On this guided tour, we will explore stories of migration in East Germany. Tens of thousands of young people from socialist »brother countries« were recruited to work in the GDR in order to address the country’s labor shortage. However, their stories are scarcely visible in Weimar’s urban landscape today, even though the local proportion of so-called foreign workers was by no means small. In the late 1980s, more than 500 people from Mozambique, Cuba, and Vietnam worked at the VEB Weimar Werk manufacturing agricultural machines. Among them was Francisco Duave, who came to Weimar from Maputo in 1981. Based on the urban-sociological research conducted by cultural scientist Josepha Kirchner, we will take a walking tour to three key locations that were particularly significant in the daily lives of contract workers in Weimar. At these places and along the way, we will hear stories from people who once came to Thüringen to work and live here. 

The number of participants is limited. Be sure to bring adequate sun or rain protection, drinking water, and sturdy shoes.

Meeting point: Festival centre at the Lichthaus (15 minutes before the start)

→ Register here • Mon 24.8.

→ Register here • Sun 30.8.

At the → festival centre, you can experience narrative self-portraits of people in Mozambique who worked in the GDR as part of the exhibition → »See My Story. Copyright by Madgermanes«, running from 20 August to 6 September. Admission is free.