This podcast episode dives into the complex history behind the Berlin Wall, as well as the pop
culture, media, and various art pieces that came from it. It will be revealed how the wall evolved
into a powerful cultural artifact through its influence on music, film, literature, and visual art.
This episode will include fun facts about the wall and its influence on pop culture from the 1960s
and onwards, even until 2025. Although the Berlin Wall was a symbol of the harsh division
between East and West Germany, the two sides were connected in many ways. Some of those
connections were protests through visual art and music performances that helped push the
wall’s eventual collapse in 1989.
This episode was researched and produced by Grade 12 Student Dani Taylor for her CHY4U World History RST.
Sources used for this episode:
Baker, F. (1993). The Berlin Wall: production, preservation and consumption of a 20th-century
monument. Antiquity, 67(257), 709+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A15143722/AONE?
u=ko_k12hs_d46&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=0c16175f
Berlin Wall Foundation. (n.d.). The Berlin Wall - The Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
https://www.stiftung-berliner-mauer.de/en/topics/berlin-wall
Dimitriou, M. (2019, December 6). Dancing on the Berlin Wall | An Interview with Tracy Howe
from Legendary Canadian Synth-pop Act Rational Youth. Post-Punk. https://post-
punk.com/an-interview-with-tracy-howe-from-legendary-canadian-synth-pop-act-rational-
youth/
Donovan, T. (2023, December 23). Romantic Melancholy Underneath the Guard Towers of the
Berlin Wall: The Meaning Behind “Heroes” by David Bowie. American Songwriter.
https://americansongwriter.com/romantic-melancholy-underneath-the-guard-towers-of-
the-berlin-wall-the-meaning-behind-heroes-by-david-bowie/
Hoberman, J. (2015). ‘Escape From East Berlin,’ Reissued Five Decades Later. The New York
Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/movies/homevideo/escape-from-east-
berlin-reissued-five-decades-later.html
Jones, P. (2021). The Art on the Berlin Wall: Sentiments of East and West Berlin. The Collector.
https://www.thecollector.com/art-on-the-berlin-wall/
Fuka, P. (2018). Masaryk University Berlin Wall and Pop Culture. FACULTY OF EDUCATION
Department of English Language and Literature.
https://is.muni.cz/th/bhbhj/My_Bachelor_Thesis_Berlin_Wall_and_Pop_Culture.pdf?
lang=en
Loshitzky, Y. (1997). Constructing and deconstructing the Wall. CLIO, 26(3), 275+.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A19984489/AONE?u=ko_k12hs_d46&sid=bookmark-
AONE&xid=4ba25141
Morgan, G. (2024, November 11). The 10 Most Iconic Murals on the Berlin Wall. Culture Trip.
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/germany/articles/10-iconic-murals-on-the-berlin-wall
Ross, C. (2004). East Germans and the Berlin Wall: Popular Opinion and Social Change before
and after the Border Closure of August 1961. Journal of Contemporary History, 39(1),
25–43. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3180668
The Independent. (2022, February 25). Watch: The Simpsons 1998 episode brings Lenin back
to life, Berlin Wall being resurrected. https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/culture/the-
simpsons-1998-episode-brings-lenin-back-to-life-berlin-wall-being-resurrected-
b2184579.html
World History Commons. (n.d.). Gunter Schabowski press conference.
https://worldhistorycommons.org/gunter-schabowski-press-conference
Show more...