International conference

2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the withdrawal of the victorious powers of the Second World War from Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany. for 49 years, their presence had a lasting impact on the history of the former imperial capital. During this time, it was divided into four sectors, was initially still jointly administered by the four powers and, from the end of the 1940s, developed into a focal point of the Cold War, in which the city had a special status both geopolitically and legally. The withdrawal of the Allies in 1994 was a profound turning point for the former "frontline city". The conference examines the balance of the period up to 1994, the conditions of the withdrawal and its implementation as well as the consequences that the withdrawal had for the city of Berlin.

Accompanying the conference, photographs by Christian Adam will be shown at the Museum Berlin-Karlshorst: "Legacies. Soviet and US barracks in large format photographs".

Program

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Museum Berlin Karlshorst (Zwieseler Straße 4, 10318 Berlin)

19.00 hrs

Welcome I Jörg Morré (Museum Berlin-Karlshorst)

Berlin: Frontline of the Cold War I Hope M. Harrison (George Washington University)

Legacies. Soviet and US barracks in large-format photographs - an exhibition I Christian Adam (Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr (ZMSBw), Potsdam)
Reception

Thursday, July 11, 2024

Berlin Wall Memorial - Visitor Center (Bernauer Straße 119, 13355 Berlin)

9 - 9.30 a.m.: Arrival
9.30 a.m

Welcome I Juliane Haubold-Stolle (Berlin Wall Foundation)

Greeting I Alaric Searle (ZMSBw, Potsdam)

Caesura for a "frontline city"? The end of the Allied military presence in Berlin. Introduction I Jörg Echternkamp (ZMSBw, Potsdam)

10.15 a.m.
Section I: The Allies in Berlin 1945 to 1994: a review
Moderation: Jörg Morré (Museum Berlin-Karlshorst)

The stationing of Soviet troops in the Soviet Occupation Zone/GDR I Matthias Uhl (Max Weber Network Eastern Europe)

The Western Powers in Berlin. Facts, research and current historical policy I Jürgen Lillteicher (Allied Museum, Berlin)

Discussion

11.15 a.m.: Coffee break

11.45 a.m.
Section II: The Withdrawal of the Allied Forces (1)
Moderation: Juliane Haubold-Stolle (Berlin Wall Foundation)

Emerging Post-Cold War Order: The Allied Withdrawal in the Context of International Security Policy I Tim Geiger (Institute of Contemporary History, Munich-Berlin)

The departure of the former Soviet/Russian armed forces in Berlin: Russian ideas and German considerations I Christoph Meißner (Museum Berlin-Karlshorst)

Discussion

12.45 hrs: Lunch break

13.45 hrs
Section III: The Withdrawal of the Allied Forces (2)
Moderation: Jürgen Lillteicher (Allied Museum, Berlin)

The US Military, German Labor, and Conversion in Berlin 1989-1995 I Adam R. Seipp (Texas A&M University)

Significance instead of military presence. The withdrawal of the British occupying forces and the arrival of the Bundeswehr using the example of the General Steinhoff Barracks and the Gatow Airfield I Doris Müller-Toovey (Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr Berlin-Gatow Airfield)

What remains after 49 years of French troop deployment in Berlin? An inventory I Andreas von Studnitz (Berlin)

The memory of the French forces in Berlin at the Musée de l'armée: from collection to exhibition I Carine Lachèvre & Christopher Pommier (Musée de l'armée, Paris)

Discussion

15.30 p.m.: Coffee break

16.00 p.m.
Section IV: Subsequent use: military sites in transition
Moderation: Jörg Echternkamp (ZMSBw, Potsdam)

Built on the NVA. The stationing of the Bundeswehr in Berlin from October 1990 I Klaus Storkmann (ZMSBw, Potsdam)

The Soviet Berlin Brigade in Berlin-Karlshorst I Jörg Morré (Museum Berlin-Karlshorst)

Field Station Berlin, The Teufelsberg - traces of everyday secrecy I Wayne D. Cocroft (National Specialist Services Department Historic England, Cambridge)

Discussion

17.30 p.m.: End

Friday, July 12, 2024

Berlin Wall Memorial - Visitor Center (Bernauer Str. 119, 13355 Berlin)

9.00 - 9.30 a.m.: Arrival
9.30 a.m.
Section V: Traces in the City: Culture and Sport
Moderation: Uta Birkemeyer (Allied Museum, Berlin)

The Centre français de Berlin: Upheavals since 1994 I René Möhrle (University of Trier) & Florian Fangmann (Centre français de Berlin)

The legacy of the allied cinemas in Berlin and their transformation I Antoine Beaudoin (Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg), Danica Petrović (Architecture and engineering office Bartke & Neumann, Guben/Cottbus).

"No Smoking, No Running. The indoor swimming pool in Finckensteinallee as a multi-layered place of remembrance I Hanno Hochmuth (Leibniz Center for Contemporary History, Potsdam)

Discussion

10.50 a.m.: Coffee break

11.20 p.m.
Section VI: Traces in the city: Landscape and society
Moderation: Ulrich Pfeil (Université de Lorraine, Metz)

The wall as a resource. The urban planning and structural use of the former border strip I Günter Schlusche (Berlin Wall Foundation)

What "traces" has the French military presence left on the current French population in Berlin? I Cédric Pellen (Université de Strasbourg)

The price of friendship. Allies and negotiations with the civilian population in East/West Berlin and Brandenburg I Małgorzata Popiołek-Roßkamp (Leibniz Institute for Spatial Social Research, Erkner)

Imagined friendship. Why East Berlin loves the Russians and the West mourns the Americans I Juliane Haubold-Stolle (Berlin Wall Foundation)

Discussion

13.15 p.m.: Lunch break

14.15 p.m.
Section VII: Heritage and Remembrance: The Allies in Berlin's Cultural Memory
Moderation: Gerhard Sälter (Berlin Wall Foundation)

Kleistpark - Tempelhof - Clayallee: Stages in the history of the founding of the Allied Museum, 1989-1996 I Florian Weiss (Allied Museum, Berlin)

The Berlin-Karlshorst Museum - the path to its foundation I Arkadi Miller (Museum Berlin-Karlshorst)

The myth of Checkpoint Charlie. The making of a world-famous place of remembrance I Susanne Muhle (Berlin Wall Foundation)

Discussion

Review of the conference I Corine Defrance (CNRS, SIRICE, Paris) & Ulrich Pfeil (Université de Lorraine, Metz)

16.15 p.m.: End of the conference

Approx. 17.15 p.m.: Optional curator's tour of the exhibition "The last parade. 30 years of the withdrawal of Russian troops from Berlin" at Museum Lichtenberg. Registration during the conference.

Translated with DeepL