DIE GERMANISTIN: Riveting Forays into German-Language Literature by Sheridan Marshall. 35 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall
This month I attended two of the most entertaining German Embassy London events I have ever been to, marking 35 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Both events were held at the Leake Street Arches near Waterloo Station – an impressively graffitied space which lends itself perfectly to pop-up cultural happenings.
At an evening reception on 3 October, the Embassy unveiled a mural it had commissioned to celebrate the history of the Berlin Wall and the rich tradition of street art with which it is associated. Produced by the London-based street artist Jake Attewell, a member of The Abstract Mural Company, the mural depicts a line of figures sitting astride the wall, as graffiti artists are at work adorning the space on the wall below them. With its bold orange and turquoise tones, the mural is a striking tribute to an iconic symbol of Germany’s divided past.
Rosie Goldsmith, director of the European Literature Network, and John Kampfner, author of Why the Germans Do It Better (2020) and In Search of Berlin (2023), reflected on their experiences as journalists when the Wall fell in November 1989, and how these have resonated during their subsequent careers. The evening concluded with a fabulous disco featuring classic pop anthems from the 1980s and ‘90s where I was fortunate enough to be able to dance with the Germany’s most celebrated illustrator of children’s literature, the one and only Axel Scheffler – an experience that I never even realised had been on my bucket list!
Two days later I took part in the ‘Berlin Wall Mashup’ – a weekend event showcasing a variety of cultural responses to the fall of the Wall. Film footage of the Berlin Wall was accompanied by further testimonials about the ways in which the Wall impacted people’s lives. Then there was the opportunity to get hands-on and create your own artistic tribute to the Wall by spray-painting a tote bag. The pervasive smell of spray paint fumes certainly contributed to the immersive atmosphere at the Leake Street Arches venue!
An hour of ‘flash readings’ curated by Rosie Goldsmith gave people a flavour of the huge array of literary responses to the Berlin Wall. The series of 3-minute readings were kicked off by the German Ambassador to the UK, Miguel Berger, reading from Jon le Carré’s international bestseller, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963). I enjoyed reading an extract I have translated from Constanze Neumann’s Das Jahr Ohne Sommer / ‘The Year Without Summer’ (2024), in which the German narrator, who is studying in the USA, watches the scenes of the Wall coming down in Berlin on TV in disbelief and astonishment. It was a real pleasure to be able to participate in such a novel and fun literary event.
By Sheridan Marshall
Sheridan Marshall works as a translator from German into English, and as Editorial Consultant for New Books in German. She was Deputy Editor of The Austrian Riveter.
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