How old were you when the wall came down? So I was 13 years old and my memories are admittedly quite pale. But I can still remember my white shirt, a blue cap and a red bandana very well. At that time I was a Thälmann pioneer and our greeting was “Be ready for peace and socialism! - Always ready!". Boah, that was a long time ago, but the saying still sits as if it were chiseled in.

Another nostalgic holdover from that time is the socialist memorial. “Eternal remembrance” applies here to the socialists who lost their lives for their cause, beginning with the November Revolution in 1918. Ernst Thälmann was chairman of the KPD and was shot in 1944 after 11 years in solitary confinement. His reputation was well maintained in the GDR. It is therefore not surprising that a plaque with his name can be found here along with many other well-known names.

The facility, which is part of the listed socialist cemetery of honor, to run down is quite moving. On the one hand it is a journey through time into childhood, on the other hand it makes you aware of how dynamic and ephemeral history is and how happy you should be to live in freedom and happy and peaceful times. In this sense: "Be ready for peace!"

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