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» wE are the people! « Exhibition magazine peaceful revolution 1989/90

Published as part of the theme year “20 Years since the Fall of the Wall” by Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH contents

2 contents 14 | Awakening 38 | revolution 78 | unity

contents 3 4 IMPRESSIONS OF THE EXHIBITION INSTALLATION © sergej horovitz 5 6 IMPRESSIONS OF THE EXHIBITION INSTALLATION OPENING ADDRESS

For Berlin, 2009 is a year of commemorations of the moving Central and Eastern European countries and Mikhail Gorbachev’s events of 20 years ago, when the Peaceful Revolution finally policy of glasnost and perestroika had laid the ground for change. toppled the Berlin Wall. The exhibition presented on Alexander- And across all the decades since the airlift 60 years ago, Berlin platz by the Robert Havemann Society is one of the highlights of was able to depend on the unprecedented solidarity of the Americans, the theme year “20 Years since the Fall of the Wall”. It focuses on British and French. the people, showing how they overcame their fears, took their The Peaceful Revolution of autumn 1989 brought fundamen- fates into their own hands, actively called for freedom of travel tal change, not only to Berlin and Germany, but also to Europe and free elections, joined together to form grassroots movements and the world as a whole. The exhibition documents this excit- and parties – and finally brought about the end of the East ing time and prompts debate. I would like to thank the Robert German regime. Travelling across time through the dramatic Havemann Society, which has organised the project in conjunc- weeks and months of 1989, the exhibition illustrates how isolated tion with Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH, and also the Berlin opposition activities grew into a broad popular movement. Lottery Foundation and the German Government Commissioner The exhibition, accompanied by this magazine, honours the for Cultural and Media Affairs for their financial support. freedom movement in the GDR. Yet above all it aims to emphasise the courage of all those who challenged the East German regime. This did indeed call for great bravery, as there was no way to rule out violent suppression of the protests. Today, we look back thankfully at the dedication of the women and men who took to the streets for their rights and freedoms. At the same time, KLAUS WOWEREIT we remember that the freedom movements in the neighbouring Governing Mayor of Berlin

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On Alexanderplatz in the heart of Berlin, on the site of the historic demonstration of 4 November 1989, the Robert Havemann Society has put together an exhibition on the Peaceful Revolution in the GDR in 1989 and the path to German reunification in 1990. As the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, I provided a substantial sum towards funding this exhibition. It occupies a central role in the German government’s programme honouring the anniversary of overcoming the GDR dictatorship and the division of Germany in this year and the next. By financing this exhibition, the government is also giving a very clear signal for an official state tribute to civil engagment, in the hope of strengthening this dedication. It is only this engage ment that gives our culture of commemoration a weight of its own. The state cannot and should not prescribe a culture of recollec- tion, yet it may certainly promote the evolution of such a culture. What is necessary is the personal engagement of the people, to play an active and lively role in passing down our history, for instance in associations as in the case of the Robert Havemann Society. The German government holds this engagement in very high esteem, and it therefore occupies a corresponding position

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in the continuation of our memorial concept, which the Bundes- young people’s knowledge of East German history are indeed tag passed at the end of last year. shocking. It seems that only very few have an idea of what the The fall of the Berlin Wall, the 20th anniversary of which GDR dictatorship was like. Visiting the Robert Havemann we are celebrating this year, should make us proud and grateful. Society’s exhibition and reading this accompanying publication Proud, because without the resistance and opposition of the can show them how brutally East German socialism treated people of the GDR there would be neither freedom in the East of young people in particular, who wanted to live their own lives Germany nor German unity. And grateful, because without without state intervention. Prague in 1968, without Solidarnosc in Poland, without the loyalty On this note, I would like to wish this exhibition magazine of the United States of America and without Mikhail Gorbachev’s very many young readers. reform policies, German unity would have been impossible; just as it would have been without the determination of Helmut Kohl and the trust in which he was held by East and West. 9 November when the Wall came down and 3 October as Day of German Unity are events that affect the whole of Germany. They are among the happiest days in our nation’s history. Know- ledge of our own history is one of the key foundations of every democratic society. The 2009 memorial year in particular gives BERND NEUMANN MP us the opportunity to keep our country’s history vital and alive, Minister of State to the Federal Chancellor and especially to present it to the younger generation. Numerous Federal Government Commissioner for Culture studies have shown how urgently necessary this is. The gaps in and the Media

opening address 9 NOBODY HAS THE INTEN- TION OF BUILDING A WALL.

Walter Ulbricht, head of the GDR state and SED party, 15 June 1961

Incredulous: West Berliners watching the Wall being built, August 1961

10 28 YEARS OF THE WALL THE WALL WILL STILL BE STAnD- ING IN 50 OR 100 YEARS.

Erich Honecker, head of the GDR state and SED party, 19 January 1989

Cautious approach: people sitting on the Wall at Brandenburg Gate, 10/11 November 1989

28 YEARS OF THE WALL 11 28 YEARS OF THE WALL

On the morning of 13 August 1961 the Berliners had a rude A DIVIDED GERMANY awakening: a border had been drawn across the middle of their Building the Wall in 1961 cemented the division of Germany after city. The government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) the end of World War II. In the western part, the Federal Republic had closed the last escape route to the West in a country that of Germany accepted the borders of the GDR in the 1972 Basic had been divided for the past 16 years. The ruling Socialist Unity Treaty. West Germany began building “good neighbourly relations” Party (SED) built an almost insurmountable death strip for its but stood by the principle of joint German citizenship. In the own subjects, equipped with walls, towers and barbed wire. eastern part of Germany, the GDR gave up the idea of German Anyone trying to cross the border was shot down. People had been reunification in its 1974 constitution. leaving the East of Germany for the West since 1945. Up until the Wall was built, some 3 million people had left the GDR. From PEACEFUL REVOLUTION 1989/90 1961 to 1989, the West German authorities registered just under In 1989, the Berlin Wall was still a symbol of a divided world. a million East Germans placing an application for provisional Two systems highly armed with nuclear weapons – NATO and the accommodation in the Federal Republic and West Berlin. These Warsaw Pact – were in a standoff. All over the world, people were included people leaving the country by official routes and those working to preserve peace. The East Germans, too, were concerned, who escaped illegally. Many people paid for their escape attempts but they were not allowed to express their worries openly. with their lives. 136 deaths have so far been proved at the Berlin The press was censored, with critical voices suppressed by the Wall alone. secret service (Staatssicherheit – Stasi). The leadership of the state

12 28 YEARS OF THE WALL 28 YEARS OF THE WALL

and the ruling party refused to follow the Soviet head of state selves. The largest mass assembly in the history of the GDR took Mikhail Gorbachev on the road to reform. Although the economy place here on 4 November 1989, tolling the end of the regime. was on the brink of collapse, the cities were in a state of decay and the environmental damage was impossible to ignore, strident EXHIBITION ON A HISTORIC SITE propaganda drowned out the signs of decline. A small minority On this historic site, the open-air exhibition – accompanied by began to campaign for change in peace and environmental groups. this magazine – tells the story of the Peaceful Revolution. Yet their numbers swelled from year to year, just as the anger in The exhibition and publication focus on the people behind the the East German population continued to grow. only successful revolution in German history, vividly recalling There was no longer any hope that conditions would be changed this eventful and moving time of awakening and radical change: from above; the only way to introduce democracy was by fighting courageous East Germans stood up against the dictatorship the ruling communist party from below. In the autumn of and achieved what no-one would have thought possible, 44 years 1989, events in East Germany picked up speed. Berlin became after the end of World War II and 28 years after the Berlin Wall one of the most important places of social change, with Alexan was built: an end to the division of Europe. derplatz a central protest site. Demonstrations were held here on While the original goal was democratic socialism, many people the 7th of every month, against the rigged local elections of 7 increasingly focused their hopes on a united Germany. The chant May. Thousands met up here on 7 October to march to the Palace “We are the people!” gradually became “We are one people!” of the Republic, where the heads of state were celebrating them-

28 YEARS OF THE WALL 13 More and more East Germans want out: young people in particular refused to abide by state constraints. While many left the GDR, others began campaigning for change within the country. AWAKENING

UNDER THE AEGIS OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES AND IN PRIVATE NICHES, A POLITICAL OPPOSITION EVOLVED IN THE 1980s. THE GROUPS AND NETWORKS PROVIDED INFORMATION ON SUBJECTS SUCH AS MILITARISATION, HUMAN RIGHTS, EDUCATION POLICY AND ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE. AGAINST THE DICTATORSHIP

After the end of World War II in 1945, communist parties estab- 4 November. Over 2,000 people died in the street battles, demon- lished dictatorships in the area under the control of the Soviet strations and strikes in the weeks that followed. Union. They used their armies, secret police and justice systems to smother any political protest. Revolts were put down by armed PRAGUE SPRING violence, democratic reforms were prevented by military occu During the “Prague Spring” of 1968, Czechoslovakian arts, pation, political opposition was banned. culture and freedom of opinion blossomed. Yet the Czechoslovakian communist party’s attempts at reform were put to a violent end 17 JUNE UPRISING by the arrival of Soviet troops and their allies. On 15 June 1953, the first builders downed tools on construction SC sites on East Berlin’s Stalinallee. The next day, enraged by rises in BIRTH OF SOLIDARNO production targets, over 700 workers demanded that they be over- Following tough disputes and strikes, the Polish government turned. The workers’ protests developed into a wave of strikes and was forced to permit the founding of the independent trade union sc demonstrations across large parts of the GDR. The 17 June uprising Solidarno . The strike-leader Lech Wałesa˛ signed a treaty in was the first historically significant mass revolt in the Eastern Bloc; Gdansk on 31 August 1980. A year later, the trade union was banned sc it was suppressed by the military force of Soviet tanks. again, with martial law imposed. But Solidarno won out. Their struggle is an important chapter in the run-up to the Peaceful UPRISING IN HUNGARY Revolution in the GDR. Three years later, the Hungarians made the next attempt: on 23 October 1956 a people’s uprising began against the Stalinist regime in Budapest, prompting Soviet military intervention on

16 AWAKENING 1 Tanks against the people Soviet tanks in East Berlin, 17 June 1953. The first popular uprising in the Eastern Bloc was suppressed by military force. 2 Berlin The scientist Robert Havemann (l.) and the singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann (r.) criticised the SED state and called for democracy. Havemann lost his professorship and was placed under house arrest for a time. Biermann was banned from performing and expelled from the GDR in 1976. 3 Prague The Czech writer Vaclav Havel was imprisoned several times for criticising the communist dictatorship. He then made a meagre living as a labourer, as seen here in Trutnov in 1975. He was later a member of Charta 77, which called attention to human rights violations in Czechoslovakia. In 1989 he was elected President of Czechoslovakia in the first free elections. 4 Moscow The Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn was sentenced to eight years in a labour camp for criticising the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. He 1 described the inhumane system in his book ‘The Gulag Archipelago’, and was then expelled from the Soviet Union. The photo shows him arriving in Basel (Switzerland), 15 February 1974.

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AWAKENING 17 THE PEACE AND ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT IN THE GDR

As of the end of the 1970s, numerous opposition groups were thousand people signed it in the GDR, despite the ensuing formed in the GDR, mostly working on church premises. They repression. protested against armament and militarisation of society, then The state regularly tried to ban events run by peace groups against the destruction of the environment, urban decay and the or influence their content. Some representatives of the church education system. A small minority held public campaigns to bowed to the pressure. Others resisted these demands and encourage the silent majority to take action. supported the groups. The church had been holding peace sem- The state used police violence and secret service methods to inars in Königswalde (Saxony) since 1973. By the beginning of keep them in check. Members of the peace and environmental the 1980s, hundreds of young people took part in the meetings, groups had to anticipate disadvantages in their working and social hoping to take action for peace independent of patronage by lives and were the victims of repression such as arrests and raids the state. The first peace workshop in East Berlin took place in on their homes. Nevertheless, the number of opposition groups 1982. The group Women for Peace also began campaigning continued to grow, with more than 350 in existence by the end of for disarmament that same year, working against the militarisa the 1980s. tion of East German society; its members were arrested on several occasions. MAKING PEACE – WITHOUT ARMS St Bartholomew’s Church in East Berlin set up an Anti-War “All of Europe must become a nuclear arms-free zone,” demanded Museum in 1984 and a Peace Library in 1985. The exhibitions the dissident Robert Havemann and the pastor Rainer Eppelmann planned there toured the country and attracted large audiences. in their “Berlin Appeal”, published in the West in January 1982. Under the motto “Making peace – without arms,” the appeal was supported by several groups from the peace movement. Some two

18 AWAKENING ENVIRONMENT, EDUCATION, CULTURE own kindergarten in East Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district. The Stasi painstakingly collected photographic evidence of environ- They wanted to keep their children out of the state childcare mental damage, confirming the dramatic extent of the problem in system and make their own decisions on how they were looked internal dossiers. In public, however, the GDR government after. The state saw this initiative as critical of the communist refused to acknowledge smog, acid rain and damage to forests, care and education system, and had the group evicted in and suppressed discussion of the subject. East German environ- December 1983. Marianne Birthler (now the Federal Commissioner mental activists who had published their own findings in the West for the Files of the State Security Service of the former GDR) German media were persecuted. Yet the destruction of natural initiated the alternative evening school “Learning Differently”, habitats was so obvious that more and more people felt obliged to where young people began learning under self-determined campaign for environmental issues. The physicist Sebastian conditions – about subjects that were taboo in East Germany’s Pflugbeil and the environmental activist Michael Beleites, for schools. Historical buildings fell into drastic disrepair in many example, compiled information on the East German nuclear parts of the GDR, as the state left them to rot. A number of industry. They criticised intolerable conditions in uranium mines initiatives documented the state of the buildings and warned and safety problems in nuclear power plants. The Leipzig-based against losing traces of history. At the same time, the SED leader- Initiative Group for Life held a remembrance march on 5 June 1988 ship was demolishing historical and industrial buildings to make calling for the River Pleiße to be saved. Two hundred young way for new housing and roads. In the 1980s a major road was people took part, hoping to call public attention to the disastrous planned through the Jewish graveyard in the Weißensee district environmental situation in Leipzig on World Environment Day. of Berlin, for instance. Members of the group Women for Peace In culture and education, people were looking for alternatives to began protesting against the project in 1986, raising public aware- patronage by the state. In 1980 a group of parents set up their ness. The project was eventually abandoned.

