Contemporary witness portal
The contemporary witness portal of the federal foundation for coming to terms with the SED dictatorship was set up in June 2009 with the support of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the German federal states . The online portal provides teachers in schools and extracurricular educational work as well as journalists with contact with contemporary witnesses who witnessed the years of German division and helped to overcome it. They can be invited to events in the education sector, lessons, project days, etc.
In addition to the contemporary witness database, the portal offers compact teaching materials and didactic concepts on the thematic priorities of the popular uprising on June 17, 1953 , the building of the wall and the inner-German border, as well as the Peaceful Revolution and German Unity 1989/90 . The offer is partly available in English, Spanish and French.
The idea of the portal is to build “bridges of memory” for young people who do not know the SED dictatorship and the German two-state system from their own experience.
history
The contemporary witness portal went online on June 30, 2009. Its conception is the result of continuous discussions between the State Chancellery of Saxony , the Federal Foundation for Work-Up and the Federal Ministry of the Interior , which began in November 2007. The background to the project was a letter from Rainer Eppelmann , the chairman of the board of the Federal Foundation , which was sent to all prime ministers in August 2007. In the letter, the federal states were asked to pay special attention to the historical events of 1989/90 as a turning point in recent German history. At the same time, the offer was made that the Federal Foundation for Work-Up would be available as a cooperation and networking partner with regard to joint projects and activities. The Prime Minister's Conference took up this suggestion in October 2007 and commissioned the Free State of Saxony to contact the Federal Foundation to set up an online portal for contemporary witnesses.
Structure and structure
The contemporary witness portal consists of two sub-areas: a contemporary witness area (“remembering history”) and a resource area (“designing lessons”).
The contemporary witness area consists of an online database. Part of the contemporary witness database is freely accessible. Registration is required to view the full range of products. Representatives of organizations involved in school and extracurricular educational work and media representatives can register, but not private individuals. The contemporary witnesses are presented with biographical information as well as a short portrait and photos. In the database - sorted by state and keywords - the user can find contemporary witnesses on various topics and the like. a. Research on escape and departure, civil rights movement, church, detention experiences etc. and contact them directly using an online form.
The resource area is subdivided into the categories of focal points, teaching materials, excursions, films and books as well as links. In the focal points and the teaching materials, teachers and students will find compact didactic teaching and learning material as well as tips for contemporary witnesses on the topics of the Peaceful Revolution 1989/90 , the construction of the Wall and the border, and the popular uprising on June 17, 1953 . The field of excursions indicates places of remembrance, documentation centers, museums and border locations that are suitable for school projects and school trips. Under the heading Films and Books, short descriptions of the most important documentaries and feature films as well as a large number of overview presentations and monographs on the main topics of the portal are available. Finally, selected links refer to the offers of important institutions of historical-political educational work in Germany.
The historical calendar reminds day after day of events "50 years ago today".
Contemporary witness portraits
The contemporary witnesses represented in the contemporary witness portal include Hartmut Büttner , Benedikt Dyrlich , Ralf Geisthardt , Gisela Kallenbach , Hans-Jochen Tschiche and Thomas Welz .
Web links
- Official website
- IhrGeschichte - the multimedia educational portal on the subject of German-German history ( Memento from January 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive )