Material Culture of the Old World in Chicago

See also: Material culture and Old World

The Berlin Wall Monument is a public display of a piece from the actual Berlin Wall which existed in the second half of the 20th century. It is an example if material culture of the Old World in Chicago, Illinois. Like other pieces, it is made of solid concrete with some graffiti on one side. A fence with barbed wire existed before the concrete barricade was erected. The Berlin Wall represented one of the great political, economic, and ideological divides of the twentieth century between two major powers: the United States and the Soviet Union. The conflict between these two powers affected the global community, namely Germany. Even after it was demolished, the wall symbolized divisions in Germany and the rest of the world, ones that arguably still exist today.

Background

See Also: World War II, The Cold War, Berlin Wall

This image is of the construction of the Berlin Wall. The wall existed from 1962 to 1989. After its demolition, pieces of the wall were broken with some taken as souvenirs.

World War II affected many countries, Germany in particular. After the years of total war, the Nazi regime in Germany finally surrendered to the Allied countries in spring of 1945. Later, the Empire of Japan surrendered shortly after the second atomic bomb devastated their country. In the post-war years, tensions between two of the victorious powers, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged. The former was growing ever more capitalistic and the latter pursued communism. Germany, not only geographically located in the center of Europe, was the center of the divided between the powers. Germany, especially its capital, Berlin, was partitioned by the victors of the Second World War; there were a few parts but the major division was east-west dividing the capitalist countries from the communist one.

A great wall was erected almost two decades later to strengthen the division, literally and figuratively. Built in 1961, the Berlin Wall represented one of the great political, economic, and ideological divides of the twentieth century between two major powers: the United States and the Soviet Union. It was 96 miles in length. The conflict between these two powers affected the global community, namely Germany. Even after it was demolished, the wall symbolized divisions in Germany and the rest of the world, ones that arguably still exist today. Cornell sociologist Christine Leuenberger described the effects of the wall and its ultimate fall by arguing that “It became the landmark that symbolized the Cold War… the Berlin Wall also left a lasting impression on the psyche of the German people”. She further argues that The Berlin Wall “provides a salient and powerful example of how material culture intersects with knowledge production in the psychological sciences”.

Berlin Wall in Chicago

Main article: Berlin Wall Monument (Chicago)

After the wall was deconstructed in 1989 and Germany was unified, fragments were dispersed throughout the world. Some pieces were taken by locals while others were collected and sold all over the world. In Chicago, Illinois, a significant piece is on currently on permanent display at the Western Brown Line Station. It is The Berlin Wall Monument which is in the Lincoln Square neighborhood. Lincoln Square is just southwest of Ravenswood in the northern part of Chicago.

The Berlin Wall Monument resides today under the Western Brown Line Station in Chicago

This is a tourism map of Lincoln Square. Lincoln Square is a neighborhood in the northern part of Chicago. It has been a historically German neighborhood.

In 2008, the German government offered the piece to the city of Chicago, who accepted the offer. It ended up in Lincoln Square due to the area’s German roots ancestry. A dedication ceremony occurred when the monument was set up, attended by the then-mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley and the local alderman Gene Shulter. Along with other prominent dignitaries, including a US diplomat, 120 residents attended the dedication, all who remember or otherwise appreciate the division that the Berlin Wall embodied. Unlike many artifacts housed in museums, this piece of the Berlin Wall sits just under the train station as a monument with its own plaque and available to anyone around. It is one of two fragments of the wall on display in Illinois; the other is in the Ronald Reagan Peace Garden at Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois.

Characteristics

The piece on display in Chicago is a monolithic with two main surfaces. Since the piece was part of a wall, either side was observed by a limited number of people and nobody on the other side. It is simple to tell which side faced West Berlin and which side faced East Berlin. The former has graffiti and the latter is bare. “‘So you’re talking about the free side, the side that the Americans were able to release at the end of (World War II). That’s why we have all this graffiti on it, because they were free, they were allowed to do things, and express themselves,’ Nicholle Dombrowski, executive director of the DANK Haus German American Cultural Center, said. ‘The east side is traditionally clean, because they were under a communist government at that time, and they were not allowed to express themselves, whatsoever.’”. The piece serves as a metaphoric and literal reminder of the two very different sides of a long, bitter conflict.

Further reading

• Glassie, Henry. "Chapter 2: Material Culture." Material Culture. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1999. 41-86. Print.
• Keating, Ann D. Chicago Neighborhoods and Suburbs: A Historical Guide. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008. Print.
• Leuenberger, Christine. "Constructions of the Berlin Wall: How Material Culture Is Used in Psychological Theory." Social Problems. 53.1 (2006): 18-37. Print.
• Ulbricht, J.. “Reflections on Visual and Material Culture: An Example from Southwest Chicago”. Studies in Art Education 49.1 (2007): 59–72. Web
• Wiener, Jon. How We Forgot the Cold War: A Historical Journey across America (2012)