Group of 20 (Dresden)
The Group of 20 was a group of around twenty Dresden citizens who were appointed during the Monday demonstration on October 8, 1989 and charged with negotiating their political demands with the local authorities in Dresden the following day . In Dresden city center, not far from the main train station, an inscription embedded in the floor reminds of the group.
effect
After the announcement of the departure of those who had fled to the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Prague and their implementation, the trains carrying the embassy refugees started their way from October 1, 1989 a. a. through Dresden Central Station . From this point onwards and until October 7, 1989, the 40th anniversary of the GDR , the violent repression of the security forces against the demonstrators in Dresden's old town increased.
On October 8, a Sunday, several thousand protesters were in the Prague street from these encircled Service. Among them were the chaplains Frank Richter and Andreas Leuschner, who managed to approach the People's Police and hold talks. The forces of the NVA were after October 7th, i. H. that evening, mostly withdrawn.
Then about twenty people were selected from the demonstrators who were supposed to speak to the then Mayor Wolfgang Berghofer the next day . The topics and demands were articulated in the calls of the past few days and were compiled during the encirclement: freedom of travel, freedom of the press, introduction of civil service, legalization of the New Forum , free elections, the right to peaceful demonstrations, the release of political prisoners (especially those who who had been imprisoned the previous day), open and non-violent dialogue in society. The group and each of the requests read out were approved with applause.
When the group was formed, the demonstrators also demanded that the results of the discussions should be announced to the public on Prager Strasse exactly 24 hours later. This request was not accepted by the mayor. Instead, the result of the conversation should be communicated in church rooms. This happened on October 9, 1989 in four major churches. The information events had to be repeated because of the crowds. According to official information, about 22,000 people took part, according to other information about 40,000.
The institutionalization of what was then known as the Group of 20 was followed by the formation of working groups. On October 9, 1989, Steffen Heitmann was sent to the group as legal advisor by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony .
In a "conversation" with the Catholic Bishop Reinelt , chaplain Frank Richter was suggested to leave the group. He complied and was replaced on October 10, 1989 by Herbert Wagner as "representative of the Catholic lay movement". Jörg Naumann also moved up, both of them now belong to the group of 20 media at that time , but were not present when it was originally founded on Prager Straße.
With Herbert Wagner's entry into the Group of 20 as a representative of the Catholic lay movement , however, it became increasingly clear to the Protestant deacon Dieter Brandes that they were being used politically in favor of the GDR block party CDU . When Brandes, in turn, realized that this tendency could no longer be changed, he was the first of the original members to leave the group of 20 for reasons of conscience .
On May 16, 1990, the members decided (with a few abstentions) to dissolve the group of 20 by May 31, 1990. After the democratic election of the Dresden City Council , their mandate was fulfilled, according to the resolution paper.
Members
Original members , d. H. Those who were selected from the group of demonstrators on October 8, 1989, were: Rene Bachmann, Andreas Bartzsch, Ulrich Baumgart, Friedrich Boltz, Dieter Brandes, Karl-Heinz Denkert, Uwe Glosinski, Rene Grüttner, Markus Kinscher, Andreas Leuschner, Sabine Linke, Henry Mattheß, Maik Miersch, Beate Mihaly, Klaus Münch, Frank Neubert, Kerstin Nikolaus, Eberhard Ohst, Mario Petry, Heiko Pstrong, Frank Richter, Steffen Richter, Peter Rosenberg, Olivia Schwarz, Maria Steudtner, Burgi Trommer.
literature
- Eckhard Bahr: Seven days in October. Departure in Dresden. Edited with the support of the “Gruppe der 20” (with the “Final Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry to the Dresden City Council” ), Forum Verlag Leipzig, 1990.
- Michael Richter , Erich Sobeslavsky: The group of the 20th social awakening and political opposition in Dresden 1989/90 (= writings of the Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarian Research . Vol. 12). Böhlau, Cologne a. a. 1999, ISBN 3-412-06499-8 .
- Katharina Seifert: By turning back to turning. Ten years of the “Ecumenical Assembly in the GDR” - a balance sheet. Benno-Verlag, Leipzig 1999, ISBN 3-7462-1306-1 . In it pp. 148–165: Interview with Frank Richter a. a. about the creation of the "Group of 20".
- Erich Sobeslavsky: The "Group of 20" in Dresden; a remarkable manifestation of the peaceful revolution of 1989/90. Development, structures and political significance. in: Günther Heydemann, Gunther Mai, Werner Müller (eds.): Revolution and transformation in the GDR 1989/90. Duncker & Humblot Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-428-10003-4 .
Movie
- Rika Fleck: Die Gruppe der 20 , film documentation from 1999 about the founding of the Gruppe der 20, about the occupation of the State Security in Dresden, about the first free election (Prime Minister Hans Modrow) and about the panel discussion 10 years after the foundation. The film was made as part of a thesis at the Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, including interviews by Steffen Heitmann, Herbert Wagner, Beate Mihály and Dieter Brandes.
Web links
- Declaration of the "Group of 20" in the city of Dresden (October 1989)
- The “Group of 20” - their becoming, growing and decaying - attempt of a portrait , content identical to the contribution by Steffen Klameth: A year ago the turning point began in Dresden - of 20 who got up to change a world in: Saxon Newspaper, Volume 45, No. 234, October 6th / 7th, 1990 and therefore also marked there as a complete quotation.
- "Group of 20" on the website of the Saxon State Center for Political Education
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cf. Eckhard Bahr: Seven days in October. Departure in Dresden. Edited with the support of the “Gruppe der 20”, with the “Final Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry to the Dresden City Council” (pp. 153–177), Forum Verlag Leipzig, 1990.
- ↑ See Richter / Sobeslawski , pp. 97/98.
- ↑ See interview with Dieter Brandes in the film documentation by Rika Fleck.
- ↑ They were later referred to as "original members": List from: Michael Richter, Erich Sobeslawski: Die Gruppe der 20. ibid., P. 57. It is historically correct that there were not exactly "20" original members.