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1 “Swords to ploughshares” At the Wittenberg church congress on 24 September The members of the Peace Community and their public activities played an influential 1983, Stefan Nau forged a sword into a ploughshare in front of 4,000 spectators. role in the development of the GDR’s political opposition. 3 Conscientious objector The biblical slogan “swords to ploughshares” initially emerged mainly at church-run Martin Böttger (standing) on the grounds of the Church of the Redeemer during the peace events. When it came to public attention as a patch sewn onto clothing in first Peace Workshop in East Berlin, 27 June 1982. The participants called for the 1981, becoming a protest symbol, the state took drastic action against anyone introduction of alternative community service under the motto “hands for peace”. caught wearing it. 2 Jena Peace Community Andreas Friedrich joined in a demon 4 Environmental activists A protest march from Bitterfeld to Wolfen on 19 May 1984 stration by the state youth organisation FDJ with his own banner on 19 May 1983. called attention to the destruction of nature by the GDR’s chemical industry. The

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march was registered by the church and tolerated by the state. 5 Candles for peace 1980s. The SED leadership suppressed all public discussion of the subject. 7 Peace Peace movement activists formed a human chain between the embassies of the Workshop invitation This major event in East Berlin’s Church of the Redeemer, at Soviet Union and the USA in East Berlin on 1 September 1983. They wanted to which up to 3,000 people from all over East Germany met up every year, provided remind the superpowers of their responsibility for peace on World Peace Day. The uncensored information and space for public political debates. police broke up the demonstration by force and arrested a number of participants. 6 Dissident environmental movement poster Forests on high ground in the GDR began dying due to acid rain, escalating to catastrophic proportions in the early

AWAKENING 21 1 Two worlds collide on an East Berlin underground train Punks rebelled against dull, repetitive daily life in the GDR. Their provocative appearance and anarchic ideas made them potential enemies of the state in the eyes of the government. They were criminalised and spied on by the Stasi. 2 Blue shirts in a sea of red flagsWhitsun gathering of the state youth organisation FDJ (Free German Youth) in East Berlin, 1984. The mass organisation regarded itself as the “party combat reserve”, directly active at universities and workplaces and promising recognition and career opportunities. Membership was voluntary, but hardly anyone could avoid it nevertheless. In the late 1980s the FDJ made an attempt to meet young people’s demands for Western music by organising spectacular rock concerts. 160,000 fans of the American rock star Bruce Springsteen attended his concert at Weißensee Racetrack on 19 July 1988. Some of them even waved the Stars and Stripes over East 1 Berlin. 3 Discipline and social control The ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED) militarised the whole of society. Young people had to take pre-military training courses at school, university or during their vocational education; the picture shows a military sport training exercise in 1984.

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22 AWAKENING IT’S NOT THIS COUNTRY – YOUTH CULTURES

Young people in the GDR were expected to build the communist hippies and punks provoked the state deliberately or not, many state with enthusiasm, defending it inside the state and against of them facing considerable repression. The state had various the rest of the world. Most of them, however, wanted to take methods of coercing people into obedience. The hitchhikers’ control of their own lives. The young generation began withdrawing movement in the GDR reached its peak in the mid-1970s. The from the state’s patronage in increasing numbers and creating hitchhikers called themselves literally “bluesers” or “customers”, more and more spaces of their own. and were an East German equivalent to the Flower Power The state youth organisation FDJ was responsible for education. movement in the West. They tried to escape the petty bourgeois The “Free German Youth” ensured omnipresent ideology, dis- confines of everyday life in the GDR, travelling independently cipline and social control and organised pre-military training. around the Eastern Bloc. The rest of the world was off limits for It claimed to be the sole representative of the entire younger gener- them – and in many cases, young nonconformists and political ation, but it failed in the long term because young people had opponents were prevented from even leaving the country by such diverse interests. More and more young people turned their having their identity cards confiscated. They were given a tempor backs on the prescribed model of communist life, developing ary replacement card coded PM-12, which placed severe restric- various alternative youth cultures or becoming politically active. tions on their freedom of movement within the GDR. The police Blues Masses at East Berlin’s Church of the Redeemer were stopped and checked all young people who looked like noncon- attended by thousands of people from 1979 to 1987. The services formists or rebels. They were often arrested for no good reason or combined concerts with unconventional sermons, prayers and called into the station on a pretext, the usual excuse being “for sketches, along with critical discussions on the GDR. Many clarification of a matter”. If they did not turn up, they faced state young people looked to the West for a feeling of freedom, for sanctions. The purpose of these summonses was to build up an their musical influences and clothing. Blues freaks, hitchhikers, atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.

AWAKENING 23 SUBCULTURE

The single ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED) regarded artists as ARTISTS JUMP SHIP servants to the political system. A number of individuals tried Puppeteers and actors founded the Theater Zinnober in 1979 to to escape this expectation, wanting to create their work free from realise their own artistic ideas outside the official theatre sector. patronage by the state. To circumvent bans on performing and Zinnober was the first free theatre in the GDR, and for many state censorship, they worked in private and church circles. years the only one. Writers who criticised the system, like Lutz The arts in the GDR were also closely tied to the SED’s polit- Rathenow and Uwe Kolbe, were not allowed to publish in the GDR. ical ideology. All areas of the arts were controlled and monitored They managed to reach audiences through typed manuscripts by the state. There was no free market for art. Nevertheless, and readings in private premises. The singer-songwriter Bettina an alternative cultural scene began developing in the GDR in the Wegner resisted state intervention in her lyrics by the cultural 1970s. Most of the leading figures did not regard themselves as authorities, and was then banned from performing in East Germany. part of the political opposition. Yet their desire for autonomous She performed in churches but was pressured to leave the country forms of expression provoked mistrust on the part of the GDR and moved to West Berlin in 1983. The director Freya Klier and leadership. The secret police (Stasi) infiltrated the arts scene to the singer-songwriter Stephan Krawczyk were active in opposition keep it in check. But critical writers, actors, painters and musicians groups in East Berlin. Their caustic satire of life in the GDR, still found a growing audience in churches, back yards zand Steinschlag (“Rockfall”), was banned in the GDR. They still per- private premises. A number of artists took an open stand against formed it in churches until they were arrested and expelled in 1988. the dictatorship, joining opposition groups. They were banned, From 1983 on, the Leipziger Gerd Harry Lybke managed to run arrested or expelled from the country. Or they tried to leave the an unofficial gallery using all kinds of tricks and loopholes. His GDR so that they could work in freedom. gallery Eigen + Art not only outlived the GDR; it is now one of Germany’s highest-profile galleries in the international art scene.

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1 Concert in the church The band Tacheles performed their first concert in the Zion return to the GDR after a concert in Cologne in 1976. His expatriation prompted a Church in East Berlin in 1987. A few months beforehand, a state functionary had wave of protest and solidarity. The musicians Pannach and Kunert, a duo, were banned the founding musician André Greiner-Pol (top l.) from performing for life, among those who signed the protest declaration. They were arrested by the secret and prohibited his band Freygang, not for the first time. The photo is by Harald police in East Berlin in November 1976, along with Jürgen Fuchs, and taken to the Hauswald. This East Berlin photographer chronicled the opposition movement in the State Security Remand Prison in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen. In August 1977 all three GDR through his work. His pictures show the reality behind the pompous façade of men were released from prison without trial. They were stripped of their East East German state propaganda. 2 Expatriated The musician Christian Kunert (l.), German citizenship and expelled to West Berlin. 3 Samizdat magazine Glasnot, 1989 the singer-songwriter Gerulf Pannach (2nd l.) and the writer Jürgen Fuchs (r.) were The title is a play on the Russian word ‘Glasnost’ (openness) and the German Not welcomed in West Berlin by Wolf Biermann (2nd r.) on 27 August 1977. The SED used (need). Small print runs of illegal magazines produced via samizdat (self-publishing) harassment, performance bans, threats of imprisonment and expatriation to drive allowed artistic content to be distributed via unofficial routes. prominent critical artists out of the country. Wolf Biermann was not allowed to

AWAKENING 25 THE OPPOSITION GOES PUBLIC

In the course of the 1980s, opposition groups sprang up in all parts parties and initiatives were printed and distributed. Similar li- of the GDR. By organising events and producing illegal publica- braries were set up in other East German towns and cities. tions, they attempted to make their own publicity. The activists The Stasi closely monitored the libraries’ activities and attempted grouped together in networks and forged illegal links to the West, to stop their work and prevent them from exerting any influence considerably extending the reach of their campaigns. on the general public.

ENVIRONMENTAL LIBRARIES PEACE AND HUMAN RIGHTS From September 1986, the Environmental Library worked on the The “Initiative Peace and Human Rights” (IFM) was founded premises of the Zion Church in East Berlin. People went there in January 1986, opposing the SED’s claim to sole leadership and for information and communication. Banned art was performed offensively addressing human rights issues. The initiative chose and exhibited in the gallery and there were regular talks and not to be affiliated to the church, which meant it had less discussions on taboo subjects. As well as dissident leaflets, the protection. Instead, it sought alliances with dissidents in the Umweltblätter environmental newsletter was published here, one Eastern European states and made systematic use of the Western of the most widely spread underground magazines in the GDR. media to make its views known. By publishing the magazine Starting out with a print-run of 150 copies, the volume grew to grenzfall, the group consciously violated East German law. The 4,000 by September 1989. Up to the fall of the Wall, members of editors did not bow to the state monopoly on information and the Environmental Library were involved in many key opposition referred to the freedom of press as a fundamental right. Stasi activities in East Berlin. In the autumn of 1989, the printing informers infiltrated the group, and members were arrested and press was operated around the clock. Tens of thousands of copies expelled from the country. Nevertheless, the initiative played a of declarations by all the opposition civil rights movements, key role in the 1989 revolution.

26 aufbruch THOSE WHO DO NOT MOVE, DO NOT NOTICE THEIR CHAINS. Rosa Luxemburg

SAMIZDAT campaigns could soon be organised when opposition activists Books and magazines could only be published with the permis were arrested. Common goals were discussed and argumentation sion of the state authorities in the GDR. The state censored and without notes practised in seminars and other events. Despite banned works it did not approve of. Under these difficult condi links at national level, the groups continued to work autonomously. tions, a multifaceted underground literature scene developed in The lack of a central structure and their spontaneity made it the 1980s. Texts were produced, duplicated and distributed illicitly difficult for the Stasi to control and stem the growing movement. without official approval. Banned books were copied out and then For the opposition in the GDR, connections to the Federal Repub- circulated. The Russian word samizdat – self-publishing – was lic of Germany and to West Berlin were of the utmost importance. adopted into the German language to mean this kind of produc- Particularly civil rights activists who had moved to the West or tion and distribution of illegal writing. The state could no longer been expelled and correspondents accredited in the GDR and fully control this form of critical comment. The scale of distri working for the West German media helped the groups to gain bution was limited, however. publicity in the West. They found means of getting information in and out of the GDR. They also arranged for further supplies of NETWORKS AND EAST-WEST CONTACTS materials urgently needed to produce underground newspapers. Peace groups, environmental groups and conscientious objectors Banned books were smuggled into the GDR, dissident manuscripts began to form networks. More than ten such activist groupings and letters taken across the border into the West. Journalists developed across the GDR, connecting several hundred organisa- informed the international public about outrages in the GDR. tions. Environmental groups worked together in the Network Ark, for example, while peace groups were linked up via Concrete Peace. Through close personal contacts, nationwide solidarity

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1 Environmental Library Opposition magazines and leaflets were produced on simple underground magazine ‘grenzfall’ (“Border Fall”). 4 Under church protection View of duplicating machines. The machinery and printing equipment were rare, mostly the Zion Church, East Berlin. Thanks to the courageous pastor Hans Simon, the Envir- coming from the church or smuggled into the GDR from the West. The photo shows onmental Library in Berlin found a home in the basement of the parsonage. The Till Böttcher in the East Berlin Environmental Library. 2 The Other Side of a City Berlin parish provided protection for the opposition activists. 5 East-West contacts Protest celebrated its 750th anniversary in 1987 – separately on either side of the Wall. The action against the transport of toxic waste from West Berlin to the East German East Berlin Environmental Library announced an exhibition by the writer Lutz dumps in Vorketzin and Schöneiche at the Kirchhainer Damm border crossing, Rathenow and the photographer Harald Hauswald. Hauswald and Rathenow published 18 April 1988. The West Berlin group BRD-DDR (an abbreviation for “Dump It Over their declaration of love for East Berlin as a book in West Germany, since it was the Border – Thanks for the Waste” playing on the acronyms for West and East banned in the GDR. 3 grenzfall The Initiative for Peace and Human Rights (IFM) had Germany) blocked the waste trucks after liaising with East Berlin environmental activ- an information stall on the grounds of the Church of the Redeemer during the Peace ists. A campaign like this was unthinkable in the GDR. 6 Communication despite the Workshop in East Berlin, 29 June 1986. The church prohibited the presentation of the border Roland Jahn used the West German print media, radio and television for

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publicity across both Germanies. Following his expulsion from the GDR in 1983, writing had to be painstakingly duplicated in the GDR. The few copies were passed Jahn, an opposition activist from Jena, built up a network supporting the East German on from one person to the next. The samizdat production of newspapers and books opposition. He had video cameras smuggled into the GDR, enabling reports and had a long tradition in the Soviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia in particular. For statements that had never been seen before. 7 Honecker’s visitors from the West instance, the Czech writer Vaclav Havel demanded the freedom of the word and openly A delegation from the West German Green Party was received by the GDR head of criticised the dictatorship. Havel’s essay “Living in Truth” was produced in samizdat state Erich Honecker (l.) on 31 October 1983. Otto Schily (2nd r.) – at that time a form in 1980. It was translated into German and distributed as a manuscript in the Green Party member – and Petra Kelly (r.) presented the most powerful man in the GDR. In his much-discussed essay, Havel encouraged the opposition to voice their workers’ and farmers’ state with a “personal peace agreement”. Kelly caused a stir critical views in public. 9 Make peace without arms There was no alternative with the logo of the GDR peace movement on her clothing. Anyone caught wearing community service in the GDR, and refusal of military service was punishable by the “swords to ploughshares” symbol in East Germany was persecuted. 8 Samizdat imprisonment. Conscientious objectors called for the right to refuse national service, Typed carbon copies of a lecture by the dissident philosopher Rudolf Bahro. Banned like here at the Peace Workshop at East Berlin’s Church of the Redeemer, 1988.

aWAKENING 29 ARRESTS AND EXPULSIONS

In November 1987 the East German head of state Erich Honecker release – a severe blow for the GDR government’s international had been invited to an official state visit to Bonn by Chancellor image. Public intercession prayers and solidarity campaigns for Helmut Kohl. Following this act of recognition by the West German the prisoners were held across the GDR, with a vigil set up in the government, the SED took action against the opposition, arrest- Zion Church in East Berlin. On the morning of 27 November ing a number of dissidents in a renewed attempt to silence its 1987, participants in the vigil hung a large banner on the tower of critics at home. Zion Church, demanding the release of the members of the Environmental Library who had been arrested. The police and THE BATTLE OF ZION public prosecutor’s office called the fire brigade to remove the In the night of 24 November 1987, the Stasi and a public prosecutor banner. The widespread protests were a success; in the face of the broke into the East Berlin Environmental Library, hoping to catch huge public pressure the prisoners had to be released. This was people printing the illegal magazine ‘grenzfall’ (“Borderline Case/ the SED’s first major defeat against the opposition before the end Fall of the Border”). But the staff were actually printing the semi- of the East German state. legal ‘Umweltblätter’ (“Environment Letters”), a church newsletter that the state was forced to tolerate. Although the secret police FREEDOM FOR THOSE WHO THINK DIFFERENTLY had no evidence of a crime, they still confiscated the machines The official memorial demonstration in honour of Rosa Luxem- and arrested all those present. burg and Karl Liebknecht took place in East Berlin on 17 January The GDR government had underestimated the opposition 1988. People who wanted to leave the country and members networks, however. They published a joint protest letter the very of the opposition demonstrated together for human rights and next morning, which went all around the world via the West democracy, under the motto: freedom for those who think differ- German media. Western politicians demanded the prisoners’ ently. This kind of action was a crime in the GDR; over a hundred

