UNAB Explores the History of German Reunification in Conversation with East German Photographer

On Friday, October 3, Germany will mark the 35th anniversary of reunification. In commemoration of this milestone, Universidad Andrés Bello hosted a talk titled “History in the First Person: Separation and Reunification of Germany Through the Lens”, featuring acclaimed German photographer Harald Hauswald.

Hauswald captured life in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) through a body of documentary photography that offers an intimate view of the political, social, and urban context of East Berlin in the years leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

His work is being presented in Chile for the first time in the exhibition Grenzkunst, on display at Aninat Galería through November 10.

As part of the exhibit, UNAB organized a public talk between Hauswald and Raúl Figueroa, Executive Director of UNAB’s Institute for Public Policy (IPP). The conversation took place at the Salón Colonial on the Casona Las Condes Campus.

A Photographer of the Everyday

Hauswald began by describing what it was like to live in East Berlin under the rule of Erich Honecker. “We lived behind a wall, and many of us realized that what the state told us was not what we saw through the lens,” he said.

That realization prompted him to ask himself what role photographers should play. “With a photograph, I need to tell a story that others can understand — that allows them to interpret their own story,” he explained.

He recalled how society was split in two, with many people living under the same system — yet most went along with it, waiting up to 12 years for a car and for permission to travel within the Eastern Bloc. “Opposition to the GDR took place in churches. The difference with Chile is that what we experienced was not as brutal as the dictatorship here,” he added.

Asked about his passion for photography, Hauswald shared that it began with his father, a wedding photographer. “It took me a while to take enough photos to realize what really interested me — interpersonal relationships in public spaces,” he said.

In a final reflection, after recounting his experience capturing a world that was about to disappear with the fall of the Berlin Wall, Hauswald noted that his current work is less documentary and more artistic. However, he warned that in today’s context, we may be witnessing the disappearance of public photography, replaced by the phenomenon of the selfie. “I do not know what it is like here, but in Europe, people who appear in some public exhibits often feel attacked,” he observed.

A Contribution to Culture

In opening remarks, Ana María Pávez, Provost of Universidad Andrés Bello, highlighted that Hauswald’s presence underscores the university’s commitment to a holistic education — one that is connected to historical and social processes rooted in real human experiences.

Isabel Aninat, founder of Aninat Galería, emphasized the role of art as a catalyst for critical thought and praised UNAB for embracing education that fosters critical thinking and whole-person development. “Art allows us to ask questions — and asking questions is often more important than the answers,” she reflected.

Raúl Figueroa reinforced the idea that photography, like other creative expressions, has the power to “capture the everyday,” and that this simple act can sometimes become “an act of resistance and a form of political engagement.” In that same spirit, he argued that freedom is a central value in university life.

The Fall of the Wall and the Present State of Photography

One year before the treaty that formally dissolved the GDR, the world witnessed a moment of liberation as images of the wall’s collapse — which had symbolically divided the German people in Berlin — were broadcast on television around the globe. That is why, as concluded during the conversation, the work of Harald Hauswald stands as a living archive — preserving the memory of a time and place so easily lost to the rubble of a world that no longer exists.