Twenty-Five Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Reflections on a United Germany in a Troubled Europe

Deutsches Haus at NYU presents a lecture by sociologist and historian Wolf Lepenies, the new DAAD Visiting Scholar at Deutsches Haus at NYU, on Twenty-Five Years After the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Reflections on a United Germany in a Troubled Europe.

In the murderous 20th century that experienced two world wars, the Holocaust, and the threat of atomic annihilation, the fall of the Berlin Wall was a rare moment of happiness. In hindsight, November 9, 1989 and October 3, 1990 (the day of German re-unification) merge into a single event. Twenty-five years ago, things were more complicated. Wolf Lepenies will talk about developments in Europe that are closely linked to the process of German re-unification and have their foci in four different countries: These are 1. France or The New North-South Conflict within Europe, 2. Hungary or The Scandal of an Illiberal Democracy, 3. Poland or The Failure of the Weimar Triangle, 4. Ukraine or The Lost Virtue of Ambiguity.

Wolf Lepenies, b. 1941, sociologist by profession, historian by inclination. Former professor of sociology at the Free University of Berlin and Rector of the Wissenschaftskolleg, the German Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (1986-2001), now Permanent Fellow emeritus. Long term member, School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study Princeton (1982-84), Chaire Européenne, Collège de France, Paris (1991-92). Officer of the French Legion of Honor, Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (2006), Foreign Honorary Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Books in English: Between Literature and Science. The Rise of Sociology (1988), Melancholy and Society (1992), The Seduction of Culture in German History (2006).

You must reserve your free seat by emailing [email protected].