The "popular uprising of 17 June 1953" in the GDR is a central historical event in recent German history and, above all, in the history of Berlin. The former Stalinallee (today: Karl-Marx-Allee) was a central place of protest in today's Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district: workers from various Friedrichshain companies around Warschauer Straße joined the strikes; on the Oberbaumbrücke, young people discovered the chairman of the East German CDU, Otto Nuschke, in his official car and rolled him across the sector border into West Berlin's Kreuzberg district.

The learning and research project "Youth in Political Protest" at the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial explores the protest participation of young people during the "Popular Uprising of 17 June 1953". Using biographies of young protest participants, the project explores the causes, processes and consequences of participation in the uprising and aims to convey the complexity of the protest events.

At the event in cooperation with the FHXB Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum, staff from the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen memorial centre will provide an insight into the project. Using individual biographies, they will trace the protest events of 17 June 1953 in the district and discuss the links to neighbouring West Berlin's Kreuzberg district. The event will also discuss how the use of images shapes the public memory of 17 June 1953. Last but not least, dominant narratives and historical images of the event will be scrutinised, particularly with regard to age and gender.

Discussion with Elke Stadelmann-Wenz, Elke Neumann and Tom-Aaron Aschke
moderated by Sonja Lindhauer, FHXB Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum

Link to the project website: www.stiftung-hsh.de/themen/forschungsvorhaben/jugend-im-politischen-protest

at the Studiobühne in the Alte Feuerwache, Marchlewskistr. 6, 10243 Berlin