How a picnic started the fall of the Iron Curtain
A brass band, goulash cooking in giant pots over open flames, people dancing around a bonfire — a pan-European picnic at the border between Hungary and Austria in 1989 was the beginning of the end of the Cold War. Suddenly hundreds of East Germans stormed the border into the West and freedom. It's a moment in history where the power of ordinary people changed the world. An Escape to Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain was presented at the Adelaide Writers' Week Speakers Matthew Longo Author of The Picnic: A Dream of Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain Assistant Professor of Political Science at Leiden University Annabelle Quince (host) ABC broadcaster and presenter of ABC Radio National's Rear Vision
August 19, 2025
54 min
73 of 248
August 19, 2025
How a picnic started the fall of the Iron Curtain
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How a picnic started the fall of the Iron Curtain
Summary
<p>A brass band, goulash cooking in giant pots over open flames, people dancing around a bonfire — a pan-European picnic at the border between Hungary and Austria in 1989 was the beginning of the end of the Cold War. Suddenly hundreds of East Germans stormed the border into the West and freedom. It's a moment in history where the power of ordinary people changed the world.</p><p>An Escape to Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain was presented at the <a href="https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/">Adelaide Writers' Week</a></p><p>Speakers</p><p><a href="https://mblongo.com/">Matthew Longo</a>Author of The Picnic: A Dream of Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron CurtainAssistant Professor of Political Science at Leiden University</p><p><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/radionational/annabelle-quince/2913414">Annabelle Quince</a> (host)ABC broadcaster and presenter of ABC Radio National's Rear Vision</p>
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