Michael Blumhagen

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Michael Blumhagen (* 1958 in Graitschen near Bürgel ) is a German sculptor and gallery owner and representative of the Jena GDR opposition .

Life

His father was the conductor Günter Blumhagen . Since 1977 Michael Blumhagen lived and worked in Graitschen near Bürgel , near the university town of Jena . His house developed into a popular meeting place for artists, members of the opposition and young dropouts. Since the early 1980s, Blumhagen was active in the Jena peace movement with Matthias Domaschk , Roland Jahn , Manfred Hildebrandt , Thomas Kretschmer , Petra Falkenberg and others .

In memory of Matthias Domaschk , who died on April 12, 1981 in the pre-trial detention center of the Ministry for State Security in Gera , friends of Domaschk erected a sandstone sculpture on April 9, 1982 in the Johannisfriedhof (Jena) . The sculpture created by Blumhagen showed a grieving person looking for protection with Domaschk's life data. On behalf of the Ministry for State Security , the 200 kilogram sculpture was removed in the evening hours of April 11, 1982. In search of her whereabouts, Blumhagen was informed that she had been confiscated, and later it was said that she had been stolen by "strangers". The conspiratorial dismantling was documented photographically by Roland Jahn and published by the weekly journal Der Spiegel .

In June 1982, Blumhagen received an extra-time draft order for the reservist service of the National People's Army (NVA), a disciplinary instrument often used by the authorities against unpopular people and opposition groups. Since he had already done his active military service, Blumhagen refused to be called up and declared that he would do the service as a social peace service or as a construction soldier . This was not legally intended for reservists. After house searches and after interventions etc. a. when Hermann Kant and Erich Honecker failed, Blumhagen surrendered to the authorities on June 15, 1982. His conviction took place in July 1982. Blumhagen's house in Graitschen near Bürgel was blocked by the building authorities and demolished because it was supposed to be in disrepair. After protests from home and abroad and after Blumhagen had applied for an exit visa while in custody , he was released from GDR citizenship in December 1982 and deported to West Germany .

Blumhagen settled in West Berlin , was active from here for the GDR opposition and, against the background of the nuclear armament of these years, suggested a. a. the conclusion of personal peace treaties between East and West Germans. He organized street festivals and meeting places for artists in Berlin-Kreuzberg and built up an existence as a gallery owner, restaurateur and in the delicatessen trade with Italy . Blumhagen lives and works in Berlin and in Poppi , Province of Arezzo (Italy).

literature

  • A death in the Stasi prison and a missing sculpture. GDR sculptor risks imprisonment. Taz June 15, 1982.
  • Mourning man - how the Blumhagen sculpture was stolen by the Stasi. Der Spiegel 26/1982 ( online ).
  • Trial against Michael Blumhagen. Der Spiegel 27/1982.
  • Trial against Michael Blumhagen. Frankfurter Rundschau June 14, 1982.
  • Peter Bichsl: GDR authorities tore down Michael Blumhagen's house. Frankfurter Rundschau August 5th, 1982
  • Udo Scheer: Vision and Reality. The opposition in Jena in the seventies and eighties. Ch. Links Verlag Berlin 2002, ISBN 3861531860 .
  • Henning Pietzsch: Opposition and Resistance: History of Church Youth Work “Open Work” Jena 1970-1989. Dissertation at the Technical University of Berlin 2004, published as a publication under the title: Youth between Church and State. History of church youth work in Jena 1970-1989. Böhlau-Verlag Cologne 2005, ISBN 3412172049 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Werner Schmidt (Ed.): Expatriated: Artists from the GDR and from the Soviet sector of Berlin; 1949 - 1989. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Argon, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-87024-160-8 , p. 80.
personal data
SURNAME Blumhagen, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor, gallery owner and opponent
DATE OF BIRTH 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Graitschen at Bürgel