Visiting program of the Dersimer in Berlin

As part of the “Balance-Têdustra” project, four significant visiting programs were carried out by our community on 16.10.2023 and 23.10.2023.

The first visit took us to the Berlin Wall Foundation from 12:00 to 15:00, where Mrs. Cornelia Thiele welcomed us warmly. The group gained insights into the history of the foundation, the collection of memories of the Berlin Wall, the division of German-Germany and the refugee movements during the Cold War until the 1990s.
Afterwards, we visited the outdoor exhibition and deepened our knowledge of the inner-German refugee movement from the GDR on a personal and political level, the German-German escape assistance from 1961 to 1989, as well as the topic of flight and migration in the present.
The second visit took place from 16:00 to 18:30 at the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum (FHXB) and was led by Ms. Natalie Bayer.
The FHXB Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum is a Berlin district museum and, with its exhibition, event programs, collection/archive and educational offerings, sees itself as a forum and moving memory of the district. The FHXB Museum is a public space for all people, regardless of any attributions of origin or social affiliation.
The group visited the current exhibition the 10-year history of self-empowerment of refugees, which culminated in the occupation of Oranienplatz. In addition, we received extensive information about the museum and its history from Mrs. Bayer.
On 23.10.2023 there were further dates:
A previously planned visit to the Bundestag with Member of Parliament Hakan Demir on 23.10.2023 from 12:00 to 15:00. Our group was admitted after a security check and personally greeted by Hakan Demir. Timo Schramm, Mr. Demir’s advisor, also accompanied us. We first visited the Paul-Lobe-Haus and received detailed information about the work of the commissions. Afterwards, a tunnel led us to the Reichstag, where we learned more about the history of the building, past and current federal members of parliament as well as the course of the working week and the meeting methods in the Bundestag. Unfortunately, the dome area was closed due to repair work.
Our last visit took us to the office of the Berlin state parliament member Ms. Sevim Aydin (SPD Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg) at Wassertorstraße 2 on 23.10.2023 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. Ms. Aydin warmly welcomed our group and there was a lively discussion on various topics, including the political experiences in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, migration and participation, housing rents and increases, price increases, school problems of children and the path from a migrant to a member of parliament. Mrs. Aydin comes from our culture of origin and the discussion thus also led to the story of Dersim.
These appointments brought the participants closer to the social and political life in Berlin. This has enriched their knowledge and expanded their personal experience.

We would like to thank our hosts for the friendly welcome.