Chemnitz has developed an unrivalled culture of peace

Gerald Richter

Since 2012, children and young people from Chemnitz have been designing peace banners for Chemnitz Peace Day, which draw attention to this special day around 5 March with messages of peace. Two years ago, these banners and posters were hung for the first time on the façade of Chemnitz town hall and on the Roter Turm gallery opposite. The poster campaign was initiated by the citizens' initiative Aktion C and has been intensively supported by Gerald Richter ever since. As a member of the Chemnitz Peace Day working group, he has been involved in the overall coordination of the Peace Day since 2012. Shortly before 5 March, he runs from event to event with posters, flyers and banners under his arm. As our organiser of the week, we asked him why he is involved in the Peace Day.

What is the Chemnitz Peace Day supposed to achieve?
Gerald Richter: 5 March is a very important day for me. It is the focus of peace work throughout the year. The Chemnitz Peace Day working group organises this day and aims to achieve broad diversity and acceptance through networking. But peace work is not done with just one day. We want a peaceful city all year round. We want to spread the idea of Peace Day to all people, to all generations, to all those who care about the well-being and future of our city.

The Chemnitz Day of Peace working group has been providing impetus for peace in Chemnitz for 12 years. On 16 January 2002, the late pastor Hans-Jochen Vogel and singer Sabine Kühnrich launched a public appeal for a Chemnitz Peace Day, which was signed by well-known Chemnitz residents. Together with Pastor Stephan Brenner, they founded the Chemnitz Peace Day working group, which now also includes Hartwig Albiro (former theatre director), Christoph Magirius (retired pastor; honorary citizen of the city of Chemnitz).; honorary citizen of the city of Chemnitz), Dr Thomas Schuler (former director of the Schlossberg Museum) and Heike Steege, who is responsible for migration and integration in the city. Gerald Richter and his wife Sylvia Eichner have been members since 2012.

While the Chemnitz Peace Day working group does networking work for the Peace Day, Aktion C is working on a specific project: the peace banners on the town hall. Where did the idea come from?
After the disastrous neo-Nazi march on 5 March 2011, we, a few friends, wanted to set a different example for Chemnitz. We thought about how the city could change its image. We wanted to work with kindergartens and schools to introduce people to the issue and to a culture of peace. We succeeded in the very first year: in 2012, the first peace gallery on Neumarkt was already 200 metres long. In 2013, we then started designing vertical banners because they are more effective and expressive on buildings. Over 400 metres of posters were designed with the 50 participating institutions. We then went from breadth to depth with two workshops in 2013 and 2014, whereby the poster campaign developed into an art project. This is not intended to mean better or worse. What matters to us is the process of finding and realising ideas; the finished poster is an additional result. We continue to provide kindergartens and schools with material for their own production and we guarantee that every work will also be shown in the city. In 2015, we exceeded the 1,000 metre mark for designed posters. We wouldn't even have thought that possible in 2011.

Does it sound like young people are interested in the topic of peace?
Yes, at least there are many who want to take part in the project. A teacher recently said to me: "Gerald, please don't stop, you wouldn't believe how many children you've already made happy." What more could I ask for, that's a good reward for all the hard work. I am convinced that the committed people of today are the movers and shakers of tomorrow. School can impart knowledge, our activities teach young people to look at our city and the world and how they can make a difference through their own involvement. We offer young people a stage on which they can try things out and prove themselves.
As Aktion C, we only have very limited time in addition to our jobs, but we can provide ideas and have often found only open doors. We have very committed student representatives in the city who develop their own projects. In 2015, we have three street theatre projects on 5 March: A theatre project by pupils from Usti nad Labem with pupils from the Montessori school "Imagine it's war" from 16:00, a street theatre accompanying the perpetrator trail tour and the performance in the rally from 18:00.

