© dpa
On Monday, the Federal Government and the State of Berlin will commemorate the popular uprising in the GDR on 17 June 1953.
In addition to the Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU), Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) is also expected to attend the memorial service at the Seestraße cemetery.
Wegner will then open the exhibition of a tenth grade class on the topic at Dreilinden-Gymnasium in Wannsee and talk to the pupils. On the occasion of the anniversary of the uprising, Wegner emphasised the importance of democracy: "Today there is war again in Europe, we are reminded every day of how important it is to defend our freedom, democracy and human rights. The victims of 17 June also remind us of this."
On 17 June 1953, around one million people took to the streets in East Berlin and around 700 other places in the GDR. The reason was to protest against an increase in labour standards. However, the demonstrators also made political demands, for example for improved living conditions, free elections and the unification of Germany. The GDR leadership and Soviet occupation troops used violence against the demonstrators and put an end to the protests. At least 55 people were killed, 15,000 others were arrested and around 1,500 of them were later sentenced.