Literatures discussing the GDR, Federal Republic, and Cold War all place great importance on Berlin. However, the entanglements between these three distinct historiographies are still an open question. This seminar, Berlin in the Cold War – the Cold War in Berlin, seeks to debate the repercussions of the seminal processes that simultaneously divided and coalesced in Berlin in order to explore (I) local consequences of international relations, (II) persisting ties across the global political divide and (III) different ways of making sense out of this unique experience. We have therefore chosen a three-dimensional approach:

I. Locating Berlin in the Cold War. The struggle between two superpowers over Berlin captured the attention of contemporary policy makers, the international public, artists, and historians alike. Highlighting dramatic events such as the Airlift and the Wall’s construction in their symbolism for the Cold War, scholars have largely glossed over their impact on local Berliners. Refigured architectures, spatial structures, and economies shaped the everyday life of more than three million individuals. Instead of being bystanders, Berliners in East and West gradually developed strategies to thrive within and with the Cold War paradigm. Such a microhistory of the Cold War would enable us to better understand the agency of locals in a global conflict.

II. Disjointed and resilient local entanglements in the Cold War. Since 1947/48, Berlin became increasingly politically divided. The erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961 eventually cut most connections between East and West. Despite the manifest division, however, shared challenges on both sides prompted mutual reactions. Hence an integrated post-war history would go beyond the contrasting comparison of dictatorship vs. democracy and would offer a window to explore overlapping processes and entanglements between East and West Berlin as well as the mutual perception of the city’s inhabitants.

III. Remembering Cold War Berlin. Berlin has been the preeminent symbol of the Cold War for decades, and it still is. Numerous memoirs, museums, and plagues attempt to keep experiences of Cold War Berlin tangible. Buildings such as the former Allied Headquarters, the Free University, the Congress Hall, and several Soviet War Memorials stand as indelible legacies of the Cold War – while globally exported segments of the Wall reinforce Berlin’s reputation as the conflict’s epicenter. In this segment, we want to analyze Berlin as a global “lieu de mémoire” – not to distinguish between facts and fiction, but to compare competing narratives and discuss their political intentions.

Taken together, discussing these three dimensions would facilitate work towards an integrated Cold War Berlin history. This three-day seminar at the 2014 GSA Conference in Kansas City offers up to 15 scholars the unique opportunity to break down traditional barriers. It will bring together researchers from different generations and both sides of the Atlantic to intensify fruitful conversations between different scholarly disciplines. The benefits of an integrated Cold War Berlin history would be considerate: Each day, throngs of tourists from across the world visit Berlin in search for Cold War authenticity, only to find the tacky circus of Checkpoint Charlie. Their strong interest deserves better answers.