Namibian patients at the Berlin-Buch Clinic
From 1978 to 1991, over 800 people from almost 40 countries received medical treatment in East Berlin at the so-called “Solidarity Ward” in the Berlin-Buch Municipal Hospital. The patients were affiliated with socialist-oriented independence movements or organizations, were wounded fighters or political activists.
Image gallery
Rathaus Pankow
They received medical treatment in the GDR and then usually returned to their home countries or to the theaters of war. Many patients came from what is now Namibia, which had been a German colony until the First World War.
Using the example of the “Jacob Morenga” solidarity station, the exhibition uses display boards and a media station to show not only how this history was dealt with in the GDR, but also how anti-colonial struggles in southern Africa and state-organized international solidarity in the GDR were connected.
Museum Pankow examines colonial traces
The traveling exhibition is a contribution by the Museum Pankow to the Berlin-wide project “Encountering Colonialism. Decentralized perspectives on Berlin's urban history” by the Working Group of Berlin Regional Museums (ABR). An accompanying anthology with all the research results of the Museum Pankow has been published under the title “(De)Colonial Traces in Pankow”. This book will be presented at an event in Pankow Town Hall at the end of the exhibition.
Admission is free.
Exhibition period: 06.09. - 06.12.2024
Location: Rathaus Pankow
Breite Str. 24a-26
13187 Berlin
1st floor in the publicly accessible corridor in front of the Emma-Ihrer-Saal
Opening hours:
Mon. - Fri., 09:00 - 18:00