30 aWAKENING demonstrators were arrested. The state took the opportunity for opposition took a different approach, wanting to reform the another blow against civil rights activists, arresting prominent country. They called for the observation of human rights and figures from the East Berlin opposition a few days after the political liberties such as freedom of assembly and association, demonstration. They had spoken out in public on behalf of the essential prerequisites for necessary change in society. Thou- prisoners and passed on information showing the GDR in a sands of people who were unhappy in the dictatorship met up at critical light to West Germany. There were solidarity campaigns church congresses and forums run by the Ecumenical Assembly. and vigils all over the country. On top of this, the GDR govern- It was a chance to express criticism and emphasise their de ment was faced with a wave of protest from many countries in the mands. Church newspapers tried to report on these meetings West. In response, it gave the arrested activists the choice of but were censored. The Soviet magazine ‘Sputnik’, which began either up to twelve years in prison or leaving the country. Under reporting on subjects that had previously been politically taboo as such huge pressure, most of the prisoners decided to emigrate the head of state Mikhail Gorbachev made reforms in the Soviet from the GDR. This meant the opposition lost a number of key Union, was also banned in the GDR in November 1988. Oppos- players and appeared to be weakened – yet the protests continued ition activists demonstrated against censorship in the autumn of to swell in the course of the year. 1988 in response. Their criticism also extended to the militarisation of society and the state education system in the GDR. THE PROTEST GOES ON The conflicts in East Germany began to escalate in 1988. More and more people applied to emigrate. They wanted to leave the GDR, as they saw no prospects there, and tried to pressure for emigration to West Germany through public protest. The

aWAKENING 31 1 2

1 Unhidden camera Stasi operatives openly filming visitors to the vigil at the Zion GDR citizens and West Berliners demonstrated together at Checkpoint Charlie in Church, November 1987. Although the aim of the film documentation and their Friedrichstraße on 31 January 1988 for the release of the civil rights activists arrested personal presence was to intimidate those supporting the vigil, the number of partici- in East Berlin. 4 Vigil A vigil was initiated in the Zion Church in East Berlin on 25 pants and visitors continued to grow. 2 Hidden camera A West German television November 1987. The participants collected information on the members of the crew managed to film protesting demonstrators at the state memorial demonstra- Environmental Library arrested the previous night and the protests for their release. tion for Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht on 17 January 1988, despite Stasi at- 5 Opposition and emigration Bärbel Bohley and Werner Fischer, members of the tempts to block their view by holding up banners. 3 Solidarity in West Berlin Former opposition Initiative for Peace and Human Rights, were pressured to leave the GDR

32 aWAKENING 5

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4 8

after their arrest. They travelled to Britain on a six-month visa and returned to the singer-songwriter Stephan Krawczyk on the front cover. 8 Human rights Would-be GDR in August 1988 to carry on working for change. 6 Subversive A banner confisca- emigrants and opposition groups found common ground – human rights, here ted at the Luxemburg Liebknecht demonstration in East Berlin on 17 January 1988: at a rally outside Dresden’s Church of the Cross on 13 February 1988, marking the “Freedom is always the freedom of those who think differently. Rosa Luxemburg”. anniversary of the city’s bombing in World War II. The Stasi took photos of this evidence of what they saw as subversive activities. 7 Rebellion behind the Wall The West German news magazine Der Spiegel published a title story on the “rebellion behind the Wall” on 1 February 1988, depicting the

aWAKENING 33 FIRST STEPS TO REVOLUTION

The domestic reform process in the Soviet Union paved the way of 1987 and began to implement reforms. One symbol of change for increased democracy across the Eastern Bloc. But the GDR was the posthumous state funeral of the former Hungarian prime government refused to make any reforms. That had consequences minister, Imre Nagy, on 16 June 1989. Nagy had been executed for the East Germans. The number of people wanting to leave the after the Hungarian people’s uprising was suppressed in 1956. country for good continued to increase. Others voiced protest for The Soviet Union began to show signs of disintegration. On their rights more and more loudly. 23 August 1989 Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians formed a 600-kilometre human chain along the line drawn by the Hitler- CRISIS IN THE EASTERN BLOC Stalin Pact fifty years previously. By means of this “Baltic chain”, In the Soviet Union, the head of state Mikhail Gorbachev intro- they called for the Soviet Union to give them back their independ- duced a process of domestic reforms, revolving around perestroika ence and sovereignty. (restructuring) and glasnost (openness). Gorbachev sought to open up the country’s politics and economy to the West to keep TIANANMEN SQUARE communist rule afloat. This development also enabled reforms in In Beijing, students occupied the central Tiananmen Square the states of the Eastern Bloc. for several weeks in May 1989, calling for political reforms. The In early 1989 the political and economic crisis in the Eastern Chinese government reacted with brutal violence, ordering in Bloc intensified. It became clear that groundbreaking reforms tanks. They smashed the peaceful demonstration apart on 4 June. were necessary. In Poland, the independent trade union Solidarnosc Even today, the precise number of people killed is not known. forced the regime to the negotiation table, achieving posts in the government by means of elections. In Hungary, the political leadership entered into talks with the civil rights movements as

34 aWAKENING 1 First steps in Poland Demonstration by the Polish trade union Solidarnosc in the pilgrimage city of Czestochowa (Poland). The illegal trade union Soli- darnosc grew into a mass movement that could no longer be stopped. 2 Perestroika in the Soviet Union In the Soviet Union, the head of state Mikhail Gorbachev initiated a series of domes tic reforms in 1985. It was a desperate 2 attempt to rescue the communist party’s position in power and keep the Soviet empire in one piece. 3 Political ice age Western Europe kept a close eye on the developments in the Central and Eastern European countries. Whereas Poland was charting a course in the wake of the Soviet reform ship Perestroika and Hungary was going full-speed ahead, in the GDR, Czecho- slovakia and especially Romania the 3 political ice had yet to thaw. Caricature from the West Berlin newspaper Tages- spiegel dated 29 December 1988. 4 Fortress Romania The Romanian chief of state Nicolae Ceausescu¸ (m.), 24 November 1989. The communist dictator vehemently ignored the need for change in his country, rejecting democratic reforms. Four weeks after this photo was taken, Ceausescu¸ was toppled, sentenced to death by a 4 special court and executed. 5 Protest in Prague On 15 January 1989 the Czech police brutally broke up the annual memorial demonstration for the student Jan Palach on Prague’s Wenceslas Square. Palach had burned himself to death on the square on 16 January 1969 in protest against the military suppression of the Czechoslovakian reform movement in 1968. 1 5

aWAKENING 35 1 Electoral fraud Few people dared to voice protest at this point: a demonstration outside East Berlin’s St Sophie’s Church, 7 June 1989, against the falsified local election results of 7 May. The banner reads: “Never enough election fraud”. The proven ballot rigging enraged many people. From now on, a demonstration was held on Alexanderplatz on the seventh day of every month. More and more East Germans took their protests to the streets. 2 Wahlfall Opposition activists monitored the ballot count in many East German towns and cities after the local election of 7 May 1989. They compiled lists of the counts from the individual polling stations and compared them to the official results. The discrepancies between the figures were proof of election fraud. The East Berlin Environ- mental Library published the rigged results in the documentation ‘Wahlfall 89’ (“Election Case 89”). The documen- 1 tation proved what large parts of the population were already aware of: that there were no free elections in the GDR and the country’s leadership was not democratically legitimated. 3 China is not far away Flyer for a protest against the mass murder in Beijing, 9 June 1989 in East Berlin. The demonstrators were immediately arrested, interrogated and fined. The flyer had been distributed in a youth club, and the manager of the club was dismissed the next day.

2 3

36 aWAKENING THREAT OF VIOLENCE NEVER ENOUGH ELECTION FRAUD The governments of the GDR, Czechoslovakia and Romania There were no free elections in the GDR and no competition refused to allow reforms. The East German government even between political parties. The “leading role” of the Socialist Unity welcomed the brutal suppression of the peaceful democracy Party (SED) was anchored in the constitution. All the candidates movement in China. The people in the GDR saw this as a threat, for the government and parliament were placed on a single list. fearing violent conflict in their own country – the “Chinese solu- Actual voting consisted solely of approving or rejecting this list tion” seemed a real possibility. More and more of them applied to as a whole. According to official statistics, around 99 percent of emigrate. Nevertheless, protests were held in East Berlin against voters generally opted for the candidates on the list. Although the mass murder in Beijing. The demonstrators were arrested, the politicians on the “united list”, as it was called, were actually interrogated and fined. The manager of a youth club where flyers elected by an overwhelming majority, many people suspected were distributed was sacked. The Stasi broke up further demon- electoral fraud. Opposition activists wanted to prove this fraud at strations to the Chinese embassy by force. From 25 June 1989, the local elections on 7 May 1989, by monitoring the ballot count. the opposition staged a protest at the Church of the Redeemer in In actual fact, the authorities had manipulated the count in many East Berlin, with three days of non-stop drumming against the parts of the country. suppression of the Chinese democracy movement. Demonstrators The elections at the heart of the GDR’s official democracy took to the streets in Leipzig as well. On the fringe of the Protest- were no more than a façade. The election fraud became the start- ant church congress on 9 July 1989, participants displayed their ing point for a central demand made by the East Germans in the solidarity with the Chinese students. months to come: for new, free and democratic elections.

aWAKENING 37 Mass protest: On 4 November 1989, the largest demonstration in the history of the GDR took place on Alexanderplatz in East Berlin. revolution

EMIGRATION AND ESCAPES VIA HUNGARY AND PRAGUE ACCELERATED THE COLLAPSE OF THE EAST GERMAN REGIME. GRASSROOTS MOVEMENTS AND NEWLY FOUNDED PARTIES HOPED TO REFORM SOCIETY, TAKING A MORE OFFENSIVE STANCE. THE BERLIN WALL FELL ON 9 NOVEMBER 1989. MORE AND MORE EAST GERMANS WANT OUT

In the first six months of 1989 alone, over a hundred thousand In Hungary, many refugees waited near the border to Austria people applied to emigrate to West Germany. They no longer saw for an opportunity to escape; they were not legally permitted to any future in the GDR and had lost all trust in its politicians. cross the border, and the Hungarian police stopped many of In May 1989, Hungary began to take down the installations on them from escaping. On 19 August 1989, the eve of the Hungarian its border to Austria. In a symbolic act the Hungarian foreign national holiday, Hungarian opposition groups around the minister Gyula Horn and his Austrian counterpart Alois Mock cut Hungarian Democratic Forum and the Paneuropa Union held a the barbed wire fence on the border between the two countries “Pan-European Picnic” close to the border. For a few hours, a on 27 June. The pictures went around the world and the West gateway was opened to Austria – 600 East Germans used this German media in particular reported widely on the story, gap in the Iron Curtain to escape to the West. A few days later, prompting the largest wave of escapes in the history of the GDR. border soldiers shot and killed a young East German man in a With the falsified results of the local elections of 7 May 1989 still scuffle. Nevertheless, the constant stream of refugees did not in mind, the East Germans now started voting with their feet. let up. Thousands camped out on the grounds of the overcrowded Tens of thousands left the country during the summer holidays. embassy, in their cars and at hastily established reception centres. On 11 September, the Hungarian government announced ESCAPE ROUTE VIA HUNGARY the opening of the border to Austria and allowed the refugees to It was easy enough to travel to the neighbouring communist cross over. countries; hundreds of thousands of East Germans made their way there during the holidays. Their destinations were the ESCAPE VIA PRAGUE West German missions in Prague, Budapest, Warsaw and also When the checks on the Czechoslovak-Hungarian border were in East Berlin. tightened, the numbers occupying the embassy in Prague swelled

40 revolution to several thousand. It was already hopelessly overcrowded when ARRIVAL IN WEST GERMANY the West German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher The West German authorities were incredibly organised in announced the longed-for exit permits for approximately 6,000 dealing with the unprecedented and unexpected influx of people. East German refugees from the balcony of the Embassy in Prague East Germans were not classified as foreigners, and formalities on 30 September: “We have come to inform you that today your were dealt with quickly so that the refugees spent only a few days exit… (to West Germany will no longer be prevented)”. Genscher’s in the reception centres. The new West German citizens could voice was drowned out by the crowd’s cheers. The exit was a now start out on the self-determined lives they had longed for diplomatic compromise: the refugees had to travel through GDR in a liberal democratic society, full of hope and optimism. They territory to be officially expelled from the country. They were received support in the form of one-off welcome payments of taken to the Federal Republic on special trains on the very night 100 DM, low-interest loans from the state or help finding homes of 30 September. The moment the pictures of the cheering and jobs. Only a few weeks after their arrival, many of the new refugees were aired around the world, thousands more applied citizens were already integrated into West German society. for asylum in the West German diplomatic mission, making their way to the West in the same way over the following days. The East German leadership was incapable of reacting appropriately to the escapes and the demands for reform. On 3 October, they closed the border to Czechoslovakia, holding the East Germans captive in their own country. Yet the critical voices in the population were getting ever louder, calling for public reforms, democratic rights and freedom.

revolution 41 1

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42 revolution 1 Gaps in the border fence Hungary began dismantling the installations on the border to Austria on 2 May 1989 – a signal to set out for Hungary for thousands of East Germans. 2 Dramatic escape East German refugees climbing over the wall of the West German embassy in Prague, September 1989. 3 Bidding farewell A mother saying goodbye to her daughter, determined to leave the GDR, through the fence of the West German Embassy in Prague, 3 September 1989. 4 Final escapes In the summer months, many East Ger- mans tried to escape from Hungary to Austria via the open border. The border was still guarded, but individuals did manage to get across on numerous occasions, like this small group in August 1989. 5 Train to freedom Push ing and shoving: special GDR trains departed for West Germany from Prague’s Liben station in early October 1989. 6 State convoy In October 1989 the Stasi returned cars to the GDR, left behind in Hungary and Prague by refugees.

revolution 43 GRASSROOTS ORGANISATIONS SHOOT UP

The wave of escapes altered the GDR. Many people overcame the forces in the country using secret service methods. Despite the lethargy of decades to find like-minded individuals and form state persecution, the East Germans joined the new parties and grassroots organisations. New groups and parties were formed, movements in their thousands. calling for rights and freedom in East German society. New Forum was founded in September 1989, one of the first NEW FORUM movements that played a key role in the Peaceful Revolution. The Stasi was kept well informed of the preparations for founding The organisation defined itself as a grassroots democratic move- New Forum from the outset, by an informer. In a letter to the ment and political communication platform, and aimed to over- GDR interior minister dated 19 September 1989, Jutta Seidel and come the silence in the country. Almost simultaneously, a Social Bärbel Bohley applied for registration of New Forum as a Democratic Party (SDP) was set up in the GDR and other move- “political association”. The ministry’s response came two days ments were formed. Their names explained their demands: later via the state news agency ADN. It reported via the press Democracy Now, Democratic Awakening or United Left, and they that New Forum was classified as a “subversive platform” and organised joint actions. They campaigned for freedom of the would not be permitted. Despite the ban, the New Forum initial press and opinion and demanded reforms, freedom of assembly callout was quickly distributed. Within a very short period, and open dialogue with the population. But the Socialist Unity there were members and contact addresses in every county of the Party (SED) laid claim to sole control of the GDR, and the newly GDR. By the end of October 1989, 150,000 people from across founded groups were labelled anti-constitutional. The SED the country had signed the appeal. wanted to put a stop to their activities through the Ministry of State Security (Stasi), which combated all oppositional political

44 revolution 1 Changing tack Poster for the founding meeting of New Forum Prenzlauer Berg in East Berlin. By this point in autumn 1989, New Forum had already become one of the most important civil rights movements in the GDR. 2 Awakening 89 The founding meeting of the grassroots movement New Forum was held in Katja Havemann’s (r.) garden in Grünheide near Berlin on 9-10 September 1989. Here, at the former home of the dissident Robert Havemann, members of the peace movement such as Bärbel Bohley (l.), Jutta Seidel (m.), Rolf Henrich and 2 Jens Reich signed the initial call-out “Awakening 89”. New Forum was the first nationwide opposition movement in the GDR outside of the protestant church. It called for dialogue on democratic reforms, with the aim of “re-modelling” society with as broad support as possible. New Forum became a political dynamo for the revolution. 3 Freedom of choice Although there was no prospect of free elections, demonstrators showed public support for the Social Democratic Party SDP, publicly founded three weeks 3 before, in East Berlin on 24 October 1989. 4 Round table The United Left movement called for a renewal of socialism on a democratic basis and ecological restructuring of East Ger- many’s industrial society. It became a rallying point for numerous groups and parties, taking part in the Central Round Table in Berlin with its representatives. The photo shows the eighth meeting of the Central Round Table at Schönhausen Palace in Berlin, 18 January 1990. 1 4

revolution 45 1 Freedom of opinion Call for civil rights in the GDR on the fringe of a mass demonstration on East Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, 4 November 1989. The man carrying the placard, Carlo Jordan, founded the Green Party in East Berlin shortly afterwards. 2 Democracy now! People at a mass demonstration on Berlin’s Alexander- platz, 4 November 1989, showing support for Democracy Now. 3 “What will become of the GDR?” The future workshop in the Church of the Redeemer in East Berlin on 6 October 1989 posed the question: “What will become of the GDR?” At this meeting, the new groupings proposed placing the next elections under United Nations control.

