50 seconds history

Walter Ulbricht and Günther Schabowski

The two phrases we selected, outlined below, mark the begin and the end of the Berlin-wall. The historical importance and the contrast between a very controlled and a more spontaneous statement raised our interest. The bold, black typography of the first text should be a contrast to Günther Schabowski's hesitating declaration (which was emphasized by a lot of "Äh"). We put both sentences in a timeline to be able to represent the historical development and the aspect of time. Finally, we added an extra layer, containing a selection of short phrases, associations and pictures.

1. quote:
Between 1960 and 1973 Walter Ulbricht was the head of the DDR. During a pressconference at June 15, 1961, he was asked if the DDR had plans to built a border between east and west Germany. Walter Ulbricht answered self assured: "Niemand hat die Absicht eine Mauer zu errichten" ("Nobody has intentions to build a wall"). Two months later, in August 1961, the wall in Germany was erected.

2. quote:
At November 9, 1989, Politburo-member Günther Schabwoski announced the opening of the wall between west and east Berlin. His answer was surprisingly spontaneous, one almost could call it a missunderstandig, but had massive consequences for our German history. In the same night thousands of people crossed the former border.