Deutschland 2009

Two significant events of German post-war history were commemorated in 2009 - the division of Germany and the founding of two states sixty years ago, and the fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago, which led to German reunification - an occasion to re-examine and re-evaluate the history and significance of this historic event.
What does 1989 mean to Germany and Europe? What were the causes and repercussions of the systemic collapse? What will be regarded as worthy of remembering, and what aspects of this common history will be forgotten? These and other questions have been addressed by several of the Federal Cultural Foundation's projects during the commemorative year of 2009.

History Forum 1989 | 2009. Europe between Division and New Beginnings

The three-day History Forum presented 1989 as a key turning point of European history based on contemporary examination, discussions and artistic events.

After Winter Comes Spring - Films Presaging the Fall of the Wall

The film series presents German and East European films made during the last decade of the Cold War. Each film conveys the sense of far-reaching changes looming ahead.

Art of Two Germanys / Cold War Cultures

This exhibition presented works of art-historical significance which were made in East and West Germany between 1945 and the end of German division in 1989.

60 years in Germany - Warming up to an Uncomfortable Identity

The theatre project developed by the Schaubühne in Berlin, featured works by young writers and playwrights that commemorated the founding of the two German states in 1949 with an extensive programme based on German post-war history.

Material​​​​​​​

The project examines the work of East Berlin filmmaker Thomas Heise and his personal view of the image of East Germany and daily life in a communist dictatorship.


All projects honour the role of artists and cultural producers as chroniclers, commentators and critics of East-West German contemporary history and the present situation in a reunified Germany. By integrating art, culture, science, politics and the public sphere, the projects aimed to create new ways of dealing with the past sixty years of Germany's shared and divided history.