June 17, 1953 – People’s uprising in the GDR
June 12 to 18 2023
Uprising of the people in 1953
1953 is remembered in Berlin and across Germany as the year East Germans rose up in protest against the state. On the morning of June 17, thousands of Berliners joined a crowd of construction workers marching in protest from their workplace on Stalinallee along Leipziger Straße to the seat of the GDR government.
But the unrest was not confined to that one day or to East Berlin, or even to East Germany. After the death of Soviet dictator Stalin, people throughout the Eastern Bloc demonstrated against Communist rule and the economic hardship and lack of political freedom often attending it.
The popular uprising of 1953 in the GDR was not the first under Communist rule, but the first of four major revolts in the Eastern Bloc – followed by Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968, and Poland in 1980. These protests were all suppressed by Soviet tanks. In East Berlin and across the GDR, at least 55 people were killed and more than 15,000 arrested.
Exhibition
To mark the 70th anniversary of the June 17 uprising, this exhibition showed evocative images of the people’s protest and how it was stopped by Red Army tanks and GDR security forces. The pictures do not offer a precise chronological account of the events, as some things – such as how the uprising started in East Berlin – were simply not photographed. But they do show the courage of the protesters calling for freedom and democracy even in the face of Soviet military might.
As well as the central exhibition on Unter den Linden, photos have also been mounted at key sites linked to the uprising in Berlin: today’s Karl-Marx-Allee, where the protest march started; the Federal Ministry of Finance, where it ended; Potsdamer Platz, where poignant scenes of individual demonstrators desperately throwing stones at Soviet tanks were captured; and the cemetery on Seestraße, where the victims of the uprising’s violent suppression were buried.
Events calendar
Calendar of events of the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany
The Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany offers a diverse range of events to familiarize those interested with the history of the GDR and the consequences of the SED dictatorship.
The program offers a variety of events beyond the exhibition period. Worth to take a look at the calendar!
Historical photographs grant us an insight into the uprising of June 17, 1953
To commemorate June 17, 1953, historical photographs at central sites of the uprising as part of the citywide exhibition conveyed impressions of the protest and its suppression by Red Army tanks and GDR security forces. A selection of these photographs is available here as well.
Contact
Press contact 17. Juni 1953
SteinbrennerMüller Kommunikation
Dr. Kathrin Steinbrenner / Kristian Müller
Telefon: 030 4737 -2191/ -2192
mail@steinbrennermueller.de
Press contact Kulturprojekte Berlin
Julia Kufner
Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH
T +49 30 247 49 –864
J.Kufner@kulturprojekte.berlin
An exhibition by Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH in cooperation with the Federal Foundation and Berlin Commissioner for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Germany, 2023.
Overall management: Moritz van Dülmen, Simone Leimbach
Project management: Stephanie Richter
Head of research: Dr. Bjoern Weigel
Exhibition design: Denise Pleger
Communications and marketing: Till Hurlin, Zora Block
Social Media: Gregor van Dülmen
Online project management: Helen Roßbach, Lena Isabelle Ritter
Translation: Charlotte Hughes-Kreutzmüller
Technical support: Reik Witzmann
Administration: Cathrin Brinkmann, Benjamin Zeiske
Production: Fotoreklame
