Students Take Trip to NYC to Learn about Berlin Wall

Fleetwood German teacher Ms. Christine Moll and her students went on a trip to the Consulate General of Germany in New York City.

They went on 6 November, and the group learned about the history of the Berlin Wall.

It was the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

In the night from 12 August to 13 August 1961, East German border police in Berlin began tearing up streets, building barricades with the stones, and putting up barbed-wire barriers across the city.

They built a three-meter-high, impregnable wall around West Berlin.

The construction of the Wall meant that the eastern part of Berlin was completely cut off from the western part.

German students visited the Consulate General of Germany in New York City with Moll.

Their day began with an informal lecture about the history of the Berlin Wall.

After that, they viewed the photo exhibit, “A World Beyond the Wall,” which documents life during the time the wall stood.

The group walked to Bryant Park for lunch and shopping at the Winter Village. They went to Times Square, and they split up into two groups and rode the subway around the city for more shopping and sightseeing. 

“I learned a lot about the Berlin Wall! The subway is not like I thought it would be,” sophomore Alyson Witman said.

“New York is amazing. The sights are phenomenal,” sophomore Livia Magers said.

“I just love being here, and I’m sad to go,” sophomore Jay Molleca said. 

“I wish we could do this once a month,” senior Owen Magers said. 

“Definitely worth the trip! I learned a lot about the fall of the wall and life in East Germany,” junior Andrew Loeffler said. 

The Berlin Wall was not torn down until after 9 November 1989, when the GDR collapsed, and then on 13 August 1998, a Wall Memorial Site was opened in Berlin in Bernauer Strasse.