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46 revolution SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY DEMOCRACY NOW, UNITED LEFT The Social Democratic Party in the GDR (SDP) was founded at The grassroots movement Democracy Now held its first public Schwante Rectory (Brandenburg) on 7 October 1989. The Social presentation as a political association in East Berlin’s Gethse- Democratic Party explicitly questioned the legitimacy of the mane Church in October 1989. The movement emerged from the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED), as the SED had been formed oppositional “Initiative for Rejection of the Practice and Principle in 1946 by a forced merger of the communist and social demo- of Separation”, founded in 1986. United Left aimed for political cratic parties in East Germany. The new East German Social democracy and a constitutional state, in an explicitly anti-capitalist Democrats gained support across the country. society.

DEMOCRATIC AWAKENING JOINT ACTIONS The police and Stasi intended to prevent another opposition group Despite all their differences, the newly founded movements from being founded. The SED secret police surrounded the and parties closed ranks against the SED’s claim to sole authority. planned meeting place for the foundation of Democratic Awakening Representatives of the different groupings drafted a “Joint at the Church of the Good Samaritan on 1 October 1989. Declaration” dated 4 October 1989. The contact group met again An alternative meeting place was soon blocked off as well and immediately after the Wall fell on 10 and 24 November 1989 only a few people managed to get there. The other founding to prepare the first meeting of the Central Round Table in Berlin. members then met at Alt-Pankow Church. The official founding meeting of Democratic Awakening took place in Berlin on 29/30 October 1989. It was decided to form a party within the next six months.

revolution 47 REVOLTS ALONG THE RAILWAY LINE

The SED government wanted to officially expel the East German THE “20 GROUP” IN DRESDEN refugees in Prague, and insisted they had to travel through GDR The people of Dresden took to the streets again on 7 October territory. In early October 1989, special trains made their way 1989, the 40th anniversary of the GDR. They were determined, from Prague to West Germany. At the same time, the GDR closed chanting: “We’re staying here” and demanding that the huge its border to Czechoslovakia, blocking the route to the West via numbers of police present refrained from using violence. Yet the Prague. This caused unrest along the railway line. Although security forces violently dispersed this demonstration as well. the SED did not announce the route, would-be emigrants found At the next demonstration the following evening, the demonstra- out via the West German media and saw a chance to escape by tors were blocked in on all sides in Prager Straße by state security climbing onto the trains. The SED reacted with violence. forces and riot police. The protesters approached the police, seeking a dialogue. DRESDEN MAIN STATION Representatives were elected spontaneously from the crowd, In Dresden, thousands gathered outside and inside the station on starting their work of deescalating the violent situation the next 3 October, chanting, “We want out!” Many people occupied plat- day. This “20 Group” eventually managed to start up a dialogue forms and tracks, the situation escalating during the night. with the SED mayor of Dresden. The first information evening When the police intervened, clearing the station and blocking on the work of the “20 Group” was held in the overcrowded access, fighting broke out. Stones were thrown at the police and a Church of the Holy Cross on 9 October. Thousands of people police car was set alight. The police deployed water canons, tear filled the square outside. gas and batons, arresting numerous protesters.

48 revolution 1 Sights set One of the first trains of East German refugees from Prague, crossing the German-German border on the morning of 1 October 1989. The people waving out of the windows had made it to the West. The special trains crossed GDR territory, prompting many people to try and jump aboard. 2 Martial appearance Battle-ready police units, heavily armed and equipped with helmets and shields, at Dresden’s main station. The security forces blocked the station entrances to prevent people from occupying 2 tracks and jumping onto trains by all means necessary. Outside the station, riots erupted in the night of 3 October: stones were thrown, water canons WE WANT were sent in and numerous arrests were made. 3 “20 Group” A tense situation at the Dresden demonstration OUT! on 8 October. Courageous demonstrators called for a non-violent dialogue with the assembled riot police. WE’RE They were elected to represent the protesters, meeting the mayor of STAYING Dresden Wolfgang Berghofer the next day. The result was the Dresdner Dialogue. The local SED head Hans 1 HERE! Modrow also entered the dialogue, having been responsible for the police’s violent treatment of demonstrators at the station only days before. The talks were the first regulated contact between the authorities, the SED party and protesters.

revolution 49 ANNIVERSARY PROTESTS 7 OCTOBER 1989

Despite the wave of refugees, the SED insisted on its traditional (restructuring). Honecker held an official celebration in the ritual celebration of the 40th anniversary of the GDR. But the Palace of the Republic that evening. But the occasion did not go population no longer bought the state’s artificial projection of a undisturbed. society in perfect order. PROTESTS IN BERLIN AND ELSEWHERE STAGED CELEBRATION In the run-up to October 1989, regular demonstrations had been The plans for the anniversary on 7 October 1989 focused entirely held on Alexanderplatz on the seventh day of most months, on celebrating the party and state leadership, ignoring the crisis recalling the rigged elections of 7 May 1989. On 7 October 1989, brewing in the country. The official celebrations were a demon thousands of people joined the demonstrators. They marched stration of the state’s power and willingness to defend itself towards the Palace of the Republic, where the celebrations for the against its own people. It began with a torchlight parade by the 40th anniversary of the GDR were taking place. The building was SED youth organisation FDJ on the preceding evening and blocked off by the police, but the demonstrators’ calls for reform reached its peak in a military parade on Karl-Marx-Allee on were audible even inside the building. In the evening, state 7 October. Thousands of soldiers marched past the assembled security forces took brutal action against the protesters, beating East German and foreign politicians. Tanks and armoured them and arresting hundreds of them. vehicles were on parade, displaying upright missiles. There were demonstrations across the country. Thousands Mikhail Gorbachev (“Gorbi”) stood alongside the severely ill took to the streets for democratic reforms in Leipzig, Dresden, SED chairman Erich Honecker. The people welcomed the Soviet Magdeburg, Arnstadt and Plauen. State security forces were president, hoping he would usher in reforms, but the GDR govern- deployed, and the angry demonstrators shouted, “We’re staying ment rejected his policy of glasnost (openness) and perestroika here!” and “No violence!” They demanded that the government

50 revolution allow the new movements and parties. Armed units violently beat demonstrators in several cities. Many people were injured and Y THOS E there were numerous arrests, yet the population was no longer as easy to intimidate as in the past.

“THOSE WHO ACT TOO LATE” At some point during Gorbachev’s state visit to East Berlin, the West German media translated and broadcast a quote from Gennady Gerasimov, his personal spokesman. The phrase soon became popular in the West and East, as a signal for change: “History punishes those who act too late.” orbachev, 6 O ctober 1989 M ikhail G orbachev, WHO DO NOT R E ACT TO LIF E. ONL DANG E RS AWAIT

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1 Forty years of the GDR VIP stand on East Berlin’s Karl-Marx-Allee for the 40th the motor cavalcade of honorary guests invited by Erich Honecker to celebrate the anniversary of the GDR, 7 October 1989. The head of state and the SED Erich 40th anniversary of the GDR, 6 October 1989. 3, 4, 5 and 6 Anniversary protests Honecker, Soviet chief of state Mikhail Gorbachev and other Eastern Bloc dictators Up to October 1989, demonstrators recalled the rigged elections of 7 May 1989 on were present at the military parade. 2 Cheers from the street East Berliners greeting the seventh day of most months. On 7 October 1989 thousands of people joined

52 revolution 6

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the demonstration. They marched past the “Red Town Hall” (5) towards the Palace plain-clothes units (6) took brutal action against the protesters, beating them and of the Republic, where the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the GDR were arresting hundreds of them. 7 Torchlight parade On the traditional torchlight parade going on. The building was blocked off by the police (3 and 4). Demonstrators and the night before the anniversary, members of the FDJ professed their loyalty to the state forces were locked in a stand-off. In the evening, state security forces and SED, which insisted on “socialism in the colours of the GDR”.

revolution 53 1 Vigil “Be vigilant and pray. Vigil for those unjustly arrested”: On the day after the brutal police attacks of 7 October 1989, many people attended the vigil in East Berlin’s Gethsemane Church, Prenzlauer Berg, lighting candles outside. They were looking for information about missing friends and family members and on the situation in general. 2 Contact telephone Opposition activists compiled information from all over East Germany on demonstrations, arrests and state violence, house searches, summary court judgements, expulsions and solidarity campaigns. This information was made public in the Gethsemane Church and the underground newspaper telegraph. The contact telephone in the church office was permanently manned. Klaus Kuppler and other volunteers noted down reports by those involved; they recorded the number of demonstrators, their demands, the number and names of people arrested. Later they also collected witness 2 reports written by demonstrators and people who had been arrested. 3 Intercessions The bishop of the Berlin-Brandenburg Lutheran Church, Gottfried Forck, during prayers for intercession in East Berlin’s Gethsemane Church, 9 October 1989. Thousands of visitors came to the information events every day.

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54 revolution EAST BERLIN’S GETHSEMANE CHURCH

At the beginning of October 1989, the Gethsemane Church be- campaign was also held in the Gethsemane Church. Over the came the centre of the resistance and a focal point of the revolu- first few days of October 1989, the Gethsemane Church became tion. A contact telephone line took on the role of a news agency. an information and media centre. Correspondents from all over Solidarity campaigns called public attention to imprisoned the world, originally in Berlin for the state celebrations, now demonstrators. Numerous information events attracted thou- began to report on a revolution. sands of people. On 2 October 1989, members of the Weißensee Peace Circle, CONTACT TELEPHONE AND WITNESS REPORTS the Environmental Library and the Church from Below initiated In an office of the Gethsemane parish, a contact telephone took a vigil in East Berlin’s Gethsemane Church. Its aim was the on the role of a news agency, gathering information around the release of the demonstrators arrested in Leipzig. On 7 October, clock on oppositional activities and arrests throughout the country. demonstrators were arrested in Berlin on the way from the Palace Reports were written to document attacks by the state forces, later of the Republic to the Gethsemane Church via Alexanderplatz. forming the basis for a public review of the state violence in When participants in prayers for intercession left the church on October 1989 by an independent investigation commission. On 8 October, the police surrounded them and made numerous 23 October, representatives of opposition groups presented a 100- arrests. Many individuals – including local residents who had page report on the police violence to the international media. nothing to do with the service – were detained at East Berlin Demonstrators on Alexanderplatz on 4 November 1989 called for police stations for hours, subjected to humiliation and maltreat- more witness reports to be published. ment. The police violence and the arrests angered many people. Thousands attended the services every evening and supported the solidarity campaigns. In parallel to the vigil, a fasting

revolution 55 WE ARE THE PEOPLE!

The opposition groups in Leipzig and their non-violent Monday THE DECISIVE DAY IN LEIPZIG demonstrations provided a template for protest actions across the On 9 October the atmosphere in Leipzig was extremely tense. country. More and more people joined them. On 9 October 1989 Thousands of security forces were on duty. Even that morning, the the fate of tens of thousands was decided in Leipzig. upcoming Monday demonstration was the talk of the town. At work and school, the people of Leipzig were warned not to go into MONDAY DEMONSTRATIONS the centre of town that evening. Rumours were going around of The Monday demonstrations in Leipzig were synonymous with a tanks standing by and an order to shoot. There was a great deal of people’s revolt against their government. Since 1981 there had been fear in the city. But greater yet was the people’s anger at the SED prayers for peace in Leipzig’s Church of St Nicholas. In 1989 this leadership. Thousands felt the time had finally come to protest, resulted in a strong opposition movement against the rule of the taking part in the prayers for peace in four churches and then SED. Leipzig was the first city in the GDR where people tookto the gathering on Karl-Marx-Platz. On the evening of 9 October, more streets to demonstrate for a complete overhaul of the political and more people crowded into the square and then moved off system. In the autumn of 1989 people began gathering outside towards the central ring road. To chants of “No violence!” some Leipzig’s Church of St Nicholas after the Monday prayers for peace, 70,000 people marched peacefully through the city past the calling for freedom of travel and opinion. Despite numerous arrests, station and the local Stasi administration office. With their there were more and more demonstrators every week. On the even appeal “We are one people” on 9 October 1989, Leipzig oppositi- ing of 25 September, the police blocked off the streets around the on groups called for non-violence on the part of the task forces church. 5,000 demonstrators managed to get through the blockade and security forces. Faced with this huge number of demonstra- to the city’s central ring road. The police were not prepared for such tors and without orders from Berlin to intervene, the 8,000 a large crowd. A week later their numbers swelled to 20,000. security forces withdrew at around 6.30 pm. The news of the

56 revolution peaceful demonstration quickly spread around the country via and dispersed the demonstrators. There were numerous arrests. West German television, and was viewed as a victory over The information group for the release of the prisoners in Leipzig SED rule: “We are the people!” As of this day, the state powers and Berlin drew international attention immediately afterwards no longer took violent action against demonstrators. and experienced displays of solidarity from the West. During the peace prayers on 11 September 1989, police cordons FROM THE PEACE PRAYERS TO sealed off the area around St. Nicholas’s Church completely. THE MONDAY DEMONSTRATIONS Numerous people were arrested, many sentenced to heavy fines In August 1988 a superintendent of the Protestant Church in and others held in the Stasi detention centre until mid-October Leipzig, Friedrich Magirius, called a stop to Leipzig opposition 1989. Throughout the country, many similar actions were or- groups holding Monday peace prayers in St. Nicholas’s Church. ganised in solidarity. A vigil was held in the Gethsemane Church They had to read out their demands in front of the church. in East Berlin from the beginning of October 1989 in support These were the initial steps leading towards the subsequent of all political prisoners. Monday demonstrations. On 12 January 1989, the Action Group for Democratic Revival of our Society called upon citizens to participate in the Luxemburg-Liebknecht demonstration. The initiators distributed leaflets by night. The Stasi arrested some of the authors in the run-up to the protest rally but could not prevent it from taking place. On 15 January 1989, around 500 protesters managed to march several hundred metres through the city centre en masse. Then the security forces intervened

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58 revolution 1 and 2 Street festival and police violence At the beginning of June 1989, members of the opposition scene in WE ARE Leipzig tried to organise a street music festival. They were refused permission for the event. Nevertheless, music and theatre groups from throughout the THE GDR came to Leipzig on 10 June 1989 to play in the city centre. The street music festival got off to a peaceful start. Towards midday, the state PEOPLE! deployed a large contingent of security forces. Police and Stasi chased the participants through the city centre before the uncomprehending eyes of the people of Leipzig. They were surrounded and many of them arrested. 3 and 6 We are the people! 9 October in Leipzig Around 70,000 4 people marched across Leipzig’s inner city ring on 9 October 1989 in a demonstration the like of which had never been seen before in the history of the GDR. In the centre of the photo is the opera house on Karl-Marx-Platz (now Augustusplatz). 4 and 5 5 Anniversary protests On 7 October 1989, the 40th anniversary of the foundation of the GDR, 4,000 people protested in Leipzig city centre. The security forces used batons, dogs and water cannons, forcing demonstrators to flee and resulting in numerous injuries and arrests.

