"Wind of Change - The GDR and the year 1968"
Opening of the new travelling exhibition of the Martin-Luther-King-Zentrum e. V. on 6 November, 6.30 pm at TIETZ
On Tuesday, 6 November at 6.30 pm, the exhibition "Wind of Change - The GDR and the year 1968" will be opened in the Central Library at the TIETZ by the Chairman of the Martin Luther King Centre, Dr Martin Böttger. The historian Alexander Walther from Dresden will give a brief introduction to the topic. Admission is free.
1968 is considered a global event, a "myth, cipher and caesura". The year symbolises revolution and rebellion against those in power and the establishment. There were protest events in more than 50 countries. A generation change took place in America and Europe. Taboos in fashion, music and politics were broken. In divided Germany, the year '68 was experienced differently. While in the West it is mainly associated with "youth revolts", in the GDR the year is primarily associated with the "Prague Spring" and its violent suppression. What united the various protest movements was dissatisfaction with political and social conditions and a belief in a better world.
The "Wind of Change" exhibition uses 20 roll-up displays to provide a bird's eye view of 1968. The international events in the USA, France, Poland and Czechoslovakia, among others, as well as the developments and consequences in East and West Germany are analysed. It also builds a bridge to the present and asks whether 1968 can be considered the pre-march of the Peaceful Revolution of 1989.
The exhibition at the Martin Luther King Centre Werdau was sponsored by the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship, the Saxon State Commissioner for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship, the district of Zwickau and the town of Werdau.