The exhibition will open in October, just before Germany celebrates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.
The materials for the exhibition have been gathered from Germans who responded to new paper articles and advertisements, said Collegium Hungaricum director János Can Togay, who had the idea for the showcase of memories. Research was also made in the records of the former secret services of Germany and Hungary, he added.
Interest in the gathering of the exhibition materials has grown in Germany, Can Togay said. Oliver Zilke, the director of the Leipzig Book Fair, even invited the Collegium Hungaricum to bring an "installation" showing the process of creating the exhibition to the trade fair.
The installation in Leipzig drew hundreds of visitors and a talk followed with two special guests: the German writer Ingo Schulze, whose recently published book Adam und Evelyn takes place at Lake Balaton in 1989, and the Hungarian writer György Dalos, whose book Balaton Brigade takes an ironic look at the secret service before the fall of the wall.
So far about 50 "witnesses" to the Balaton of the period have said they want to participate in the project, said Can Togay.
The exhibition will open on October 1 in the Collegium Hungaricum, but it will first be shown in the framework of an open workshop at the Humboldt University. Plans are for the exhibition to travel to Hungary, too, on September 10, the 20th anniversary of the opening of the border to Germans fleeing the former German Democratic Republic.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo: retronom.hu
