Brigitte Moritz

I grew up in Saxony in a pastor’s family. As a result, I had the feeling of being an outsider from an early age (no membership of the Pioneers/FDJ, no admission to EOS (grammar school)). I worked in Leipzig parishes, my husband was a freelance jazz musician. My dream back then was to travel, get to know the world and let my children grow up without ideological constraints.

Since many friends left the country in the early 1980s, we had a strong feeling that things couldn’t go on like this, we had to do something. From 1983 onwards, we actively participated in the first civil rights groups. That was a great feeling of community. We wanted to change the GDR: Freedom, political co-determination, more opportunities to shape our lives, professionally and privately; stop environmental destruction, end the Cold War (disarmament). And it was thrilling to be involved in shaping the growth of the civil rights movement, the GDR-wide networking, the founding of the New Forum… Somewhere in us there was the certainty that we were making progress (albeit bit by bit). But 9 October and the opening of the Wall came as a complete surprise, as did the rapid reunification. And then came the shock: the “takeover” and dominance of the FRG parties in the 1990 Volkskammer election campaign. Our ideas fell behind. The great disappointment of not being able to develop independently was painful. The West prevailed everywhere. And from my experience, the arrogance of West Germans in all areas.

My work on Leipzig’s first city council in the Bd90/Greens parliamentary group was important in the post-reunification period. Here we were able to do so much for Leipzig, even across party lines: Stop Cospuden (open-cast mining), stop demolition of old buildings, Pleiße ans Licht, free schools, free cultural centres […].

Yes, the most important goals of 1989 were achieved: today we live in one of the most prosperous, secure and socially just states in the world, with comprehensive freedom of expression and many opportunities for participation. I think GDR nostalgia is completely off the mark, and comparisons between lateral thinkers and 1989 are pure demagoguery. I am stunned by how many people subscribe to right-wing ideas and fake news / conspiracy theories, vent uninhibited hatred, disdain democratic institutions and simply cannot / do not want to endure the arduous search for the best solution or a diverse society. These are real threats to what we stood up for in 1989. I hope that we can overcome these divisions, that civil society remains strong and that the gap between rich and poor does not widen.

The entire interview plus photo collection will be available in the Open Feminist Democracy Archive | OfemDA, which is currently being created. See here