On Thursday, December 5, 2024, starting at 2 p.m., a commemorative event will take place to mark the "occupation" of the secret service headquarters in Frankfurt (Oder) 35 years ago.
In 1989, citizens gathered in front of the Frankfurt district administration of the Ministry for State Security (MfS) in what was then Otto-Grotewohl-Straße. They demanded access to the building and the detention center as well as an immediate stop to the ongoing destruction of files.
The courage of these people in the city is still exemplary today for the pursuit of democracy, freedom and co-determination.
Against this historical background, Mayor René Wilke and the Chairwoman of the City Council Désirée Schrade, in cooperation with the Federal Archives - Stasi Records Archive Frankfurt (Oder) and the Friends of the Stasi Records Archive - Reappraisal and Living Democracy, invite you to a joint commemoration.
Program
2.00 p.m. | Greetings in the Town Hall, Wandelhalle
- Désirée Schrade, Chairwoman of the City Council
- Dr. Sebastian Richter, Head of the Branch Office of the Federal Archives - Stasi Records Archive Frankfurt (Oder)
- Susanne Kschenka, Deputy State Commissioner for the Reappraisal of the Communist Dictatorship in the State of Brandenburg
- Christian Gehlsen, contemporary witness of the Peaceful Revolution in Frankfurt (Oder)
3.00 p.m.| The 5.12.1989 in Frankfurt (Oder): Images – Contemporary Witnesses – Documents in the Town Hall, Room "Heilbronn"
- with Christian Gehlsen, Hartmut Kelm and Dr. Sebastian Richter
Moderated by Dr. Karl-Konrad Tschäpe
5.00 p.m. | Commemoration with candles at the memorial stone for the Stasi victims in Robert-Havemann-Straße