WEBVTT 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:09.119 align:middle line:84% Our first question is: How has the democratic change influenced or shaped your life? 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:23.660 align:middle line:84% Especially from today's perspective, I can say that it was a pretty clear change. 00:00:23.660 --> 00:00:36.659 align:middle line:84% The life for children or young people in the GDR was pre-structured and pre-planned and with the turnaround everything was discarded. 00:00:36.659 --> 00:00:43.820 align:middle line:84% This was a very significant chapter for parents and children. 00:00:43.820 --> 00:00:49.079 align:middle line:84% Has anything changed for your family or your outlook on life in general? 00:00:49.079 --> 00:01:00.560 align:middle line:84% For our family it was a very stark break in life. Many families of the DDR were very large, there were many children. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:07.659 align:middle line:84% I was the eldest child at the age of 10, my sister was 4 years younger. Actually, my parents wanted to have many more children. 00:01:07.659 --> 00:01:17.319 align:middle line:84% This did not happen because of the turnaround, because the economic conditions were not good for having children. 00:01:17.319 --> 00:01:25.260 align:middle line:84% Family life was very intense at that time because there was barely television and people did not go on holiday abroad. 00:01:25.260 --> 00:01:32.519 align:middle line:84% Instead they visited family on vacation or on weekends - they got close to the majority of their relatives. 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:41.379 align:middle line:84% That was very different after the turnaround. You would traveled anywhere - many moved to work in the West or abroad. 00:01:41.379 --> 00:01:50.739 align:middle line:84% The life of the extended family had then limited itself to the small nuclear family, so with the people with whom one lived together in one place. 00:01:50.739 --> 00:01:53.659 align:middle line:84% And how was life like this in the GDR? 00:01:53.659 --> 00:02:02.819 align:middle line:84% I was a child and the state did a lot for children. It was like paradise for me. 00:02:02.819 --> 00:02:15.960 align:middle line:84% We had an intensive child care, many excursions, 8 weeks summer holidays with a children's program in camps. 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:26.539 align:middle line:84% After school, there were many AGs and clubs for the students. It was a great childhood. 00:02:26.539 --> 00:02:34.960 align:middle line:84% So did you find your childhood in the GDR be different compared to today? 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:43.340 align:middle line:84% Yes, of course it was significantly different. It was way stricter, way more structured. On the other hand we had much more freedom. 00:02:43.340 --> 00:02:47.439 align:middle line:84% Every child in my class was a latchkey kid since first grade. 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:53.340 align:middle line:84% Our parents always went to work before us because they usually had to be there at 6.30 or 7.00 am. 00:02:53.340 --> 00:03:10.719 align:middle line:84% We had a 3-5 minute way to school from the block buildings and we left home after our parents who had to work till 5 or 6 pm and returned before them. It was really great. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:15.120 align:middle line:84% How was your childhood stricter? 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:23.900 align:middle line:84% In second grade I turned off the light in the school hallway and a pupil fell down. 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:37.599 align:middle line:84% It was not that bad, but there was a banner appeal, that is, the whole school was called to the schoolyard in Pioneer uniform, white shirt, blue pants, the girls in skirts. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:44.500 align:middle line:84% Then I had to come to the front and read out what I did. 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:59.340 align:middle line:84% I got two weeks expulsion from all kids clubs and had to do homework during that time instead and write down the school rules. 00:03:59.340 --> 00:04:01.840 align:middle line:84% I had to explain what I would do to make amends. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:29.720 align:middle line:84% The teachers lived with us in the prefabricated buildings and if there were problems during school they would visit in the evening. 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:55.800 align:middle line:84% They would look at the children’s rooms and have a talk with them and their parents. Today you might call that imprisonment, but I did not feel that way as a child. 00:04:55.800 --> 00:05:00.500 align:middle line:84% Can you say whether you found that to be positive or negative? 00:05:00.500 --> 00:05:19.079 align:middle line:84% If children did not improve after these educational measures, there was the consequence of coming to an orphanage or educational institution. 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:44.139 align:middle line:84% There was always a child that landed there. I thought that was a lot better because there were no great incidents among the children related to hooves or drug use. 00:05:44.139 --> 00:05:46.519 align:middle line:84% All in all it was good 00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:52.259 align:middle line:84% How did you personally experience the turnaround? 00:05:52.259 --> 00:06:18.339 align:middle line:84% We were completely confused as children because for us everything was great - school was great, the party was great - we were pioneers at the time of the turn - with a blue bandana to be later in the FDJ. 00:06:18.339 --> 00:06:26.899 align:middle line:84% And suddenly it was all in danger, the adults wanted to get rid of everything and went to the streets to demonstrate against what we loved. 00:06:26.899 --> 00:06:30.759 align:middle line:84% What was the change for your parents in personal life? 00:06:30.759 --> 00:06:53.480 align:middle line:84% Everything changed very fast. They had their first Western car. The time was felt like an adventure. 