Third generation from East Germany

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The 3rd Generation East Germany or Third Generation East Germany network is an initiative of several actors who want to give new impetus to the debate about the East German federal states or the new states and is committed to engagement in East Germany. The main goals are to give the generation of the youngest generation born in East Germany (born around 1975–1985) a voice and to free the image of East Germany from traditional clichés and prejudices through a broad-based dialogue. The initiative is aimed primarily, but not exclusively, at Germans who were born between 1975 and 1985 in the GDR . However, communication between East and West Germans or an all-German discussion about the transformation period in the 1990s and its consequences should arise. It is about an open exchange and a common reflection on the history of reunification. A European perspective also plays a role here. The aim is to reflect on the past, to take the present seriously and to help shape the future democratically.

Name and definition Third Generation East Germany

The term Third Generation East Germany is a sociological construct. The existence of a second and first generation is derived from the existence of a third generation. The second generation is understood to be the parents' generation who were born, socialized, trained and employed in the GDR; the first generation is considered to be the grandparents' generation (chronological order: children of war → GDR children → children of the revolution). In the international context, the cohorts of the GDR are in the transition area between the X Generation and the Generation Y . Characteristics of these generations (described by Western sociologists) are found mainly in the younger generation of Generation Y.

The hypothesis of the Third Generation East network is that the experience of upheaval in 1989 had a noticeable impact on the youngest children of the GDR. On the one hand, these turning children directly experienced a comprehensive system change, on the other hand they experienced the insecurity and unemployment of the parents socialized in the GDR. According to the concept of transgenerational transmission , the unconscious transmission of traumatic family experiences from two German dictatorships is also suspected. The influence of recent German history on individual family biographies is to be brought up through a dialogue between the generations. The 3rd generation East is followed by East German members of Generation Y, who, given their socialization in the Federal Republic of Germany, see themselves as members of an all-German generation, albeit with restrictions.

History of the 3rd Generation East network

The idea for the initiative was born in autumn 2009, when the peaceful revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the 20th anniversary. At that time, the eight founding members asked themselves why it was almost only men of advanced age who were discussing the transition and the GDR in the print media and television formats . She did not find herself in this constellation. Instead, Adriana Lettrari wanted to make her generation, those born between 1975 and 1985, visible and to participate in the discourse about East Germany. It was important to reach not only those who stayed there but also those who had emigrated to the old federal states.

A first meeting of interested parties took place on June 1, 2010. Actually intended as a platform for the exchange of experiences and ideas, a team of East and West Germans emerged from this, which from now on met regularly. It developed the vision of organizing a large meeting of this previously "invisible" third generation from East Germany. At the same time, the Wendekind gUG was founded, which as a non-profit sponsoring company was responsible for the financial and legal transactions in the background. The first funding was provided by the Federal Foundation for Processing. A large number of activities have now developed. The association Perspektive hoch drei was founded to create open structures for those interested to participate. In this environment, the association weltbewusst eV is also active in the context of biography work on the subject. The Zeitwende learning portal tries to make the topic more tangible for school lessons with the help of everyday witness work.

Generation meeting and book publication

From July 8 to 10, 2011, the first conference of the Third Generation East took place in the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin (CHB). The consistently high level of interest exceeded the organizers' expectations. Around 130 young East Germans took part in the three-day conference and laid the foundation for a network that now includes more than 2000 people and has incorporated associations and institutions as partners. The 2nd generation meeting took place on November 24, 2012, again at the CHB. This time the focus was on the relationship and the dialogue between the 2nd and 3rd generation East. To what extent have the experiences and views of the parents' generation shaped and influenced the generation of the Wendekinder?

One result of the conference is the book Third Generation East. Who we are, what we want . It was published in August 2012 by Ch. Links Verlag . More than 30 authors give the third generation of East Germany a voice. The book is a contribution to record personal experiences in East and West. It tries to overcome the firmly established “that's how it was” and to oppose it with a variety of experiences, positions and demands. These individual perspectives stand for themselves, but in their sum they paint the picture of a generation. In November 2012 a licensed edition of the Federal Agency for Civic Education was published .

Inspired by this book, the German scientists Katrin Bahr and Melanie Lorek founded the Third Generation East network in the USA .

Bus tour in the new federal states

In June 2012, the initiative carried out a ten-day bus tour under the motto “Loosen up!”. The bus route in the form of an eight led from Berlin through places in all five new federal states. The main concern was to get in touch with representatives of the Third Generation East outside of Berlin. Important stops were Schwedt / Oder , Neubrandenburg Schwerin , Zossen , Mittelherwigsdorf in Upper Lusatia, Pobershau in the Ore Mountains, Jena , Halle and Lutherstadt Wittenberg . On site, people met with initiatives, activists, politicians and committed private individuals. A documentary by Gunther Scholtz was made : Through the East by Bus - The Third Generation East on Tour.

