Ahead of the 35th anniversary of German reunification, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is publishing the multimedia eyewitness project "The GDR and us at the DAAD". As part of its centenary celebrations, the DAAD is using 60 interviews to shed light on the history of academic exchange with the GDR – from division and reunification to reunification in 1990.

 

"With 'The GDR and us at the DAAD', we are highlighting little-known perspectives on academic exchange in and with the GDR and preserving them for the future and further historical research. Thanks to the commitment of a number of DAAD employees, we now have 60 interviews in which contemporary witnesses report on the challenges, encounters and everyday life of exchange between ideological systems. The project offers a deep, personal insight into German-German history, the end of the GDR and reunification. These years also shaped the DAAD, as we took over the GDR scholarship holders after reunification," explained DAAD President Prof. Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee.

From systemic competition to cooperation

For decades, the GDR pursued a policy of "foreign student studies". Young people from Cuba, Vietnam, Poland and other countries came to the GDR to study and received support – similar to that provided by DAAD programmes in the Federal Republic of Germany. After reunification, the DAAD took over the GDR scholarship holders, as well as some employees from the Ministry of Higher Education and the associated funding structures. On 4 October 1990, the DAAD opened the "Berlin-Mitte Office" as a contact point for the continuation of the scholarship programmes. This transitional solution enabled over 5,000 international students to successfully complete their studies in reunified Germany . In the years that followed, the DAAD used the structure of passing on funding to universities that had been used in the GDR as a model for expanding its project funding. It now supports around 3,000 internationalisation projects at German universities every year.

First-hand memories

In the interviews, former ministry employees, DAAD staff, foreign scholarship holders and university lecturers report on encounters between East and West, intercultural experiences in reunified Germany and personal upheavals. Prominent figures such as former Member of Parliament Karamba Diaby have their say, as do people who held positions of responsibility in higher education policy and academic exchange in the 1980s and 1990s.

Historical source for the future

The eyewitness interviews are presented as moderated video and audio podcasts in 20 thematic episodes. In addition, all 60 interviews are available online in full in image and sound, making them available for further research into the history of higher education and science in the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany.