12 Trabis in Leipzig – 1,000 Trabis in Prague

Flight. Panic. Hope. The exodus of East Germans in September and October 1989 was immense. Crowds of people moving towards freedom streamed through the centre of Prague. In total, 15,000 East Germans reached West Germany via the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany. “They ran, hurried, pushed their way forward; we stood still, motionless, we did not even look at one another, we felt so much, but above all bewilderment,” Petr Pithart (co-founder of the Civic Forum during the Velvet Revolution of ’89 and later prime minister) recalls of those September days in ’89.

The audiovisual installation “Trabi”, consisting of twelve Trabants in front of the Opera House, recalled this decisive autumn event, when around one thousand abandoned Trabis were left behind in and around Prague. The project presented memories from both sides: those of the surprised Czechs and the indelible images of fleeing Germans climbing over the embassy fence, as well as the authentic stories of Germans whose path to freedom led through Prague. The range of contemporary witnesses was broad: visitors to the Leipzig Festival of Lights heard and saw on screens inside the Trabis, among other things, the memories of the first German refugees, of refuse collectors who had observed the events, and the reaction of the then General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Miloš Jakeš, who, under pressure, allowed the train carrying the refugees to travel to West Germany. Of course, the famous address by the then Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, from the balcony of the German embassy was also included. One of the screens also showed image and sound material specific to Leipzig. One of the Trabis allowed visitors to look inside and under the bonnet; the vehicle experts from “Trabi erleben” were happy to answer questions during the Trabi Talk.