Celebrating 75 Years of Shared Canada/Germany Diplomacy

Article written by third year Journalism student, Sarah Yule.

Carleton University’s German language program came together to celebrate 75 years of shared diplomacy between Canada and Germany on Feb. 13.

The event celebrated Germany’s history with a photo exhibit titled “Women in a Divided Germany,” which was curated by the German media and cultural scientist Clara Marz.

“I really enjoyed the event,” said Marcella Marceddu, Italian Lettrice. “It was well prepared and offered real food for thought. The mix of visuals and presentations made the evening interesting and meaningful.”

Also joining the event was Klara Heuberger, an intern from the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany here in Ottawa.

“It was a pleasure to present this exhibition and engage with such curious and thoughtful students,” said Heuberger. “Their interest in German history and the discussions before and after the event made it a truly rewarding experience.”

At the event, she shared a short presentation on the history of women in a divided East and West Germany, touching on the differences and similarities in culture, and what still lingers.

Also a part of this event was a student-led project from the second-year German language course students, displaying profiles on women of influence in Germany.

Gillian Bose a retired associate professor at Carleton, attended the event and found the profiles of prolific German women informative.

“[The] profiles of notable women in the German-speaking world, from various disciplines – sport, music literature, politics, science and more. Students were available to answer questions about their chosen subject and did so with enthusiasm. I learned a lot,” said Bose.

“We also had a very informative and engaging presentation by Klara Heuberger from the German Embassy, focusing on the differences in the lives of women in the former east and west parts of Germany before reunification in 1990 and in reunified Germany,” said Bose. “I’m looking forward to the next German event at Carleton.”

Among these women included on posters were renowned marine biologist Antje Boetius, political scholar Hannah Arendt, tennis player Steffi Graf and climate activist Petra Kelly.

“Taking part in the Women Shaping Germany exercise was a great experience,” said Ken, a second-year German language student at Carleton. “I enjoyed researching Hedy Lamarr and reading about all the other important German-speaking women. Each of them has an important place in German history.”

This project brought attention to the women who have changed and shaped Germany both in the past and today.

“It’s important to show how influential women were in shaping history,” said Katarina Jakelic, a student in the second-year German language course.

For Mia Zach, another second-year student, learning about history was her favourite part of the event.

“I liked the chart with the stats of women in East and West Germany,” Zach said. “And we were able to share our projects with the other language departments.”

Many thanks to Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ottawa for making the exhibit available for the event, to Klara Heuberger from the Embassy’s Culture and Press Department for sharing her insights about exhibit’s theme and mixing and mingling with students, to Cristina Finger for all her hard work preparing for the evening, and to all the students who attended for sharing their posters, attentiveness, and enthusiasm for the German language.