Die Mauer Ist Offen

It was 20 years ago today — in a disco in Heidelberg, West Germany — when a girl approached a 20-year-old Fred Yaniga and screamed “Die Mauer ist offen, die Mauer in Berlin ist offen.”

Yaniga blamed her delirium on alcohol because, he surmised, there was no way that the Berlin Wall had opened. But upon his return to school, where he was an exchange student, Yaniga was met with silence as all eyes were on the community television, watching East and West Berliners celebrate in the streets. The scene brought him to tears.

After a fitful night of sleep, Yaniga and his buddies made the trip to Berlin to join in the party of a lifetime. “I have never kissed and hugged so many total strangers than that day,” he told a crowd of about 100 people Sunday in Clowes Memorial Hall at Butler University, where he now serves as Director of the Modern Language Center.

His story — one of several highlighting the spirit of the fall of the Wall by those who were in Berlin — was part of celebration put together by the International Center of Indianapolis, the German Consulate and Butler’s Jordan College of Fine Arts. Kathy Humphrey spoke on behalf of the ICI, Sven C. Schumacher for the Consulate and Dr. Peter Alexander for Jordan College.

Pastor Al Smith — who worked for a church in West Germany at the time and visited East Germany in that capacity — told of a fast drive on the Autobahn to return from a conference in another city. “People were waving flags along the highway and the overpasses and I think there was some beer involved.” That’s Pastor Smith and Mrs. Humphrey in the photo.

Jeanette Footman — now a co-owner of Perk Up in Broad Ripple — spoke of living behind the Wall in East Berlin until, as a 10-year-old, her family was permitted to leave. Living in London when the Wall fell, she spent days attempting to connect to her sister in Berlin. Norbert Krapf, the Indiana Poet Laureate, concluded the celebration with a poem about the Wall, which echoed Bob Dylan’s famed ‘Blowin’ in the Wind.’

In all, it was a great event and kudos to Jane Rulon, Aliya Chaplin and Ansuyah Naiken of the International Center.