30 Years since the Fall of the Berlin Wall: “Our history determines the future”

On 9 November 2019, the anniversary of the “30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall” was to be marked as an experience that brought the whole of Germany together. The commission “30 years of peaceful revolution and German unity” aimed to pay tribute to the courage and involvement of people in the GDR, as well as to honour the achievements in developing the east and bringing Germany together. With these objectives in mind, the creative team from fischerAppelt developed a talk format under the motto “Our history determines the future”. In accordance with the historical timeframe, it was streamed live nationwide from 18:53 (announcement of the border opening) to 23:30 (border opening at Bornholmer Strasse). Spread across four studios, a total of 600 invited citizens and representatives of politics, society, the economy and culture came together for moderated rounds of talks.

Four locations along the former German-German border were selected for the realisation: Hof, Geisa, Zicherie/Böckwitz and Ratzeburg. The event locations – an old industrial hall, a cultural building, the Europawiese open-air area and a church – provided an authentic setting. According to a relay principle, each of the four studios broadcast for around an hour. A room-in-room concept brought together the functional get-together, spectator and talk stage areas. The selection of various furniture, materials, patterns and colours was designed to promote a homely and harmonious atmosphere. Large-scale historical photo motifs from that era illustrated the events surrounding the fall of the Berlin wall. The format was accompanied by a campaign website, online ads and press releases.