Split in 2013

In the summer of 2013, an association called Perspektive hoch drei was founded , which had been initiated by activists of the initiative since 2012. The association is intended as a democratic sponsor of the Third Generation East initiative . So far, the sole sponsor of the voluntary network initiative has been the Wendekind gUG , a non-profit mini-GmbH that is registered in the name of Adriana Lettrari and holds the rights to the name, the logo and the website of the 3rd Generation East Germany initiative .

This led to the split in the movement, which is now supported in different parts by Perspective hoch drei eV and the Wendekind gUG . There are also other associations and institutions that, for example, offer workshops on biography work or conduct scientific research and are part of the Third Generation East Germany network .

Memorandum Generation German Unity

For the 25th anniversary of German unity on October 3, 2015, a memorandum was published on change.org, in which actors of the network were involved. In it, "Wende-, West- and Migrantkinder" call themselves the generation of German unity .

In 2016, the network published an anthology with scientific findings on the third generation in East Germany .

Second book publication to deal with the generation of parents

In 2016, the Ch. Links Verlag published an anthology dealing with the parents' generation of the third generation in East Germany, which was also well received in other age groups. Under the title "How was it for you? The Third Generation East in conversation with your parents", many unresolved questions are raised: How did you experience everyday life in the GDR? Have you been politically active? Did you want to leave? Have you had any experience with the Stasi? What was life like for women in the GDR? How did it go with the compatibility of children and career? How was it for you when the GDR was gone? There are emotional, sometimes uncomfortable questions for which there was previously no room or opportunity. Many readings and nationwide discussion events contributed to a broader social discourse. In 2019, the co-editor Judith C. Enders was appointed to the Federal Government Commission "30 Years of Peaceful Revolution and German Unity", headed by Matthias Platzeck.

Event series From Voice to Influence - Strengthening Wendekinder as leaders

After a break, the 3rd Generation East Germany network will return in 2019 with a series of events. Together with cooperation partners, the series will start on June 24, 2019 in Berlin and on June 25, 2019 in Magdeburg.

aims

The declared goals of the initiative and the network are:

  1. increased civic engagement in East Germany
  2. Encourage young East Germans to actively shape their future
  3. Making young East Germans heard
  4. Understand the history of the GDR and the peaceful revolution anew
  5. Free the discourse about East Germany from established clichés and prejudices
  6. help shape society in Germany and Europe.

criticism

The Weimar author Andrea Hanna Hünniger accused the Third Generation East of being a “therapeutic catch-up movement” that just wants to talk in an article entitled They just want to talk in the weekly newspaper Der Freitag . She writes: “If the third generation in the East gets together, it could be an important movement. A resonance body of the present and say: We have now made an effort for 20 years to belong to your comic system. The West Germans always punished us with ignorance. Now our parents are threatened with old-age poverty and we ourselves live precariously from hand to mouth. Maybe this is the opportunity to start all over again? "

Honors

  • 2013: Gustav Heinemann Citizen Award 2013 after receiving 1108 votes (54.8%)
  • 2013: Nomination for the Gustav Heinemann Citizen Prize (together with Kazim Erdogan and EXIT Germany )
  • 2012: 2nd place in the uniform price from SUPERillu and the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb)
  • 2012: Demographic example of the month of June from the State Chancellery of Brandenburg
  • 2016: European Women Prize. awarded by the European Movement in Germany for Adriana Lettrari and her commitment to the 3rd Generation OSt network
  • 2017: Women of Europe Award in the “ Woman in Action” category for Adriana Lettrari and her commitment to the third generation in East Germany, presented by the European Movement International and the European Women's Lobby

Quotes

  • "It is time to bring new momentum to the East and to the debates about the East." (Motto on the Facebook page)
  • “So it is good for our country when 30-year-olds between Schwerin and Dresden ask loud questions today. The bus of the '3rd Generation East' is a statement in itself: round trip instead of navel gazing! " (Federal President Joachim Gauck )
  • "The young people want to change something, develop a new image of the East and thus make a difference for East Germany." ( Matthias Platzeck , Prime Minister of the State of Brandenburg at the generation meeting on November 24, 2012)
  • “Some interpret us as a self-help group. The others as a regional development agency. The third as an institute for applied processing. The fourth see us as lobbyists in the East. There is something of everything. " (Johannes Staemmler, co-founder of the initiative)
  • "The cognitive and emotional knowledge that things can turn out very differently and sometimes very surprisingly in life and then go on is deeply anchored in the third generation in East Germany." (Adriana Lettrari, founder of the initiative)

