German Club celebrated an important anniversary on Nov. 9.

On Nov. 9, 1989, the Germans tore down the Berlin Wall, releasing an oppression that had lasted more than 30 years and reuniting a divided country.

“I think it’s important not only for Germans to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall, but also for the world to celebrate it,” said Jill Halbach, junior German and English literature major. “I think it’s a sign of peace for everyone.”

The club celebrated by creating a replica of the Berlin Wall outside of Webster Hall, allowing students to write graffiti on it, and then destroying it.

“Students are invited to spray paint the wall,” said Dr. Sabine Cramer, German Club advisor. “Some of the students that did the spray painting hadn’t even heard of the Berlin Wall, so while they spray painted, they had the chance to learn about the history behind the Wall.”

After spray-painting the wall, the students used their hands and feet to destroy the wall at around noon.

“Last year, I had brought a sledgehammer, but as the wall is made of Styrofoam and that was a little too heavy to use,” Cramer said.

Following the re-enactment, the German Club members were treated to an authentic cuisine of the nation provided by Cramer.

“We had many traditional German foods,” Cramer said. “I made sauerkraut and ham, which is a very traditional German recipe. I also made what Americans call Swedish meatballs. There was also Steuen, which is a light German fruitcake. We had German pickles and also American Coke.”

Capping off the celebrations was the showing of a documentary based upon the time before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

“This year would be the tenth year we’re doing this,” Cramer said. “In the past we’ve done pretty much the same thing we did this year. Usually we would have a speaker come and talk about this event, but he was unable to make it to this year’s celebration.”

Cramer said she hopes the students will learn from the documentary and discussions of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

“I think its important for students to understand foreign events,” Cramer said. “I’m also hoping that students realize that there are other holidays from other countries that are internationally interesting like this one and that hopefully at one point MSSU can have a German semester.”