Author reading. The New Wall – a conversation about the East with Ilko-Sascha Kowalcuk and Bodo Ramelow

Much of what went wrong in the East after 1990 can be explained by omissions and mistakes in the reunification process. Other issues stem from exaggerated expectations and a misguided understanding of freedom. This has given rise to a toxic atmosphere that is spreading to ever-larger sections of the population – not only in the East, but also in the West. For the ‘new Wall’ runs not only along the former inter-German border, but also between the defenders of democracy and those who – whether deliberately or recklessly – are putting it at risk.

Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk is a historian, journalist and adviser to the ‘DDR Museum’ in Berlin. He is a renowned expert on the history of the GDR and the reunification process. The FAZ has described him as the ‘punk among German historians’

Bodo Ramelow is a prominent German politician. He has been politically active in East Germany since 1990 and served as Minister-President of Thuringia from 2014 to 2024. He is currently Vice-President of the German Bundestag.

Registration with the organiser, Förderverein Stille Straße 10 e.V., Tel. 030/47367970, email: stillestrasse@gmail.com

Contribution towards costs: 20 euros (15 euros for members of the Förderverein Stille Straße 10 e.V.)