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revolution 59 THE SED’S NEW TACTIC

The state used violence to combat demonstrators, rousing even DIALOGUE WITH THE STATE more people against it. The SED therefore changed its tactics. On The single ruling party held tightly to its monopoly on power. 11 October 1989 the GDR government appealed to the population Only days after its offer of talks, the SED instructed its members to stay in the country and engage in a “dialogue” on further in an internal document that the newly founded movements and developments. Yet it failed in its goal of suppressing the demon parties were illegal groupings and enemies of the GDR. The strators through staged debates in enclosed spaces. At the population considered Egon Krenz, Honecker’s crown prince, to dialogue events, as they were called, people vented their pent-up be completely unsuitable for initiating genuine democracy in the anger against the SED party functionaries. The people kept GDR. People were well aware of his co-responsibility for electoral taking to the streets. fraud and violence against demonstrators, and had not forgotten his approval of the brutal suppression of peaceful student READY FOR A “TURNAROUND”? protests in Beijing in June of 1989. His appointment by the SED The most powerful man in the GDR, the head of state and the Politburo only prompted new protests. Nevertheless, concessions SED Erich Honecker, was pressured to resign by his own party and the renunciation of violence did have specific repercussions. comrades. His successor Egon Krenz announced a “turnaround”: Up to this point, the state had seemed absolutely invulnerable. a change of course for the sole ruling party, the SED. He made Now it had revealed itself as instable and open to attack. concessions to the demonstrators by raising the prospect of More and more people started joining demonstrations in more reforms. The SED leadership wanted to work with political means and more places. From 16 to 22 October there were 24 demon via a policy of “dialogue” rather than violence. It hoped to thus strations with a total of 140,000 participants, and from 23 to 30 stabilise its power once more. October a huge 140 demonstrations attended by 540,000 people in many towns and cities across the GDR.

60 revolution 1 Faked “turnaround” Protest against Egon Krenz being installed as chairman of the State Council outside the State Council building in East Berlin, 24 October 1989. 2 and 3 Sunday question time in Berlin Around 20,000 people gathered in front of the “Red Town Hall” in East Berlin on 29 October 1989. For over five hours, they fired representatives of the power structure, such as the party leader of the East Berlin’s SED, Günter Schabowski (2), with questions and accusations. They forced through a minute of silence for those who had died at the Wall. And East Berlin’s police chief was made to apologise for the violence used against demonstrators on 7 and 8 October 1989 in Berlin. 4 A fearless people Western media observe the development in the GDR: the headline of the Spiegel magazine on 30 October 1989.

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revolution 61 1 Free German Youth The Free German Youth (FDJ) was the only youth organisation permitted in the GDR, IMAGINE THERE with the aim of raising young people from the age of 14 as the single ruling WAS SOCIAL party SED saw fit. Membership was voluntary but those who refused to ISM AND NO- join were discriminated against in society. But in the autumn of 1989 its members began leaving in droves; ONE RAN AWAY whole university classes left en masse. 2 An end to silence Walter Janka, communist, publisher and dramatic advisor, being applauded by his Christa Wolf audience in the Deutsches Theater in 1 East Berlin, 28 October 1989. A reading put an end to decades of silence over the injustice done to him. 3 National Front National Front leaflet. The Nation- al Front was a union of all parties and mass organisations in the GDR. 4 Confederation of Free German Trade Unions Congress of the Confederation of Free German Trade Unions (FDGB) on 22 April 1982; view of the congress hall. The FDGB did not represent the interests of the people but – as with all mass organisations in the GDR – it served to integrate its members into 3 the political system of the dictatorship. There were no trade unions in East Germany independent of the state and the SED. Almost all working people were members of the Confederation of Free German Trade Unions (FDGB). In October 1989 this organisation was also the target of severe criticism. The FDGB members forced leading trade union functionaries, most of them SED members, to resign.

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62 revolution THE CRUMBLING SYSTEM

The rigid stance taken by the East German government even ARTISTS PROTEST provoked those who had previously bowed to the SED dictator- Rock musicians such as members of the cult band “Silly”, the ship. Protest was voiced in artists’ associations and at univer singer/songwriter Gerhard Schöne, the pop singer Frank Schöbel sities. The bloc parties distanced themselves from the SED. or Konrad ‘Conny’ Bauer, a trombonist and central figure in The Berlin Authors’ Association set the ball rolling as the the GDR jazz scene, were among the first to sign the protest first of the conformist artists’ associations to take action. resolution of 18 September 1989 in which entertainers called for On 14 September 1989 it made a public critical declaration. The political reforms: “The time is ripe. If we do not take action entertainers’ association followed suit a few days later. Both now, time will work against us.” They read this declaration out organisations criticised the SED’s policies and pointed out that at their concerts – and the powers that be reacted by banning or the causes of the rising tide of refugees lay at the GDR govern- stopping the events. ment’s own door. They called for a public debate. Many theatres also voiced criticism, some of making their In the parties that had previously participated in elections in stages available for public protest. The actor Ulrich Mühe read a single bloc along with the SED, a process of withdrawal from from Walter Janka’s memoirs, ‘Schwierigkeiten mit der Wahrheit’ the state party began. The bloc parties were no longer willing to (“Difficulties with the Truth”) to a full house in the Deutsches simulate a multi-party system. Members of the state mass Theater in East Berlin on 28 October 1989. In a show trial in the organisations, such as the unified trade union FDGB and the GDR in 1956, Janka had been sentenced to five years’ penitentiary youth organisation FDJ, started leeching away in huge numbers. in Bautzen for political reasons. In response to pressure from the University and college students demanded unhindered access to West, he was released in 1960. He wrote about his time behind academic literature and their own independent student bodies. bars in his memoirs.

revolution 63 MASS ORGANISATIONS WITHOUT THE MASSES own public statements, calling people to demonstrate and fighting The National Front was a union of all parties and mass organisa- for independent representative bodies. They demanded that the tions in the GDR that was responsible for preparing the ideologi- state youth organisation FDJ should disappear from the universities. cal ground for non-democratic elections. Thus, it helped the On 17 November 1989, 10,000 students from various towns Socialist Unity Party (SED) to reinforce its power. With its pro- in the GDR demonstrated in Berlin for the formation and recog- gramme dated 13 December 1989, the National Front hoped to nition of student councils and representative bodies. They also save its own skin as a “national people’s movement”, retaining an called for changes to the education system. important role in East German society. The New Forum movement rejected the old structures in a press release dated 22 February 1990. The German Liberal Democratic Party (LDPD) made a number of proposals for change from mid-October 1989 onwards. Unlike the East German Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its leadership was willing to make reforms. In the CDU, changes were only possible once members’ protests had forced the long-running chairman to resign.

STUDENT PROTESTS The universities and colleges also saw unrest from October 1989 on, with the declarations of the newly founded movements and parties distributed there, too. Students soon began writing their

64 revolution Anzeige Friedl. Revolution, ZW 03.04.2009 6:26 Uhr Seite 1

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Probezusammenstellung 4 NOVEMBER 1989

On 4 November 1989 the largest critical demonstration in the THE LIBERTY TO WHICH WE’RE ENTITLED history of the GDR took place on Alexanderplatz. The SED Many people from all parts of East Germany took part in the was attempting to uphold its claim to power, but hundreds of demonstration. Artists, civil rights activists and members thousands called for democratic rights and the abolition of of the state elite addressed the crowds from a grandstand. With one-party rule in East Germany. the words, “We’re taking the liberty to which we’re entitled,” a representative of New Forum expressed what many people PREPARATION AND CONTROL were thinking. The crowds booed and whistled most of the SED The New Forum initiative group decided to organise a major speakers. The demonstrators’ placards made it perfectly clear: demonstration in East Berlin, asking the theatres for support. they wanted more democracy in the GDR. What they no longer They formed a preparatory group that negotiated with the police wanted to see was the SED party in power. and compiled a list of speakers. The actor Wolfgang Holz from the Berliner Ensemble registered the demonstration on 17 STANDING BY FOR DEPLOYMENT October 1989. The SED and its cultural functionaries tried to During the demonstration on 4 November 1989 on Alexander- gain control of the preparations. It granted permission – but platz, the Palace of the Republic was protected. Members of the only with the intent of using the event for its own purposes. paramilitary combat groups were stationed on all floors. They For the government, the greatest risk was if the demonstration were ordered to stand by for deployment but make sure they were deviated from the planned route, and it therefore stationed armed not visible to the demonstrators outside. A year later, one of the security forces to block the way towards the Berlin Wall. men stated in the weekly newspaper of the civil rights movement, die andere: “I stood there all the time as if I had my fists clenched in my pockets. I was still thinking, down there is the counter-

66 revolution WE’RE TAKING THE LIBERTY TO WHICH WE’RE ENTITLED! New Forum

revolution and I’d never have thought there were so many of them... QUOTES FROM SPEECHES ON 4 NOVEMBER 1989 what a lot of crap I thought and went along with back then.” “We have rediscovered language and since then the world hasn’t recognised this sleepy country.” THE FACES LOOKED FREE Jens Reich, New Forum One participant in the Berlin demonstration from Aschersleben wrote in a letter to the organisers of the event dated 7 November “The existing structures … do not allow renewal. That’s why they 1989: “It was a great day, …the faces looked free”. must be destroyed.” Jan-Josef Liefers, actor 4 NOVEMBER IN OTHER PLACES Between 20,000 and 30,000 people took part in the rally with an “There are still enough forces that do not want change, that fear ensuing demonstration in Potsdam on 4 November 1989. a new society and have much to fear.” Meanwhile, 20,000 people took part in a demonstration in the Christoph Hein, writer Thuringian town of Suhl. In Magdeburg, the number was 40,000. “Egon Krenz … deserves … a chance and the measure of trust necessary to exercise his office.” Gregor Gysi, SED

“And this is the most important sentence of these past weeks for me – the thousand-fold call: We are the people!” Christa Wolf, writer

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68 revolution 1 Invitation to Biermann Display of support for Wolf Biermann on a statue of a worker in front of the Church of St. Mary in East Berlin. Bärbel Bohley from New Forum had invited the singer-songwriter Biermann to perform at the demonstration. This caused a great deal of agitation – Wolf Biermann had been expelled from the GDR in 1976 and was regarded as public enemy number one. He was refused entry at the border on 4 November 1989. 2 Democracy Now Demonstrators outside the Palace of the Republic on 4 November 1989. The building housed the People’s Chamber, the GDR parliament. Members of the paramilitary combat groups were stationed on all floors on stand-by for deployment. 3, 4, 5 and 6 Mass demonstrations The biggest demonstration in the history of the GDR: over half a million people gathered on Alexanderplatz in East Berlin on 4 November 1989. They used banners and placards to express their dissatisfaction with the SED regime as well as their demands for human rights. They believed the Wall should be a relic of the past. 6 7 Nationwide protests The people also took to the streets on 4 November in other towns and cities in the GDR. In Magdeburg, 40,000 people participated in a demonstration. In Potsdam (7), there were between 20,000 and 30,000. In the Thuringian town of Suhl, 20,000 demonstrators took part.

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revolution 69 9 NOVEMBER 1989 – THE fall of the wall

The residents of the GDR were fleeing. Tens of thousands left “AT ONCE, IMMEDIATELY!” the country in the first few days of November alone. The situation At an international press conference on the evening of was becoming increasingly untenable for the country’s leadership. 9 November, Günter Schabowski, a member of the SED and its Even in West Germany, there was talk of “stemming the tide of spokesperson, announced the most liberal travel regulations in refugees”. the GDR since the Berlin Wall was built. It caused confusion that only “permanent exit” was mentioned in his statement, in FREEDOM OF TRAVEL TO THE WEST other words, “leaving the Republic”, but the text also contained a Meanwhile, the people of the GDR continued to loudly demand passage on trips abroad to the West, which were now to be a freedom of travel. The government reacted by drafting a new possibility for all. In response to an Italian journalist’s question travel law allowing all East Germans to travel to the West for as to when this would come into force came the sentence that thirty days a year, but the state had the right to refuse permis accelerated the course of history: “At once, as far as I am aware, sion. The population roundly rejected the law, as became clear immediately.” The press conference was broadcast live on East from the Monday demonstration in Leipzig on 6 November 1989. German television. Television channels in the West ran a story an Then, on 9 November, the Politburo hastened to formulate a hour later entitled: “GDR opens border”. More and more East new regulation for travel to the West. In accordance with this, Berliners gathered at the crossing points at the Berlin Wall. The controlled travel with passports and visas was to be permitted, pressure by the masses left the border guards with no alternative: starting the next day. The announcement did not go as planned: shortly after midnight, all the border crossings were open. the people took the spokesperson at his word. East Berliners The Cold War and the division of the world into two opposing “immediately” flooded to the border crossing points and forced blocs had come to an end. Western television channels broadcast the borders to be opened that very night. scenes of this night around the world.

70 revolution . 9 NOVEMBER 1989 – TH E THE fall of the wall

CHECKPOINT CHARLIE During the evening of 9 November 1989, more and more West Berliners gathered at the Allied border crossing, an international symbol of the divided city. “We want in,” they called. “We want out,” came the shouts from the other side in East Berlin. Together, they forced the border guards to open the crossing.

NEW FORUM On the morning of 9 November 1989, the civil rights group New Forum invited journalists to a press conference in the courtyard of the apartment block where founding member Bärbel Bohley lived in Prenzlauer Berg. The state had officially accepted New Forum’s application for authorisation the previous day.

