Dare Freedom! 1953 | 2023 Commemoration Day for the People’s Uprising on 17 June 1953

17 June 2023 marks the 70th anniversary of the popular uprising of 17 June 1953 in the GDR. Under the motto “Dare Freedom!”, the Bautzner Straße memorial and other cooperation partners are organising a programme of events that commemorates the events of 17 June 1953 and at the same time creates links to the present day. In addition, you can get active yourself, for example, with the basic rights memory or a tour through the city, in which various references to relevant places in the city can be found. These places will be presented in more detail in a tour starting at 16:00. In addition, large banners accompanying the project will be displayed for several weeks at various institutions in Dresden’s cityscape (e.g. the City Museum, the Palace of Culture, the Frauenkirche).

These programme items are offered as part of the “Open Town Hall” in the festival hall of the Dresden Town Hall or in the surrounding city centre:

10:30 am – Staircase Golden Gate
Bringing history to life | Opening performance
Working group 17 June and actors of the Staatsschauspiel Dresden

11:00 am – Festival Hall
zusammen.HALT | Contemporary Witness Slam and Mail Art on the theme of freedom
Gedenkstätte Bautzner Straße e. V. & Kultur Aktiv e. V.

12:00 – Festival Hall
17 June 1953 – A German Date?
Panel discussion with Prof. Martin Sabrow and Dr. Justus H. Ulbricht
DenkmalFort e. V.

13:00 – Festival Hall
Basic Law Memory | Political Education for All
Herbert-Wehner-Bildungwerk e. V.

14:00 – Festival Hall | “Hey Dresden”
Actively shaping the culture of remembrance in the city
Political Education Forum Saxony of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation e. V.

15:00 – Festival Hall
Witness to the times | Memories and feelings of a contemporary witness
Wilhelm-Külz-Foundation

15:00 – Busmann Chapel
Prayer | Silent commemoration of the courage and sacrifice of the participants of the popular uprising in the GDR

16:00 – Meeting point Festival Hall
City walk “Dare Freedom! – On the traces of 17 June 1953
Dresden History Society e. V.

The project “zusammen.Halt” is run by the Bautzner Straße Memorial and in cooperation with Kultur Aktiv. It is funded by the federal programme “Jugend erinnert” (Youth Remembers) to come to terms with the injustices of the GDR and will run until the end of 2023.