Bodo Ramelow & Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk: »Die neue Mauer«

February 17, 2026 / 7.30 pm / Hall

Much of what went wrong in the East after 1990 can be explained by failures and mistakes in the unification process. Others can be traced back to exaggerated expectations and a false understanding of freedom. This has created a toxic mood that is affecting ever larger sections of the population - not only in the East, but also in the West. The "new wall" not only runs along the former German-German border, but also between the defenders of democracy and those who - deliberately or recklessly - put it at risk.

Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk is one of the best experts on the history of the GDR and has been a critical and intelligent observer of the unification process for many years. The FAZ called him the "punk among German historians". Bodo Ramelow has been politically active in East Germany since 1990 and was Prime Minister of Thuringia from 2014 to 2024. The two sat down together to discuss the causes of the AfD's election results in the new federal states and the prospects for our democracy. The contemporary historian and the politician do not lack for clear words and arrive at a very differentiated picture of the German-German present. (C.H. Beck 2025)

Admission: 10,- / 7,- EUR

Event organized by Literaturhaus Leipzig e.V.

Discounts are available for disabled persons and their accompanying person (only if listed on the disabled pass), unemployed persons, schoolchildren and students (up to 35) as well as holders of the Leipzig Pass or an honorary pass, in each case only on presentation of the pass).