Although this had been demanded for weeks at demonstrations W E G RMANS AR Y, throughout the entire country, the news was drowned out by that of the fall of the Wall. omper, 10 N ovember 1989 alter M omper, W TODA HAPPI E ST P OPL IN TH WORLD

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72 revolution 1 “We’re opening the floodgates now.” A border officer lets the people through. The first border crossing from East to West Berlin was opened shortly before 11.30 p.m. on 9 November 1989 at Bornholmer Straße. The border guards stopped all checks and the barrier was pushed aside. 2 Late escapes East German refugees on the way to West Germany, 8 November 1989. The border to Czechoslovakia had 7 been reopened on 1 November, and tens of thousands of people continued to leave the GDR by this route. 3 “At once, immediately” Historic press conference on 9 November 1989. SED Politburo member Günter Schabowski reading out the new travel regulation. 4 and 5 “We want in” – “We want out” During the evening of 9 November 1989, more and more people gathered

8 at the Checkpoint Charlie border crossing on both sides of the Wall. Together, they forced the border guards to open the crossing: the first East Berliners flooded into the Western part of the city. 6 Dancing on the Wall On 10 November 1989, West Berliners conquered the Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate. East Berliners had WE ARE already joined them for a few hours during the night of 9 November – until the eastern side was blocked off again. 7 The world watching Berlin The ONE international media reported from the Brandenburg Gate live to the world on the fall of the Wall, dreamt of for so long but no longer thought possible. PEOPLE 8 Wall torn down A gap in the Wall: on 10 November 1989 the Wall was broken down from Oderberger Straße in East Berlin through to Bernauer 6 Straße in West Berlin.

revolution 73 THE BATTLE FOR POWER

The Wall was open but the GDR leadership did not surrender its THE PEOPLE ON STRIKE power voluntarily. Consequently, there was no end to the demon In November 1989 the influence of the single ruling party, the strations. It finally came to strikes and prison revolts throughout SED, was still omnipresent – in factories and institutes, in educa- the country. tion, in the army and in the residential areas. The people became increasingly critical of the SED as the force that was responsible FOUNDATION FEVER for the political crisis and the economic plight of the GDR. There Between the months of November 1989 and January 1990, the were demonstrations in protest against old power structures people in the GDR were euphoric. Gradually, they took the liber- simply being restored instead of being replaced by democratic ties that had been denied to them for so long. In many places, structures. Even members of the People’s Police and the National they formed representative interest groups, founded parties and People’s Army were no longer prepared to do the dirty work for citizens’ initiatives to enable them to achieve their goals better. the SED state. At the end of November, even a few thousand staff For example, on 3 December 1989, over a thousand women found- members of the Ministry of State Security (Stasi) demonstrated ed the Independent Women’s Association, which united various on the inner courtyard of the ministry – although this was closed different groups. Representatives were sent to the Central Round to the public. They demanded the resignation of their leaders. Table and participated in various elections in 1990. Around 3,000 members of the People’s Police demonstrated A Green Party was founded in the GDR on 24 November 1989. in Leipzig on 24 January 1990. On 14 February police in other There had been clashes between the previously autonomously cities took to the streets to protest against being abused for political acting environmental groups about the best way of working to purposes in the past. On 30 November 1989, 1,800 prisoners in gether. Those opposed to party structures amalgamated to form the penal institution in Bautzen I went on hunger strike. From 4 a Green League. December onwards, there were strikes in Bautzen II, Karl-Marx-

74 revolution NOW WHAT BELONGS TOGETHER WILL GROW TOGETHER. Willy Brandt, 10 November 1989

Stadt, Stollberg and Plauen prisons. There were more to follow. THE ROUND TABLE AND THE GOVERNMENT The inmates demanded more humane prison conditions and a The GDR government resigned on 7 November 1989. A new review of their sentences in accordance with the rule of law. cabinet was appointed under Prime Minister Hans Modrow ten days later. In this government, too, the majority of ministers were THE SED SAVES ITS SKIN SED. Exactly one month later, the Central Round Table held its The SED leadership’s ignorance and delaying tactics in autumn first meeting, initiated by members of the opposition groups who 1989 caused many party members to become bitter. They expressed wanted to enter into negotiations with the single regime party. their indignation as publicly as possible at a demonstration in One of the first decisions made by the Round Table was to com- front of the headquarters of the Central Committee on 8 November pletely dissolve the Stasi. 1989. By mid-November, all SED regional secretaries and most In mid-December, the government began a new attempt to SED district secretaries were forced to give up their posts, often save the most important instrument of the SED’s power. Now pressured by grassroots party members. two new secret services were to be set up, an intelligence service On 3 December 1989 the entire party leadership resigned. against subversive activities and a foreign intelligence service. Enquiry boards were set up to start investigation proceedings Representatives of the opposition at the Round Table laid against some of the former officeholders for abuse of authority and down an ultimatum and the people stepped up the pressure with corruption. At a special party congress on 8 December, Gregor demonstrations and strikes. Modrow gave up on this venture in Gysi became party leader. The delegates declared themselves January 1990. He offered the opposition parties and citizens’ to be against dissolving the party and founding a new one, thus initiatives the chance to have representatives in the government. managing to save their assets. The party was now called SED-PDS. The abbreviation SED was dropped in February 1990.

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1 Goodbye, SED Dismantling the party emblem: on 23 January 1990 the party In mid-November 1989 the GDR government attempted to save the Stasi under a insignia with the handshake were removed from the building of the SED Central new name. Tell-tale smoke from chimneys revealed that members of the secret Committee, power centre of the GDR up until December 1989. The insignia of police were destroying files everywhere. Evidence of injustices was thus eliminated. the former dictators were destined for the scrapheap of history. 2 to 6 The Stasi Within a few days, demonstrators occupied most Stasi buildings throughout the Must Go The Ministry of State Security (Stasi) was the SED’s most important country. Only the headquarters in Berlin was still able to continue operating until instrument to keep the people under control. With and without cameras, 100,000 mid-January 1990. 2 Beware of the camera In December 1989 demonstrators employees of the political secret police observed the population extensively, stormed the regional Stasi headquarters in several cities. In Dresden the surveillance assisted by a large army of informers. Every critical voice was closely monitored. cameras kept rolling until they were switched off by the occupiers. 3 STASI reinterpreted One of the demands made by the people was for the Stasi to be abolished. Unlike all subordinate offices, the headquarters in East Berlin was able to continue

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operating unhindered up until January 1990. On 15 January demonstrators responded Berlin in January 1990. The committees tracked down hundreds of secret bases, to New Forum’s call to brick up the entrances to the building in a symbolic act. switched off telephone and other bugging devices and secured files. 7 Round Table Thus, the initials STASI acquired a new meaning. 4 Mountains of filesCitizens’ meeting in East Berlin From December 1989 onwards, local round tables were set committees were able to rescue evidence of surveillance and persecution in up throughout the GDR as forums for dialogue between new and old political the Stasi headquarters – as here in Gera – and save it from imminent destruction. powers and as a method of non-violent crisis management. In East Berlin this was 5 Tension in the air Demonstrators and secret police at loggerheads in Leipzig on where problems of the still divided city were debated. 4 December 1989. Despite the fear that the secret police could defend themselves by force of arms, protesters managed to gain access. They formed their own surveillance groups and sealed off the rooms. 6 Files secured The Stasi headquarters in East

revolution 77 Celebration time: On 3 October 1990 around half a million people gathered in front of the Reichstag in the reunited city of Berlin to celebrate the Day of German Unity with flags and fireworks. unity

THE FIRST FREE ELECTIONS IN THE GDR WERE WON BY THE ALLIANCE FOR GERMANY, WHICH PROMISED RAPID REUNIFICATION. TRADITIONAL HIERARCHIES BROKE DOWN. THE EAST GERMANS’ ATTITUDE TO LIFE TRANSFORMED RAPIDLY. THEY WERE CHANG- ING THEIR COUNTRY AND THEY FELT THE EFFECTS OF THIS INTENSELY. NO EXPERIMENTS

From November 1989, the mood on the streets changed. Hopes also opponents of unification in West Germany, who warned against that the GDR could be reformed began to dwindle. More and nationalist German megalomania and freebooting capitalism. more demonstrators were chanting, “We are one people”, instead A clause in the Federal Republic’s Basic Law called on the German of the earlier slogan “We are the people”. At the first free parlia- people “to complete the unity and freedom of Germany in free mentary elections in the GDR in March 1990, the population self-determination”. Initially, rapid reunification was not the aim took a decision in favour of German unification. of West Germany’s policy: in late November 1989, Federal Chan- cellor Helmut Kohl proposed a ten-point plan for a gradual UNIfication – YES OR NO? WHEN AND HOW? convergence process. But the pressure of people taking to the Some of the new civil rights organisations founded in autumn streets urged faster action. 1989 campaigned for reforms within the GDR and for gradually bringing the two German states closer together. They saw demo THE FIRST FREE ELECTIONS IN THE GDR cratisation of the GDR as the precondition for German unifica- In January 1990 GDR Prime Minister Hans Modrow, concerned tion. Others wanted to retain the GDR as an independent state. that the situation would become increasingly unstable, proposed They were afraid of being taken over by the West, and urged that opposition parties and civil rights alliances should partici- a “socialist alternative” to West Germany. In East and West, unifi- pate in government. Elections for the GDR parliament were due cation sceptics were afraid the GDR would be “sold out” and in May, but due to public pressure for action the date was put warned against a revival of right wing nationalist ideology. At the forward to 18 March. same time, an economic and political crisis was looming. More and more people were calling for German unification as a route to democracy and prosperity: “We are one people”. There were

80 Unity 1 and 2 Election support from the West Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl (1) speaking in Dresden, 19 December 1989. In winter 1989 large sections of the GDR population enthusiastically welcomed West German politicians. At the end of 1989 the West German government made further financial aid dependent on the progress of reforms in the GDR. Willy Brandt (2), former West German chancellor and 2 SPD politician, at an SPD meeting in Potsdam on 11 March 1990. In the election campaign the East German parties relied most of all on popular politicians from West Germany. 3 Free elections On 6 May 1990, almost a year after the fraudulent local elections, the first free local elections were held in the GDR. The photo shows a polling station in Pankow, Berlin. Voter turnout was around 80%, similar to the People’s Chamber elections. 4 Unity through 1 3 convergence Sceptics of fast-track unification, such as those in Leipzig on 29 January 1990 shown in the picture, saw social changes in West Germany as equally crucial in creating a united Germany, alongside the democratisation of the GDR. 5 Forty years are enough Demonstration on 10 December 1989 in East Berlin, calling for an end to socialist experiments.

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unity 81 Newly founded political organisations close to the traditional THE SED DICTATORSHIP VOTED OUT West German parties, the SPD, CDU and FDP, had an advantage With an unusually high turnout of over 90%, the result was in the election campaign. The West gave them organisational and clear. The Alliance won just over 50% of the votes, which meant financial support and sent helpers. In early February 1990, the the majority of the population had voted for rapid unification Central Round Table proposed that politicians from West Berlin of the two German states. The former single party, the SED, and West Germany should not be invited as guest speakers in the campaigned under its new name, Party for Democratic Socialism election campaign. The proposal was meant to prevent disadvan- (PDS). It lost its monopoly in government and became the third- taging the contesting parties, and to restrict influence from the strongest party. The East German SPD, despite its declared West; but people ignored it. support for unification, received far fewer votes than the Alliance. The parties and movements that had emerged in autumn 1989 ALLIANCE FOR GERMANY were the losers in the GDR’s first free elections. Several parties and movements with similar goals formed coali- tions to boost their electoral chances. New Forum, the Initiative for Peace and Human Rights, and Democracy Now created the coalition Alliance 90. The liberal parties in the GDR campaigned as the Union of Free Democrats. The CDU, German Social Union (DSU) and Democratic Awakening formed Alliance for Germany, relying on a popular manifesto promising monetary union.

82 unity Dahinter steckt immer ein kluger Kopf. Marianne Birthler, Bundesbeauftragte für die Stasi-Unterlagen www.faz.net BStU-Büro, Berlin BStU-Büro, Scholz & Friends www.faz.net

210x180_Birthler_FrieRev.indd 1 14.04.2009 15:06:35 Uhr ON THE ROAD TO UNIty

After the GDR parliamentary elections there was heated debate price formation and the right to own private property were intro on the various steps towards unification: currency changeover, duced as key elements of a market economy. The interstate treaty social regulation, basic constitutional issues and questions of also included important provisions on labour and social law. property ownership. In July 1990 the Deutschmark was introdu- ced into the GDR, along with the West German economic and THE WRANGLE OVER THE CONSTITUTION social system. In February 1990 the Modrow government tried to There were two possible ways of uniting the GDR and West obtain financial aid from Bonn to stabilise the situation in the Germany into a single state: either through a new common con- GDR. Instead, the West German government proposed a currency stitution or by the GDR entering the Federal Republic. In merger and economic union on 1 July. The reason for this rapid February 1990 nearly 90% of West Germans and around 84% move was the persistent drain of people from the GDR, as well as of East Germans supported the GDR joining the Federal Republic the desperate state of its economy. Faced with a political, social and adopting its Basic Law. Their attitude was confirmed by the and economic crisis in the GDR, around a quarter of a million Alliance for Germany coalition’s victory in the March 1990 East Germans left the country for West Germany in the first six elections. However, civil rights organisations aiming at direct months of 1990. The great majority were young and well educated. popular participation in political processes argued for a new, common constitution to be drafted. Alliance 90/The Greens sub- MONETARY, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL UNION mitted a draft constitution to the People’s Chamber in April, but From 1 July 1990 the deutschmark was the sole currency in the the other parties rejected it. They were worried it would prevent GDR. To avoid economic and social discrimination, the currency rapid unification, and criticised the social welfare proposals as was converted from East German marks to deutschmarks at a financially unviable. In June 1990 the People’s Chamber adopted rate of 1:1 for wages, rents and pensions. Free competition, free ten basic principles at constitutional level, including commitment

84 unity IF THE DEUTSCHMARK COMES, WE’LL STAY. IF IT DOESN’T COME, WE’LL GO TO IT! Banner in Leipzig, 12 February 1990

to democracy, the rule of law and the social market economy – ship. In the end, for property expropriated by the communist and paved the way for unification. government since 1949 the principle of restitution rather than compensation was applied in all but a few cases. THE BATTLE FOR “PUBLIC PROPERTY” In the GDR the single party, the SED, its mass organisations and SED-PDS-ASSETS the state bloc parties piled up large assets. In June 1990 the GDR On 1 June 1990 an independent inspection commission was put parliament set up an “independent commission” to investigate in charge of the assets of five parties and 18 mass organisations these assets, but former party officials managed to secrete away collected up to August 1989. In its final report, it concluded that billions by founding companies, making generous loans to party the SED-PDS had pursued “a cover-up strategy for its assets”. On members, giving donations to party-related institutions and 19 October 1990 police searched the headquarters of the PDS, using their contacts abroad. At the beginning of March, on the the successor to the SED. The PDS was suspected of withholding instigation of the Central Round Table, the GDR government set part of the SED assets from trustee administration. At least 107 up the Institute for Trustee Administration of Public Property million deutschmarks were reported to have been illegally (Treuhand Agency). The full extent of the GDR’s economic transferred abroad. bankruptcy became clear in spring 1990. From June 1990 the Treuhand Agency focused on privatising the state-owned GDR enterprises, over 10,000 in number. By October not even 200 had been sold, for reasons like the need for major restructuring, heavy debt, unresolved ownership issues and rapid collapse of markets. There were heated debates on settling questions of owner-

unity 85 1

1 Equal opportunities Demonstrators in East Berlin on 10 December 1989 demanded his money at the Deutsche Bank branch at Alexanderplatz in East Berlin. (3). Waiting fair distribution of the property accumulated by the SED but the new SED-PDS party for a wonderful new consumer world (4). 5 Draft constitution Article 146 of the West found ways to prevent this. 2, 3 and 4 The deutschmark is here! East Germans on German Basic Law allowed for a new joint constitution to be drawn up in the the night of monetary union, 1 July 1990 (2). The West German deutschmark had event of German unification. A large section of the East German civil rights move- become the sole currency in the GDR. On the eve of 1 July 1990, the day of monetary ment saw this as providing for an equal role for the GDR in the unificationprocess. union, there was a run on the banks. Just after midnight the first customer changed In April 1990 a narrow majority in the GDR parliament rejected a draft along these

