“Deutscher Oktober” Events To Mark Germany’s Unification, Communism Collapse
Tirana Times
TIRANA, September 22 – This year’s German October celebrations, which correspond to the 20th anniversary of Germany’s reunification, will be marked with a wide-ranging programme of events even in Albania.
The event’s organizers, the German Embassy in Tirana and a number of sponsors, have programmed a series of cultural and entertainment events, as well as forums discussing life under communism both in Albania and East Germany until 1990.
“For both countries, Germany and Albania, 1990 was the year of overthrow and opening up. 20 years after this prophetic year Albania has become part of the Euro-Atlantic structures and is on its way to European Union integration,” says the new German Ambassador to Albania, Carola Muller-Holtkemper in her opening remarks published on the “Deutscher Oktober” publication.
The tight calendar of events will kick off with “Emil and the Detectives,” a theatrical performance adapted for children by German director Stefan Neugebauer at the Academy of Arts in Tirana in the evening of September 27. The play based on Erich Kastner’s novel under the same title will also be featured as a movie directed by Franzisca Buch later in October at the Marubi film school, the German Cultural Weeks’ venue for the screening of movies and documentaries.
The calendar of events which also include exhibitions, concerts, public readings and a beer festival will focus in Tirana, but also travel to Korca, Pogradec, Gjirokastra, Durres, Shkodra and Vlore.
“Patchwork Albania” will bring German language students of the Tirana and Durres universities together in a documentary showcasing their creations based on their personal impressions and viewpoints of the “20 year-journey,” this year’s motto of the festival. The documentary will be screened on October 16 and 17 at the Marubi Academy.
The festival will also bring a photo exhibition by Harald Schmitt at the premises of the German embassy in Tirana focusing on the German Democratic Republic, known as East Germany, and life there until 1989 when thousands of people rallied to overthrow communist government soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
One of this year’s special guests also includes the “Dejean” quartet which will perform different parts in a concert at the Academy of Arts at the end of October.
The full works of German writer Georg Buchner will be promoted in a single publication translated by Ardian Klosi, who has also translated Franz Kafka’s short stories in a single edition.
Events will also celebrate Germany’s support to Albania’s European integration and assistance to economic development through GTZ and KfW which have been implementing projects on behalf of the German government for the past 20 years.
A seminar will also be held on the consequences of the dictatorship and its political and historical assessments in Albania, bringing together experts and victims analyzing the investigation of communist crimes based on the East Germany’s model. The seminar, organized by the Konrad-Adenauer foundation, and the Jena and Tirana universities, will be held on October 14.
October 22 and 23 will bring an international conference called “20 years on, reflections on democracy and governance in Albania.” The conference, organized by the Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS), the Albanian Media Institute, the Centre for Southeast European Studies, the Graz University and the Friedrich Ebert foundation, will join Albanian and international experts discussing Albania’s progress during the past two decades and challenges ahead.
A seminar will also be held on the Albanian-German relations and German foreign policy on Western Balkans more than 20 years after the two countries reestablished diplomatic relations.
Last year’s German October events commemorated the fall of the Berlin Wall which paved the way for Germany’s unification and collapse of communism in Southeastern Europe.
