WEBVTT 00:00:05.099 --> 00:00:18.320 align:middle line:84% How did you feel during the time of the democratic change in 1989, how did it feels like for you when the border came up? 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:32.079 align:middle line:84% Of course that was not easy, we were under strict control in the border area. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:39.619 align:middle line:84% In the end, there were checks on entries and exits from the border area with proof of identity card 00:00:39.619 --> 00:00:45.179 align:middle line:84% anyone who did not live in the village had to have a pass. 00:00:45.179 --> 00:00:50.840 align:middle line:84% It was not easy, which position we should get. 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:55.420 align:middle line:84% Of course, where then came the spirit of optimism, 00:00:55.420 --> 00:00:59.920 align:middle line:84% where then the GDR got a new government, 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:02.719 align:middle line:84% where Erich Honecker was then discontinued, 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:06.340 align:middle line:84% there was also a bit of movement in our population. 00:01:06.340 --> 00:01:14.079 align:middle line:84% It was already discussed one or the other, what one had not dared to do before 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:26.599 align:middle line:84% it was already much supervised, because police and state security were always there 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:34.379 align:middle line:84% It was a dictatorship and not a democracy 00:01:34.379 --> 00:01:45.420 align:middle line:84% Until it came to the fall of the wall, it had still taken a bit 00:01:45.420 --> 00:01:56.700 align:middle line:84% That evening, when it was announced on TV, I could not believe it 00:01:56.700 --> 00:01:59.760 align:middle line:84% I also went to work the next morning 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:03.780 align:middle line:84% Some did not drive to work and left immediately 00:02:03.780 --> 00:02:06.980 align:middle line:84% They then looked at the media 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:18.460 align:middle line:84% Then I also thought: "Who knows, who knows - if that will not be tipped again" 00:02:18.460 --> 00:02:21.659 align:middle line:84% everyone knew that 00:02:21.659 --> 00:02:25.680 align:middle line:84% In the backland (Mecklenburg) it might have been a little different 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:32.080 align:middle line:84% in Mecklenburg they may have known that there is a border, but how it all works, no one knew 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:38.620 align:middle line:84% that was not allowed to be photographed and passed on 00:02:38.620 --> 00:02:42.099 align:middle line:84% And now a word about the Stasi, perhaps? 00:02:42.099 --> 00:02:50.039 align:middle line:84% The Stasi was present - first and foremost it was the informal staff 00:02:50.039 --> 00:02:55.599 align:middle line:84% who were present in the factories and villages 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:04.780 align:middle line:84% and it was sometimes known who was there, but not one hundred percent. 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:10.620 align:middle line:84% No one said that they were listening 00:03:10.620 --> 00:03:23.979 align:middle line:84% That's why it was also considered in conversations, with whom you spoke and what you said 00:03:23.979 --> 00:03:39.419 align:middle line:84% What do you think was the biggest change for your region and people? 00:03:39.419 --> 00:03:58.020 align:middle line:84% The first major event was the new elections 00:03:58.020 --> 00:04:07.919 align:middle line:84% There were also people who wanted to continue working, who were previously in management positions 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:15.620 align:middle line:84% who obviously did not want to give up their posts, who wants that? 00:04:15.620 --> 00:04:21.899 align:middle line:84% Then there were problems, sometimes you had to prevail 00:04:21.899 --> 00:04:26.740 align:middle line:84% At the time, I had also applied myself in the local election 00:04:26.740 --> 00:04:33.300 align:middle line:84% and then I was elected to the new council 00:04:33.300 --> 00:04:42.860 align:middle line:84% Before that, I had never been in a council job during the GDR era 00:04:42.860 --> 00:04:50.699 align:middle line:84% and first of all I had to get some input and then I drove to Lüneburg to visit my cousin 00:04:50.699 --> 00:04:58.959 align:middle line:84% who worked for the city and got information there brought about democracy 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:09.079 align:middle line:84% For democracy had to be pushed once and that was not easy 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:31.600 align:middle line:84% That was a challenge for me, which I liked to do and I think that has worked very well in retrospect 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:37.579 align:middle line:84% We can all be happy that a reunion has come 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:40.720 align:middle line:84% It all benefited 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:45.560 align:middle line:84% Some do not want to believe it, but it is true 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:54.680 align:middle line:84% There has been a lot of investment, but of course people have their own problems 00:05:54.680 --> 00:06:01.379 align:middle line:84% and many have become unemployed for a long time 00:06:01.379 --> 00:06:06.939 align:middle line:84% Especially in the urban centers, there was a high level of unemployment 00:06:06.939 --> 00:06:10.079 align:middle line:84% and this is of course a huge turning point 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:13.339 align:middle line:84% Many couldn’t cope with it 00:06:13.339 --> 00:06:16.220 align:middle line:84% They never experienced such a thing before 00:06:16.220 --> 00:06:20.480 align:middle line:84% If we take a look again in 1989 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:35.459 align:middle line:84% the turn of the GDR had the consequence that many other Eastern European countries had a democratic turnaround 00:06:35.459 --> 00:06:47.139 align:middle line:84% whether they were now Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, which belong now also to the European Union 00:06:47.139 --> 00:06:56.259 align:middle line:84% how would you rate this growth, this change from your point of view? 00:06:56.259 --> 00:07:06.660 align:middle line:84% Is it more positive or are there more fears still there? 00:07:06.660 --> 00:07:18.360 align:middle line:84% The affiliation of Poland, Hungary and the rest of the Eastern Bloc countries to the European Union 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:29.899 align:middle line:84% is, in my view, not a disadvantage - on the contrary - 00:07:29.899 --> 00:07:36.319 align:middle line:84% we are Europe and we have been without war for 70 years now - and that is something unique 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:42.300 align:middle line:84% in Central Europe History has never existed before 00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:51.860 align:middle line:84% and of course that is a stability when all the countries of Europe are members of an association 00:07:51.860 --> 00:07:56.120 align:middle line:84% and as such one can only regard that as positive 00:07:56.120 --> 00:08:02.839 align:middle line:84% and through my work in Hamburg I have really realized 00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:09.379 align:middle line:84% how liberal one is can and should deal with all people 00:08:09.379 --> 00:08:20.120 align:middle line:84% It is only positive if we think European and Germany is in Europe 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:25.120 align:middle line:84% and we should deal well with our neighbors