86 unity 3 6

2 4 5 7

lines. 6 Derelict areas While West German economic experts publicly opposed rapid Berlin for administering former state-owned property, based in the former House unification due to the much lower productivity level in East Germany, the SED of the Ministries (now Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus) from 1990 to 1994, was heavily leaders tried to hush up the impending national bankruptcy as long as possible. But criticised for various reasons, including organisational problems, slow processes ailing industry, shortages, environmental damage such as in the Ore Mountains and favouring investors from the West. and urban decay such as in the Andreasviertel in Erfurt (6) were evident throughout the GDR (photo from 1990).7 Foot in the door for investors The Treuhand Agency in

unity 87 GERMAN UNIty AND WORLD POLITICS

The international community varied in its reactions to the idea of Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher led the way with numerous German unification. West Germany engaged in talks with its international talks in which recognition of Europe’s borders and alliance partners and European neighbours, and started inter- Germany’s alliance membership played a key role. Soviet head of national negotiations. Finally, Germany gained full sovereignty. state Mikhail Gorbachev abandoned his initial restraint over the Given the German history of Nazism, wars of aggression and following months. In the light of this, Kohl promised him genocide, many countries, particularly Britain, France, Poland financial support for his reform course in the Soviet Union. and Israel, reacted sceptically at first to the idea of German unification. The Germans were not in a position to decide unilaterally TWO PLUS FOUR AGREEMENT on reunification. Firstly, the four Allies – the Soviet Union, the Breakthrough came with the start of the Two Plus Four talks, USA, France and Great Britain – had reserved participation rights discussions involving the four Allies and both German states, in in German policy-making since World War II. Secondly, the GDR which security issues of the neighbouring countries were also and West Germany belonged to different international alliances. discussed. Finally, the negotiating parties signed the Treaty on The USA backed German unification. Preconditions stated by US the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany in Moscow in President George Bush were the integration of united Germany September 1990. This Two Plus Four Agreement stipulated, inter into NATO and the recognition of the borders in Europe. How- alia, that the rights of the Allies would be relinquished and a ever, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was afraid that German state would gain full sovereignty. Germany could use reunification to gain economic and political power and dominate Europe. France, too, was wary of Germany becoming too strong. The Soviet Union also initially rejected unification. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Foreign

88 unity 1 Germany and Europe On 18 November 1989 the heads of state and government of the European Community member countries met in the Élysée Palace in Paris to discuss the situation in the GDR and Eastern Europe. 2 Germany and the Allies 5 May 1990: the first meeting of foreign ministers to discuss the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (Two Plus Four Agreement), l. to r.: 1 2 James A. Baker (USA), Eduard Shevardnadze (Soviet Union), Hans-Dietrich Genscher (Federal Republic of Germany), Roland Dumas (France), Markus Meckel (GDR) and Douglas Hurd (Great Britain). 3 Departure of the Allies I Dismantling the inspection station at Checkpoint Charlie on 22 June 1990 in the presence of leading politicians representing the former Allies. This world-famous border post at the Berlin Wall had been set up in 1961 for Western Allied military personnel and foreign diplomats. 4 Departure of the Allies II When the Two Plus Four Treaty came into force on 3 October 1990, Germany gained full state sovereignty, including the withdrawal of Allied troops. The last Russian divisions left Germany in 1994; the picture shows troops leaving Hillersleben in Saxony-Anhalt on 6 April.

3 4

unity 89 FREE WITHOUT BORDERS

The old rules no longer applied, and the new ones only took hold April 1990, 76% voted for the old name. People in other towns and gradually. In this transitional situation the East Germans’ attitude regions of the GDR also began to rediscover their historical identity. to life transformed rapidly, their hunger for everything on offer In factories and workshops across the GDR, there were arguments mingled with hopes and fears – their country was changing and about the most effective form of employee representation in 1990. they knew it. The democratisation of state and society during the The debate was about whether to renew trade union representa GDR’s last months opened up many opportunities. In autumn 1989 tion along West German lines or introduce works councils, a there was an explosion of civil rights activity in the GDR. People popular idea in many places. Around one million people tried to campaigned for their interests, and set up associations and civil start or expand companies up until the end of 1990. Opportuni- rights groups at grassroots level. People became self-reliant, estab- ties were good for people whose previously confiscated business lished representative interest groups and deposed the remaining was handed back by restitution, or who had been able to keep SED-PDS officials. Some activists campaigned for the environ- their workshop in private ownership over the decades in the GDR. ment and the conservation of their cities; others started newspapers or championed education and employee rights. They often re- FREEDOM OF PRESS ceived spontaneous, unbureaucratic help from West Germany, and Under pressure from the grassroots movements, the SED govern- discovered many different facets of the previously forbidden West. ment had to abolish censorship on 1 December 1989. Press li- cences were now issued without restrictions. New publishing ACTION GROUPS AND WORKS COUNCILS houses and newspapers emerged, some from underground publi- Karl-Marx-Stadt was to revert back to its former name of Chemnitz. cations in the GDR. Around 100 newspapers were established up to An action group was set up for this purpose in late November 1989, reunification. From his living room in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg and collected 43,000 signatures as the basis for a referendum. In district, Christoph Links launched one of the first new private pub-

90 Unity lishing houses in the GDR in December 1989. Ch. Links Verlag the bridge between Kreuzberg (West Berlin) and Friedrichshain officially became a private limited company on 5 January 1990. (East Berlin) for traffic on 9 November 1994, the 5th anniversary of the fall of the Wall. By September 2001 passengers were able BERLIN UNDERGOES A TRANSFORMATION to use the entire S-Bahn ring again. The rapid changes in the daily life of East Germans were particu larly striking in Berlin as the Wall vanished and the divided city ALTERNATIVE CULTURAL SCENE gradually started growing together again. When the Brandenburg The cultural system in the GDR was state-controlled. In 1989 arts Gate was opened on 22 December 1989, the Berlin emblem enthusiasts from the alternative scene in Prenzlauer Berg took ad- became a symbol of reunification. East and West Germans cele- vantage of the new freedom to occupy rooms in an apartment brated New Year’s Eve 1989/90 here together. The next morning, house. On New Year’s Eve they opened the private gallery ACUD. the first all-Berlin New Year’s run went through the Brandenburg In January 1990 a building in Rosenthaler Straße in Berlin-Mitte Gate. On 14 June 1990 Berliners celebrated the official start of was squatted and became a centre of the fringe arts scene under demolition of the Wall at the corner of Ackerstraße and Bernauer the name “Eimer” (“Bucket”). On 4 March 1990 GDR artists from Straße between Wedding and Prenzlauer Berg. People in the the alternative scene occupied the Palace of the Republic, also Bernauer Straße area were soon strolling on the former Berlin known as the People’s House in East Berlin, where only state- Wall no-man’s-land strip. The inner-city parts of the wall had approved artists had been allowed to perform previously. In largely been dismantled by early November 1990. Construction of February 1990 artists took over a ruin in Oranienburger Straße the wall in 1961 had severed Berlin’s inner city transport routes and, with the support of the Central Round Table, they were able and it took years for the transport network to be fully restored. to prevent the demolition of the former department store. The One significant event was the opening of the Oberbaumbrücke, “Tacheles” developed into a lively alternative cultural centre.

unity 91 1

92 unity 1 Wall peckers On 10 November 1989, the day after the border was opened, people started tearing down the Berlin Wall on their own. They hammered on the concrete like woodpeckers and knocked pieces out of the wall, which was soon riddled with holes. The sound of hammers and chisels was audible from a distance. The pieces became popular souvenirs; supposedly original pieces of the wall are still being sold to this day. 2 Test the West Many East Germans took the advertisement for “West” cigarettes literally and headed off to the West. Photo dated 26 September 1990. 3 Future consumers West German firms distributed free goods to East German citizens, as can be seen in the photo taken in Berlin, at the former checkpoint at Heinrich- Heine-Straße, November 1989. 4 Mixed feelings of hope and fear The feelings of people in the GDR at this time were not only marked by a curious hunger for everything. Many were worried about their jobs. Unemployment rose to nearly 200,000 up until summer 1990. Photo of the employment office in Altenburg, August 1990. 5 Change The gate is open, change can come: graffiti on the wall calls for or promises “Change”, Berlin 1990.

unity 93 1 Before starting over Official demolition began at Potsdamer Platz in November 1989, and continued from 20 February 1990 between the Brandenburg Gate and the border post at Checkpoint Charlie. The inner-city parts of the wall had largely been dismantled by early November 1990. On Potsdamer Platz, once a busy junction in Berlin that had been a wasteland for years with the wall, barbed wire and the inner border strip and has now re-emerged as a modern district, the markers of deterrence had almost gone by 7 July 1990. The State Library can be seen towards the top of the photo in the centre, and the Philharmonic Hall on the right-hand side. 2 Squatting actions Young people from East and West squatted empty houses to protest against vacant property and urban 1 decay in East Germany‘s larger cities. A street party was held in Mainzer Straße in East Berlin in September 1990. The squatters were evicted from the street two months later, provoking violent incidents over several days. 3 Sale “Yesterday” up for auction. GDR farewell party in Babylon cinema, East Berlin, on 30 June 1990, the day before monetary union. 4 Future nature park View of the former border zone in 4 the Schaalsee area in Mecklenburg, spring 1990. With the help of committed environmentalists and representatives from the last GDR government, the national parks programme was adopted into the Unification Treaty. 5 New freedom Unimaginable a few months previously – an improvised snack bar close to the border buildings at the former transit checkpoint Helmstedt/ 2 3 5 Marienborn, August 1990.

94 unity InformIert statt blamIert. Alles, was Sie wissen müssen. Alle 20 Minuten.

IR_AZ_GANS_Friedliche-Revolution_210x180_RZ.indd 1 15.04.2009 14:13:58 Uhr THE COMPLETION OF UNIty

On 3 October 1990 the people in the East and West of Germany in the Unification Treaty because West Germany wanted to keep celebrated the Day of German Unity. The first parliamentary the files closed. After fighting against this in impassioned elections for the whole of Germany were held at the beginning of protests which enjoyed widespread public support, in autumn December. The run-up to reunification had been a lengthy 1990, East German civil rights activists achieved the opening of process. the files kept by the dreaded secret police. The Stasi Files Law (StUG), which entered into force at the beginning of 1992, THE FILES ARE OURS / TO EACH HIS FILE provided an important basis for understanding how the SED The Ministry of State Security (Stasi), like all political and state dictatorship operated and allowed people to inspect their files in institutions and organisations in the GDR, was not publicly the office now run by Marianne Birthler, Federal Commissioner accountable. The Stasi kept files on four million East Germans for the files of the State Security Service of the former German and two million West Germans – which offered a unique Democratic Republic or Federal Commissioner for Stasi Files opportunity for a glimpse behind the scenes of the system, at (BStU). least retrospectively. From spring 1990 fresh reports of Stasi crimes appeared continually in the media. Time and again, UNIFICATION TREATY AND DAY OF GERMAN UNITY people in responsible positions were exposed as informers. A It took just two months to negotiate the 45 articles, three specially-convened GDR government commission and a People’s appendices and one memorandum that make up the comprehen- Chamber committee drafted a law on handling the Stasi files, sive treaty on German unification agreed between the two German stipulating that the files should not be destroyed and everybody states. The first session of talks was held on 6 July 1990. Debates affected by Stasi surveillance should have access to them. After were fierce, and sometimes the talks seemed at risk of collapsing. heated debate the law was passed in August, but was not included Meanwhile, discussions were going on within West Germany as

96 Unity WE WANTED JUSTICE AND WE GOT THE RULE OF LAW. Bärbel Bohley, civil rights activist, 1991

well. On 23 August the majority of members of the People’s in the first all-German parliamentary election on 2 December Chamber voted for the GDR to join the Federal Republic and 1990. The civil rights organisations succeeded in winning seats adopt its Basic Law. On 31 August the Unification Treaty was in all the East German Länder assemblies and in the national signed. Thus, it was decided to transfer the West German legal parliament. The PDS (the successor to the old single state party, system as a whole to the territory of the former GDR. Both the SED) also won seats throughout the country. The first German parliaments passed the Unification Treaty on 20 Septem- all-German parliament met in the Reichstag in Berlin on 20 ber. The Day of German Unity was set for 3 October 1990. In December. The elected members of the GDR parliament took many places public celebrations already began the day before. their seats in the Federal Parliament in Bonn on 4 October, only On the evening of 3 October around half a million people a day after the celebrations for German Unity. The elections in and leading politicians gathered in front of the Reichstag in December finally gave full legitimacy to them and their fellow the reunited city of Berlin for a big celebration with fireworks. parliamentarians from West Germany. At the same time as the general election, Berlin held its first citywide elections for its ELECTIONS IN AUTUMN 1990 House of Representatives since 1946. The reconstruction of the five Länder (federal states) on GDR territory was an important step towards German unity. In 1952 the old states had been replaced by a larger number of adminis trative districts. In July 1990 the GDR parliament passed the Establishment of Länder Act. Elections were held in the five new Länder on 14 October. The CDU emerged as the strongest party in four of the new states. The CDU also won the majority of votes

unity 97 1

2 3

4 5

98 unity 1 Electoral freedom Citizens from former East Germany voted in an all- German general election for the first time on 2 December 1990. 2 Occupying the archive A vigil and demonstrations outside the Stasi file archive in Berlin- Lichtenberg on 5 September 1990 drew attention to the occupiers. Both German governments were planning to stipulate in the Unification Treaty that the Stasi files would be kept closed. Through the occupation and the wide support of the population, East Germans secured permanent opening up of access to the Stasi records. 3 Inspecting the files The law on the Stasi files was passed in November 1991. From January 1992 people spied on by the GDR secret police could view their files for the first time: (l. to r.) Eva-Maria Hagen, Pamela Biermann, Katja Havemann, Jürgen Fuchs, Wolf Biermann. 4 Street party to celebrate German Unity Crowds on the street Unter den Linden on 3 October 1990. The official celebrations for the Day of German Unity were held in Berlin. Nationwide street parties had already begun on 2 October. 5 Historic document The Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic Covering the Establishment of German Unity (Unification Treaty), 31 August 1990. 6 Germany, united fatherland The German flag was ceremonially raised before the constituent session of the German parliament in the Reichstag in Berlin, 20 December 1990. It was the first meeting of a parliament freely elected in the whole of Germany since the Nazis took power in 1933.

unity 99 TIMELINE OF THE PEACEFUL REVOLUTION

West Germany’s foreign minister Hungary officially opens its Hans-Dietrich Genscher informs the Hungary begins dismant- western border for GDR citizens, East German refugees in the Prague ling the fortifications risking a breach in its diplomatic embassy that they will be allowed to 30 September 1989 30 September 2 May 1989 on the border to Austria. relations with East Berlin. 1989 September 11 leave the GDR.

Local elections in the GDR. Opposition groups prove that

7 May 1989 7 May 1989 the results have been falsi- New Forum’s initial call-out becomes 40th anniversary of the fied. From this point onwards, a signal for change. Further grassroots GDR. Several thousand people demonstrate against the movements follow. people, mainly young,

election rigging in East Berlin 7 October 1989 demonstrate in Berlin on the seventh day of every outside the Palace of the 9/10 September 1989 September 9/10 subsequent month. Republic. As in Berlin, The GDR government bans travel protests in numerous to Czechoslovakia without passports East German towns and visas, to stem the mass exodus. and cities are broken

Special trains transport people from 3 October 1989 up by force on this and First Monday Demonstration in Leipzig. 1,200 the Prague and Warsaw embassies to the following day. people gather outside St. Nicholas’ Church. the West, through the GDR. There Their demands include freedom of travel and are violent clashes with police along democracy. the railway line, including in Dresden. 4 September 1989 4 September

100 timeline The single ruling SED party calls for people to stay in the GDR, offering a “dialogue” 300,000 people take part in the

concerning the country’s 30 October 1989 Leipzig Monday Demonstration.

further development. October 1989 11 The government of the GDR, the Council of Mini- The number of people at the sters under the leadership Monday Demonstration in of Willi Stoph, collectively

Leipzig doubles. The securi- 1989 7 November resigns.

