our interview collections. Please note that all of our interviews are in German.
Our interview collection can be researched at our website Sammlung Online (only available in German). Under the category ‘Stöbern’ you have access to all audio and video interviews. You can also use the ‘Erweitere Suche’ to search for specific keywords, names or signatures.
The interviews are available via the aureka web app. aureka is an audio mining programme that makes audiovisual media accessible. It was developed by researchers at the FU Berlin and designed for working with sensitive oral history sources. Transcripts are produced automatically, which can be used to search through the audiovisual media. aureka makes it easier for you to search for specific topics and passages within the interviews. Please note that the interviews are in German, but aureka is available in English and offers subtitles.
If you would like to access our interviews online, you will need an aureka account. If you already have an account with aureka, you do not need to register again. Registration is free of charge.
Interviews that are not yet available online will be made available to you in our on-site archive at the Berlin Wall Memorial.
Insight
For an insight into our work with contemporary witnesses, you can watch these interviews filmed for the exhibition “The Berlin Wall. A World Divided”. The videos in full length are available on YouTube. The exhibition was initiated by the Spanish exhibition agency musealia and prepared in cooperation with the Berlin Wall Foundation.
The history of the division of the city is told thematic areas, starting from the beginning of the Cold War in post-war Germany to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Peaceful Revolution. These interviews of contemporary witnesses illustrate different perspectives on life in divided Berlin and make the stories of the victims visible.
Please note that the interviews are in German with English subtitles.
Websites
You can also conduct your own research on contemporary witnesses on the following websites:
- DDR-Zeitzeuge (in German)
Website of the Coordinating Contemporary Witness Office, a joint service of the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial Foundation, the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship and the Berlin Wall Foundation - Arbeit mit Zeitzeugen (in German)
Working with Contemporary Witnesses, portal of Zeitpfeil e.V., the Bildungswerk der Humanistischen Union NRW and the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Research Potsdam (ZZF) - Archiv der anderen Erinnerungen (in German)
Oral history project of the Federal Foundation Magnus Hirschfeld on the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, inter* and queer (LGBTIQ*) in Germany - Archive of Flight of the House of World Cultures (HKW)
Video interviews with contemporary witnesses who came to Germany between 1945 and 2016 - Berliner Kindheiten (in German)
Online video project by Johannes Zillhardt, interviews with Berliners born between 1915 and 2001. - Berlin in Bewegung (in German)
Oral history project of the FFBIZ - the feminist archive on the women's lesbian movement from 1968 onwards in East and West Berlin - Jugendopposition in der DDR (in German)
Online project of the Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft e.V., including interviews with contemporary witnesses - Online-Videoportal der Beauftragten des Landes Brandenburg zur Aufarbeitung der Folgen der kommunistischen Diktatur (LAKD) (in German)
Interviews with contemporary witnesses on repression and opposition in Brandenburg 1945 to 1989 - Zeitzeugenportal des gemeinnützigen Vereins Zeitzeugenbörse e.V. in Berlin (in German)
for the period from National Socialism to the fall of the Berlin Wall - Contemporary Witness Office
Online portal of the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship with biographies of contemporary witnesses on the history of the GDR - Zeitzeugen-Portal (in German)
Online video portal of the Foundation House of History of the Federal Republic of Germany
Work with contemporary witnesses at the Marienfelde Refugee Center Museum
The Marienfelde Refugee Center Museum works closely with contemporary witnesses. Their accounts of their everyday life in the emergency reception camp or in the Marienfelde transitional home, their personal experience of the process, but also the views of residents or employees are important sources.
Work with eyewitnesses at the Berlin Wall Memorial
Since the end of the 1990s, the Berlin Wall Memorial has been conducting life story interviews with contemporary witnesses. Working with them is an essential part of the memorial's work.