00:06:53.480 --> 00:07:09.180 align:middle line:84% Suddenly the kids had colourful clothes. We drove also to Poland, where we bought tracksuits in the worst loudest colours. 00:07:09.180 --> 00:07:25.439 align:middle line:84% In politics we were suddenly talking about the future and how we could create it. 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:27.399 align:middle line:84% Before that, it was only ever talked about how we could become good pupils. 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:36.980 align:middle line:84% In some cases, some teachers did not come to school in the morning because they were fired for having worked for the State Security. 00:07:36.980 --> 00:07:47.639 align:middle line:84% My class teacher met the same fate. I did not understand that as a child. 00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:57.939 align:middle line:84% There was also an economic upheaval, so many people became unemployed. Was there any major uprising or unrest or was it altogether peaceful? 00:07:57.939 --> 00:08:08.939 align:middle line:84% In the company of our parents, many people were dismissed overnight. You noticed that clearly. 00:08:08.939 --> 00:08:20.000 align:middle line:84% Everyone was always working and that was suddenly very different. My parents did not know if they would suddenly become unemployed the next day. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:39.740 align:middle line:84% At that time you could legally be dismissed at the end of the month and that was very difficult for many and within the family it had caused many upheavals. 00:08:39.740 --> 00:08:42.299 align:middle line:84% Many became unemployed and support for the unemployed - that was something you just didn’t know about. 00:08:42.299 --> 00:08:54.639 align:middle line:84% What do you think these social changes or cuts would mean for your country and for Europe? And how did they make themselves felt? 00:08:54.639 --> 00:09:16.159 align:middle line:84% Especially the opportunity to actively participate in society was a challenge for many. I think many people had also imagined that their decisions would no longer be made for them by East Berlin, but locally. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:28.440 align:middle line:84% The disappointment was great when Berlin was replaced by Bonn. The big decisions were then made elsewhere. 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:38.340 align:middle line:84% Did you have special hopes or expectations after the change, that your personal life would change or your country or Europe? 00:09:38.340 --> 00:09:50.120 align:middle line:84% So while our turnaround was very peaceful, in Romania, a country one used to travel to during GDR times, civil war had started and many people died and much was destroyed. 00:09:50.120 --> 00:10:08.019 align:middle line:84% Observing this was very intense and we always hoped this would not happen to us. In particular, how would the Soviet army would behave in that case. 00:10:08.019 --> 00:10:17.179 align:middle line:84% Our family had seen how the uprisings in Poland and Czechoslovakia were crushed by the army 00:10:17.179 --> 00:10:32.460 align:middle line:90% so everyone hoped it would not happen again and that there would be no more war. We grew up with that in mind; on the other side of the wall are the Americans, the evil West Germans 00:10:32.460 --> 00:10:43.039 align:middle line:84% all of whom will come with their tanks and nuclear bombs and kill us. And it was our aim to fight back. 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:50.740 align:middle line:84% That is what the European Union is aiming for - that there will be no more war in Europe. 00:10:50.740 --> 00:10:58.559 align:middle line:84% Well, now a few questions about the future. What wishes do you have today for your country and your city? 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:06.860 align:middle line:84% There is the goal to truly coordinate the future and understand that we are now living in a globalised world. 00:11:06.860 --> 00:11:25.740 align:middle line:84% That things that have an impact on us, environmentally, politically or economically, can no longer be decided in small terms alone, but must be negotiated by consensus with many other countries. 00:11:25.740 --> 00:11:29.480 align:middle line:84% Societal change affects quite a lot, and that's not easy. 00:11:29.480 --> 00:11:41.080 align:middle line:84% People need to be taken along, and young people living today have to help shape the country and the world, so we need to empower them to do so. 00:11:41.080 --> 00:11:55.740 align:middle line:84% Now the turnaround is more than 25 years ago and it is said that there are still disparities between East and West - do you think more should be done about that or do you think that it has been implemented very well? 00:11:55.740 --> 00:12:11.700 align:middle line:84% Before the GDR, East Germany was not the economic high-performance center of the then German Reich - there were always regions that were very agricultural. 00:12:11.700 --> 00:12:23.240 align:middle line:84% Of course there was also Leipzig or Dresden, which were economically strong but I think you always have to aim to make it better and for that you have to do something. 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:31.360 align:middle line:84% There are also areas in West Germany that need attention. Sometimes you have to say that more is just not possible. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:46.460 align:middle line:84% The structural change that engulfs the world does not distinguish between East and West Germany, but we are in the middle of Europe and that affects all regions. 00:12:46.460 --> 00:12:53.919 align:middle line:84% How do you perceive right-wing populism, antisemitism and xenophobia today? 00:12:53.919 --> 00:13:11.360 align:middle line:84% Elections are understood there as a means to express one's opinion, one not only always chooses the party that the parents have chosen. 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:21.919 align:middle line:84% Earlier, one chose the unitary party. Angela Merkel is Chancellor since forever and many of you don’t know another. 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:26.919 align:middle line:84% And for many East Germans that's just the way to annoy these parties.