16 October 1989 16 ty forces do not intervene.

Despite fear of military repression of the Monday Demonstration, Erich Honecker is forced The largest demonstration

70,000 people take to 9 October 1989 to resign after 18 years in the history of the GDR the streets in Leipzig. in office. Egon Krenz is takes place in Berlin. The police, military and made the new secretary 18 October 1989 18 civilian forces do not general of the SED. 1989 4 November intervene. He uses the term “turn around” for the first time in his televised speech. The Central Committee Politburo, the highest body in the GDR, resigns. West German chancellor Helmut Kohl links economic and financial aid for the GDR to three conditions: Krenz is also elected chairman of the State the opposition must be legalised, free elections 1989 8 November Council and the National Defence Council. must take place, and the SED must renounce 12,000 people demonstrate against his appoint- its claim to sole authority. ment in Berlin that evening. 24 October 1989

timeline 101 The Wall falls, prompted by a vague announcement of new travel West German chancellor Kohl and Prime regulations at a press conference. Minister Modrow meet in Dresden for Tens of thousands of East Berliners negotiations on a union by treaty. Crowds rush to the checkpoints and force at a CDU rally in Dresden greet Kohl with 9 November 1989 9 November the border open. December 1989 19/20 rapturous cheers and applause. Demonstrators occupy Stasi buildings around the

4/5 December 1989 country, securing the files.

Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl presents The offices issuing a 10-point plan for passes for the GDR in gradual convergence of West Berlin close for

28 November 1989 28 November the two German states. good. West Germans no

23 December 1989 longer need a visa or have to change a certain The Central Round Table convenes amount of money to for its first meeting and suggests enter the East. Hans Modrow becomes 6 May 1990 as the date of the first the new prime minister free People’s Chamber elections. of the GDR. He rejects 7 December 1989 The Wall is opened at Brandenburg reunification of the Gate. The first concrete section is re-

17 November 1989 November 17 two German states and moved from its supports at 0.30 a.m. proposes a wide-reaching

“union by treaty”. 22 December 1989

102 timeline At its 16th and final meeting, the Central Round Table once again rejects the GDR joining the Federal A demonstration by several thousand Republic through a simple adoption Berliners outside the Stasi headquarters of the West German Basic Law. They in Berlin-Lichtenberg ends with an occu- suggest that the unification process pation. The last bastion of the SED’s should be structured so that citizens

power is toppled. 1990 January 15 of both states retain their right to self-determination and both states The Unification Treaty is 31 August 1990

12 March 1990 March 12 remain equal. signed in East Berlin.

The currency union is complete: the West

On his return from Moscow, Prime 1990 1 July German deutschmark Minister Modrow presents his ideas becomes the sole on German unification under the title currency in the GDR. First Bundestag elec-

“Germany, United Fatherland”. In a 1990 1 February tion and first election four-stage plan, the two German states for the Berlin par- are to be merged in the form of a liament in reunified “German Federation”. 2 December 1990 Germany. The “Alliance for Germany” wins the People’s Chamber elections with just under 50

18 March 1990 March 18 percent of votes.

The West German chancellor and foreign minister Germany celebrates the visit Moscow. President Gorbachev declares that “Day of German Unity”. the Soviet Union will accept the Germans’ decision By occupying the Stasi files to live in a single state. archive, civil rights activists 3 October 1990 10 February 1990 February 10 force the files to be opened. Sep/Oct 1990

The open-air exhibition by the Robert Havemann Society and HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT LOCATION Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH on Alexanderplatz, accompanied The site in the centre of Berlin has been chosen with care. by this magazine, is one of the highlights of the theme year Prompted by the discovery of electoral fraud at the local celebrating “20 Years since the Fall of the Wall”. It pays tribute elections on 7 May 1989, this was the place where the demon to the revolutionary events of 1989/90 in Berlin and East strations began, expanding into a mass movement within a very Germany, drawing a convincing picture of the only successful short period of time. On 7 October 1989, the 40th anniversary and at the same time peaceful revolution in German history. of the GDR, some 7,000 East Berliners joined together on Alexanderplatz to protest for reforms based on the Soviet EXHIBITION AND GUIDED TOURS model. Then on 4 November, the largest rally since the end of For six months, the most important moments of this decisive World War II took place on the square. Hundreds of thousands time will be documented here in a space of over 1,000 square heeded the call of artists and civil rights activists, demonstra- metres – using fascinating pictures and texts along with very ting for freedom, the rule of law and democracy. moving film and sound documents. The exhibition consists of The impressive photos of Alexanderplatz with a sea of radial walls with easily readable texts, accompanied by interac- hand-made banners and placards inspired the design of the tive media stations and original artefacts. The broad subject is exhibition on the square, emphasising the historic significance structured into three sections of Awakening, Revolution and of the location for the first time. Visible from a great distance, Unity, making orientation easy. In addition, a varied pro- shimmering stainless steel banners fly high above visitors’ gramme of guided tours offers an opportunity to come into heads, printed with intimated letters and fractions of words that personal contact with the people behind the exhibition itself. can be read together as one of the best known slogans of the Peaceful Revolution: “We are the people!”

106 AFTERWORD theme year – 20 years since the fall of the wall All the activities in the celebration year are listed in a compre- During this theme year “20 Years since the Fall of the Wall”, a hensive events calendar, available online along with up-to-date wide variety of projects highlight and commemorate the con- information on the individual projects: www.fallofthewall09.com sequences of the events documented in the exhibition, particularly the fall of the Wall, the end of the Cold War and the fundamental changes in Berlin, in Germany and in Europe. For example, publicity focuses on various locations that have changed particularly drastically over the past 20 years. A red helium arrow visible for miles marks each of these sites around Berlin for one weekend. An info-box travels to each of the sites, where visitors can book special tours; small events and discussion panels are also taking place. The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall will be celebrated with a major event at Brandenburg Gate. School students, apprentices and other young people are painting 1,000 giant dominos in preparation, which they will set up along the site of the former Wall between Potsdamer Platz and the Reichs- tag. On 9 November, this domino chain will be toppled in the presence of prominent international guests, as a symbolic act – wolf kühnelt “history with a domino effect”. Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH

AFTERWORD 107 PHOTO CREDITS

Cover [M] Archiv Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung/ photo 6: Bundesbeauftragte für die Stasi-Unterlagen, Bestand Klaus Mehner (89_1104_POL_Demo_27) photo 7: Der Spiegel, photo 8: Picture Alliance/epd/Bernd Bohm Page 10 Ullstein Bild/Jung Page 35 photo 1: AP Photo, photo 2: Ullstein Bild/Poly-Press, Page 11 Bundesregierung/Klaus Lehnartz photo 3: Karl-Heinz Schönfeld, photo 4 and 5: Picture Alliance/ Page 14 AKG-Images/AP dpa/epa/AFP Page 17 photo 1: Picture Alliance/dpa/DB, Page 36 photo 1: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft/Hans-Jürgen photo 2: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft, photo 3: Picture Röder, photo 2 and 3: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft Alliance/dpa/AFP, photo 4: Picture Alliance/Keystone/STR Page 38 Ullstein Bild/Bildarchiv Page 20/21 photo 1: Dirk Eisermann, photo 2: Robert-Havemann- Page 42/43 photo 1: AP-Photo/Kronen Zeitung/Gino Molin, Gesellschaft/Bernd Albrecht, photo 3, 5 and 7: Robert-Havemann- photo 2: Picture Alliance/dpa/CTK, photo 3: Picture Alliance/ Gesellschaft, photo 4: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft/Johannes dpa/Kemmether, photo 4: Dirk Eisermann, photo 5: Picture Beleites, photo 6: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft/Plakatsammlung Alliance/ZB/CTK, photo 6: Bundesbeauftragte für die Stasi- Page 22 photo 1: Joerg Knoefel, photo 2: Ullstein Bild/Schneider, Unterlagen photo 3: Christina Glanz Page 45 photo 1: Henning Wagenbreth, photo 2: Robert-Havemann- Page 25 photo 1: Harald Hauswald/OSTKREUZ, Gesellschaft/Hanno Schmidt, photo 3: Archiv Bundesstiftung photo 2: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft/Johanna Guschlbauer, Aufarbeitung/Bestand Klaus Mehner (89_1024_POL_Demo_08), photo 3: Privat-archiv Christian Sachse photo 4: Landesarchiv Berlin/Ingeborg Lommatzsch Page 28/29 photo 1: Harald Hauswald/OSTKREUZ, photo 2 and 9: Page 46 photo 1: Harald Hauswald/OSTKREUZ, photo 2: Robert- Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft, photo 3: Robert-Havemann- Havemann-Gesellschaft/Jürgen Nagel, photo 3: Andreas Schoelzel Gesellschaft/Peter Rölle, photo 4: Picture Alliance/dpa, Page 49 photo 1: AP Photo/Helmut Lohmann, photo 2 and 3: photo 5: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft/Ralph Riet, photo 6: Rigo Pohl Sabine Sauer, photo 7: Ullstein Bild/AP, photo 8: Robert-Have- Page 52/53 photo 1: Bundesarchiv/183-1989-1007-402/ mann-Gesellschaft/Olaf Weißbach Klaus Franke, photo 2: Ullstein Bild/Bildarchiv, photo 3: Page 32/33 photo 1: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft/Siegbert Bundesbeauftragte für die Stasi-Unterlagen, photo 4: Schefke, photo 2: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft/Bernhard Andreas Schoelzel, photo 5: Harald Hauswald/OSTKREUZ, Freutel, photo 3: Ullstein Bild/dpa, photo 4: Robert-Havemann- photo 6 and 7: Hans-Peter Stiebing Gesellschaft, photo 5: AP-Photo/M. Wienhoefer, Page 54 photo 1: Picture Alliance/dpa/Lehtikuva Oy,

108 photo credits photo 2: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft, photo 3: Picture Page 78 Bundesregierung/Engelbert Reineke Alliance/epd/Bernd Bohm Page 81 photo 1: Picture Alliance/Sven Simon, photo 2 Page 58/59 photo 1 and 2: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft, and 5: Hans-Peter Stiebing, photo 3: Picture Alliance/dpa/ photo 3: Museum in der „Runden Ecke“/Leipzig/Heinz Löster, Wolfgang Eilmes, photo 4: Gerhard Gäbler photo 4 and 5: Gerhard Gäbler, photo 6: AP Photo/Stringer Page 86/87 photo 1: Hans-Peter Stiebing, photo 2: Ullstein Page 61 photo 1 and 2: Picture Alliance/dpa/Wolfgang Kumm, Bild/Jansson, photo 3: Schicker Fotodesign, photo 4 and 6: photo 3: Bundesarchiv/183-1989-1029-015/Rainer Mittelstädt, Bundesregierung/Klaus Lehnartz, photo 5: Robert-Havemann- photo 4: Der Spiegel Gesellschaft, photo 7: Picture Alliance/ZB/Jan Bauer Page 62 photo 1: Picture Alliance/dpa/Roland Holschneider, Page 89 photo 1: Picture Alliance/dpa/AFP, photo 2: photo 2: Archiv Deutsches Theater Berlin/Gisela Harich, photo 3: Bundesregierung/Engelbert Reineke, photo 3: Bundesregierung/ Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft, photo 4: Ullstein Bild/Bildarchiv Klaus Lehnartz, photo 4: Picture Alliance/ZB/Peter Förster Page 68/69 photo 1 and 6: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft/ Page 92/93 photo 1: Bundesregierung/Uwe Rau, photo 2: Andreas Kämper, photo 2: Archiv Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung/ Corbis/Peter Turnley, photo 3: Hans-Peter Stiebing, photo 4: Bestand Klaus Mehner (89_1104_POL_Demo_43), Gerhard Gäbler, photo 5: Maro/Umbruch Bildarchiv/Berlin photo 3 and 4: Landesarchiv Berlin/Klaus Lehnartz, photo 5: Page 94 photo 1: Picture Alliance/dpa/Peter Kneffel, photo 2: Dirk Lehnartz/INC-Verlag/Photonet, photo 7: Bernd Blumrich Umbruch Bildarchiv/Berlin, photo 3: Schicker Fotodesign, Page 72/73 photo 1 and 5: Andreas Schoelzel, photo 2: Ullstein photo 4: Lebrecht Jeschke, photo 5: Bundesregierung/ Bild/Werek, photo 3: Bundesarchiv/183-1989-1109-030/Thomas Engelbert Reineke Lehmann, photo 4: AP-Photo/Lutz Schmidt, photo 6: AP-Photo/ Page 98/99 photo 1: Bundesregierung/Harald Kirschner, Thomas Kienzle, photo 7: Hans-Peter Stiebing, photo 8: Corbis/ photo 2: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft/Christian Schulz, Regis Bossu/Sygma photo 3: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft/Peter Wensierski, Page 76/77 photo 1: Bundesarchiv/183-1990-0123-027/Klaus Oberst, photo 4: Picture Alliance/dpa/Jörg Schmitt, photo 5: Bundes- photo 2: Picture Alliance/ZB/Ulrich Hässler, photo 3: Robert- regierung/Engelbert Reineke, photo 6: Picture Alliance/dpa/ Havemann-Gesellschaft/Harry Hauschild, photo 4: Robert-Have- Heinz Wieseler mann-Gesellschaft/Barbara Timm, photo 5: Ullstein Bild/Weber, Verso AP-Photo/Thomas Kinezle; Robert-Havemann- photo 6: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft/Andreas Klug, Gesellschaft/Harry Hauschild; Dirk Lehnartz/INC-Verlag/ photo 7: Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft/Waltraud Schönholz Photonet

photo credits 109 MASTHEAD

© 2009 by Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH Conception and Editorial Implementation Klosterstraße 68 on the basis of the original exhibition texts D-10179 Berlin Ortrun Egelkraut Managing Director Moritz van Dülmen Art Direction and Cover Design Published by Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH Georg von Wilcken As part of the theme year “20 Years since the Fall of the Wall” accompanying the open-air exhibition “Peaceful Revolution Design 1989/90” on Alexanderplatz, Berlin, funded by the Claudia Wagner German Lottery Foundation Berlin. Graphic Coordination Ines Ebel Cover price € 5 English Editing and Typesetting Antonia Kausch

Printing MEDIALIS Offsetdruck GmbH, Berlin

kulturprojekte-berlin.de fallofthewall09.com

110 masthead Open-Air Exhibition “Peaceful Revolution 1989/90” Exhibition Texts on Alexanderplatz, Berlin Tina Krone, Doris Müller-Toovey, Andreas Pausch, A project by the Robert Havemann Society and Christian Sachse, Tom Sello and Stefanie Wahl Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH, funded by the German Lottery Foundation Berlin and the Federal Government Commissioner English Translation for Culture and the Media, on the basis of a resolution passed Katy Derbyshire, Karen Margolis and Linda Turner by the German Parliament. Photo Research Academic Supervisor Christoph Ochs Dr. Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk Overall Exhibition Planning Academic advisory board Neumann Gusenburger Landschaftsarchitekten Prof. Dr. habil. Rainer Eckert, Prof. Dipl.-Des. Gisela Grosse, Dr. Anna Kaminsky, Dr. Ehrhart Neubert, Dr. Maria Nooke, Scenography Dr. Jens Schöne, Uwe Schwabe, Dr. Thomas Vilimek Prof. Peter Sykora

Pavilion Project Management Baumgart Becker Architekten Tom Sello

Exhibition Graphics eckedesign Berlin havemann-gesellschaft.de revolution89.de

masthead 111 „Spannend, lehrreich, großartig! Ein Jugendbuch über deutsche Nachkriegsgeschichte, das auch Erwachsene begeistern wird.“ GODEHARD UHLEMANN,RHEINISCHE POST 73-55228-3 8-3-4 SBN 97 I Eine umfassende Dokumentation der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland von der Gründung bis zur aktuellen Gegenwart von Hermann Vinke. Mit zahlreichen Biograﬁen und Abbildungen.

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