Culture Wednesday - Exhibition "Heavy Metal in the GDR"

In the 1980s, heavy metal fascinated young people around the world. While bands such as Metallica and Iron Maiden conquered the stages in the West, an equally energetic heavy metal scene developed in the GDR in the decade before the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification, which was orientated towards the West and eyed with suspicion by the SED regime. The exhibition "Heavy Metal in the GDR" takes a look at the everyday lives of fans and bands: leather jackets and studded bracelets, guitars and records tell of music and youth culture in the GDR in the 1980s. Contemporary witnesses bring the stories to life. Harassment and surveillance by the Stasi were part of everyday life. However, with the increasing success of bands and radio programmes such as "Tendenz Hard bis Heavy" on the youth station DT64, heavy metal was increasingly tolerated and the scene was given more freedom. What happened to the scene after 1989/90? And what remains of heavy metal in the GDR? The exhibition takes a look at everyday life in East Germany in the 1990s and 2000s and follows the heavy metal scene through upheavals, extremes and revitalisation right up to the present day.

Meeting point: 13:00 in front of Sprachenatelier
Costs: none
Duration: as long as you like