literature

  • Bianca Ely et al. a. (Ed.): How was that for you? The Third Generation East in conversation with their parents , Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-86153-916-2 .
  • Judith C. Enders, Adriana Lettrari, Mandy Schulze, Johannes Staemmler: Skilled and managerial shortages in East Germany. A qualitative study of the "Third Generation East Germany" , W. Bertelsmann Verlag, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-7639-5167-3 .
  • Michael Hacker, Stephanie Maiwald, Johannes Staemmler et al. (Eds.): Third Generation East. Who we are, what we want , Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb), Bonn 2012, ISBN 978-3-8389-0285-2 .
  • Michael Hacker, Stephanie Maiwald, Johannes Staemmler et al. (Eds.): Third Generation East. Who we are, what we want , with texts, etc. a. by Robert Ide , Roland Jahn and Lothar Probst , Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-86153-685-7 .
  • Adriana Lettrari, Christian Nestler, Nadja Troi-Boeck (eds.): The generation of the Wendekinder - elaboration of a research field , Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2016, ISBN 978-3-658-11480-0 .
  • Michael Rühl, Sonja Knoll: Baikonur mon amie, a graphic novel , Dipol-Verlag, Greifswald 2016, ISBN 978-3-9817349-0-4 .

Web links

Individual proof

  1. ^ Third Generation East: "3rd Generation East" - The network of the Wendekinder. Retrieved May 10, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Die Zeit: perplexed revolutionaries , May 15, 2014
  3. ↑ Is there a third generation in East Germany? In: sociology blog . ( Online [accessed May 10, 2018]).
  4. ↑ Lukas Rietzschel : Generation Y - Chemnitz: Solidarity, finally! Time campus . "Generation Y" series. 16th September 2018
  5. ^ Valerie Schönian: Heimat Ostdeutschland: Born 1990 . zeit.de. December 16, 2017
  6. ↑ Perspective³. Accessed June 1, 2020 (German).
  7. ↑ Biography work Third Generation East. Accessed June 1, 2020 (German).
  8. ↑ Home. Accessed June 1, 2020 (German).
  9. ↑ Hacker, Michael, 1979-, Enders, Judith ,, Maiwald, Stephanie ,, Staemmler, Johannes ,, Lettrari, Adriana ,: Third Generation East who we are, what we want . 3rd, through and exp. Ed. Links, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86153-730-4 .
  10. ↑ Third Generation East | bpb. January 11, 2013, accessed May 10, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Jana Demnitz: "Telling about the GDR is still strongly influenced by West German" . In: Der Tagesspiegel Online . October 23, 2014, ISSN  1865-2263 ( online [accessed May 10, 2018]).
  12. ^ "Third Generation East Germany": perplexed revolutionaries . In: ZEIT ONLINE . ( Online [accessed May 10, 2018]).
  13. ↑ Generation German Unity: We interfere . In: Der Tagesspiegel Online . October 1, 2015, ISSN  1865-2263 ( online [accessed May 10, 2018]).
  14. ^ Third Generation East: anthology "The generation of the Wendekinder - Elaboration of a research field" - Third Generation East. Retrieved May 10, 2018 .
  15. ↑ The commission "30 Years of Peaceful Revolution and German Unity" presents the anniversary concept. Accessed June 1, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Andrea Hanna Hünniger: 3rd Generation East - They just want to talk : It's good that you exist, dear fellow citizens! You have now also found a label. Great! What for, however, is not clear to us . In: Friday , August 16, 2012.
  17. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from April 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ↑ Federal Agency for Civic Education: “Breaking down prejudices and caricatures”: Andreas Dresen wins the unified award 2012 | bpb. Retrieved May 10, 2018 .
  19. ↑ "3rd Generation East Germany" advertises the future in the home country - State Chancellery honors network tour as demographic example | State government of Brandenburg . In: Brandenburg State Government . ( brandenburg.de [accessed on May 10, 2018]).
  20. ↑ Woman of Europe 2016: Adriana Lettrari | Network EBD. Retrieved June 24, 2019 .
  21. ↑ Adriana Lettrari named Woman of Europe | Network EBD. Retrieved June 24, 2019 .
  22. ↑ Third generation in East Germany. Retrieved May 10, 2018 .
  23. ^ Speeches by the Federal President: Panel discussion “Typically German” , Bellevue Palace, December 13, 2012.
  24. ↑ Platzeck: A Fresh Look at the East - Meeting "3rd Generation East Germany" . In: Brandenburg State Government . ( Online [accessed May 10, 2018]).
  25. ↑ Martin Machowecz: “I can't hear that anymore!” , Interview with Johannes Staemmler , in: Die Zeit , August 3, 2012.
  26. ↑ The Knowledge of the Wendekinder . In: Der Tagesspiegel Online . November 30, 2013, ISSN  1865-2263 ( online [accessed May 10, 2018]).