The Newsleaders
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Sartell – St. Stephen
    • St. Joseph
    • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Column
    • Editorial
    • Letter to the Editor
  • Community
    • Calendar
    • Citizen Spotlight
    • Criers
    • People
  • Notices
    • Funerals/Visitations
    • Obituary
    • Police Blotter
    • Public Notices
    • Support Groups
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Submissions
  • Archives
    • Sartell-St. Stephen Archive
    • St. Joseph Archive
  • Advertise With Us
    • Print Advertising
    • Digital Advertising
    • 2021 Promotions
    • Pay My Invoice
The Newsleaders
No Result
View All Result

Stearns Bank Welch/Pediatrics
Home News St. Joseph Historical Perspective

A historical perspective from 25 years ago – March 2, 1990

March 23, 2015
in Historical Perspective, News, St. Joseph
2
A historical perspective from 25 years ago – March 2, 1990

photo by Kelli Birk Jacob's Hope emblazoned on the western side of the Berlin Wall.

0
SHARES
1
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Berlin’s crumbling wall raises Jacob’s Hope

by Stuart Goldschen

news@thenewsleaders.com

As the wall dividing East and West Berlin falls piece by piece these days under the hammers of celebrating Germans, hope rises in its place. Hope for peace through the unity of all mankind. And hope for Jacob Wetterling through the universal heartbeat for children all the world around.

The Berlin Wall and Jacob’s Hope fused both those goals recently when the two symbols came together briefly for the world to see. In white-outlined dark letters about 2 feet high, enclosed in a 4-by-6 foot black-bordered red rectangle, the words “Jacob’s Hope” were emblazoned on the West Berlin side of the wall near the Brandenburg Gate in East Germany.

The prominent display of Jacob’s Hope was seen and photographed by Kelli Birk, a 20-year-old junior at the College of St. Benedict. She was traveling through Europe as part of a semester abroad in the college’s International Studies program in Salzburg, Austria.

Birk saw the hand-pained message of Jacob’s Hope on Dec. 29 (1989) as she toured the Berlin Wall on a stop in her seven-nation excursion from Salzburg. She said a friend stopped at the same spot in mid-November but saw nothing about Jacob, and another friend saw only the “J” remains of the same painting in January (1990).

Birk said neither she nor people she talked to at the wall knew who had painted the message. She said it was a big surprise for her to see Jacob’s name among the motley array of world-wide graffiti.

“Oh, my God, I can’t believe it!” she said she exclaimed at her first sight of the lettering.

Birk said she had read of Jacob’s abduction while in Salzburg and had received news clippings and phone calls about the incident from her parents in Winona, Minn. She arrived in Europe in September, a month before Jacob was kidnapped, and returned to St. Joseph at the end of January.

Birk thinks the Jacob’s Hope message no longer exists on the wall because the wall itself is fast disappearing. She said the whole bottom half had been chipped away by souvenir hunters, and large sections had been knocked down.

“People were selling pieces of the wall right there for about six to 10 marks (about $3.50-$5.50),” Birk said. She said she brought home some eight or nine small pieces that she picked up off the ground.

While none of the pieces Birk collected had parts of the Jacob’s Hope message on them, all were glowing with hope.

Hope for Germany, Europe, the world – and Jacob.

photo by Stuart Goldschen Kelli Birk, a 20-year-old junior at the College of St. Benedict, discovered Jacob's Hope on the Berlin Wall in West Germany.
photo by Stuart Goldschen
Kelli Birk, a 20-year-old junior at the College of St. Benedict, discovered Jacob’s Hope on the Berlin Wall in West Germany.
photo by Kelli Birk Jacob's Hope emblazoned on the western side of the Berlin Wall.
photo by Kelli Birk
Jacob’s Hope emblazoned on the western side of the Berlin Wall.
Previous Post

HMA Architects to design community center

Next Post

Pinecone Road Phase I advances

Next Post

Pinecone Road Phase I advances

Please login to join discussion

murphy granite CentraCare SartellLionsCleanUp

Hiring local
Columnist
writer!
Love to
write??
Senior Linkage SUPPORT FOR
OLDER ADULTS
DURING COVID-19
Senior LinkAge Line connects
older adults and caregivers
to essential services and
supports during the pandemic.
800-333-2433
Whitney Senior Center whitney senior center
wellness workshops
1527 Northway Drive, St. Cloud health coaches
for hypertension
Mondays
April 26-June 14
10-11:30 a.m.
In-person at Heritage Hall

Fridays
May 21-July 16
9:30-11 a.m.
In-person at
Whitney Senior Center/Zoom
SistersoftheOrder

Search

No Result
View All Result

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Video students capture real-life business experience
  • COVID cases up, but schools stay open
  • Quilters stitch Bad Habit masterpiece
  • Career Solutions works for job search
  • City of St. Joseph not sitting still

City Links

Sartell
St. Joseph
St. Stephen

School District Links

Sartell-St. Stephen school district
St. Cloud school district

Chamber Links

Sartell Chamber
St. Joseph Chamber

Community

Calendar

Citizen Spotlight

Criers

People

Notices

Funerals/Visitions

Obituary

Police Blotter

Public Notices

Support Groups

About Us

Contact Us

News Tips

Submissions

Advertise With Us

Print Advertising

Digital Advertising

2021 Promotions

Local Advertising Rates

National Advertising Rates

© 2021 Newleaders

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Sartell – St. Stephen
    • St. Joseph
    • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Column
    • Editorial
    • Letter to the Editor
  • Community
    • Calendar
    • Citizen Spotlight
    • Criers
    • People
  • Notices
    • Funerals/Visitations
    • Obituary
    • Police Blotter
    • Public Notices
    • Support Groups
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Submissions
  • Archives
    • Sartell-St. Stephen Archive
    • St. Joseph Archive
  • Advertise With Us
    • Print Advertising
    • Digital Advertising
    • 2021 Promotions
    • Pay My Invoice

© 2021 Newleaders

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In