What work goes into preparing for Peace Day?
Over 30 new posters have been created this year. It takes 100 to 200 hours to make a banner 7 metres long, and the project week is often not enough. At the Montessori School, painting continued during the autumn holidays and in the first week of the new school term. Many pupils are allowed to paint there all year round once they have finished their schoolwork. I take a week off in the autumn holidays and do a workshop with children and young people. The banner is one thing. The work on it is the decisive factor. It is important that children or young people deal with the topic of peace and express what they have achieved in their minds to each other and summarise it conceptually. Even agreeing on a motif and designing the banner in the group is in itself a peace process. Talking to each other - that's what matters to us. That is peace work. If the result is a beautiful product, all the better.

And what do the young people take away with them?
Anyone who has worked on a project week like this, sees their own banner on the town hall façade and explains it on the podium in front of thousands of people, is incredibly proud of their achievement. It's a real maturing process. You can really see how the young people change in six months.

A small idea has actually turned into a big project. Does that make you proud?
The Peace Day has grown from year to year. Many events have been added, such as the concerts in the town hall foyer or the tour of the perpetrators' traces. This year, the music school's flash mob music lessons at at least 6 locations in the city centre have been added. It has become more and more varied. And that is also the point. I'm talking about a culture of peace that has developed here in Chemnitz. It is important that we have a Peace Day at all. For many years, Dresden failed to develop 13 February into a day of peace. There, the destruction of the city has been instrumentalised over the years. In Chemnitz, in addition to commemorating the night of the bombing, we have developed peace work with a view to the future. We also have the Peace Prize, something other cities dream of. The Peace Prize honours the activities of groups that have campaigned for peace in the city. I am always amazed at how many peace groups and good initiatives we have. But they are often small groups that only a few people know about. It's not so easy to talk about good things. These groups don't get as much media attention. That's why it's important that the Peace Prize puts these initiatives in the spotlight. It should be an incentive to continue their efforts.

On 5 March, various activities on Chemnitz Freedom Day will invite people to join in, reflect and take a look at the Neumarkt. The peace cross on Neumarkt will reopen and show videos of cities destroyed during the Second World War. Peace wishes are collected. Exhibition boards will provide information about neo-fascism in Germany. From 6 p.m., the Neumarkt will be dominated by the Martin Luther King quote "I have a dream". Young people will shed light on the refugee issue in a theatre performance. The previous winners of the Peace Prize and Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig will share their thoughts on 5 March. The programme will be accompanied by music from the Syrian musician Mai Alkurdi (flute) and Youssef Bash (guitar). All further information about the programme can be found at www.chemnitz.de/friedenstag and www.chemnitzer-friedenstag.org

Demonstrations are also part of Peace Day. Does that bother you?
As Action C, we have organised some rallies and demonstrations ourselves. We cannot leave our city, our streets and squares to people who agitate against foreigners, for example. There is no tolerance for intolerance. Our aim is to realise ideas for something and together. We want to reach people from the grassroots. People like you and me. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it must come from the heart and be committed. We want to promote civil courage and encourage people to dare to do something. There is no better or worse in peace work. Whoever stands up for it, whether they speak texts, paint a poster, give a speech or take part in a demonstration - these are all forms of expression that require more or less courage. Where one person dares to do what the other doesn't, but can do something that the other cannot. Where people can contribute and complement each other in their diversity in our city.

What will peace work in Chemnitz look like after the Peace Day?
There are already some banners that have not been completed. After 5 March is before 5 March, it continues without interruption. So the first banners for 2016 are already being worked on. The topics of war, flight and asylum will unfortunately continue to accompany us. Chernobyl will be an additional focus in 2016. We are doing educational work with Aktion C, have organised talks in Tietz and held project days in schools. We are committed to helping asylum seekers and want to bring people of good will together. We are in the process of developing joint projects with other groups.

There are currently numerous demonstrations and counter-demonstrations on the subject of asylum. What does this mean for peace work?
For years, we have had so-called funeral marches organised by neo-Nazis in our city on 5 March. You can organise a large counter-demonstration. This can also have the power to develop a blockade. With "Chemnitz defends itself" and CEGIDA, we now have xenophobic rallies and demonstrations every week. I can't be on the street every week and I don't think we always have to react to the right-wingers. It is important to set boundaries and show what the citizens here want. For me, 5 March is a sign that many people are committed to democracy and tolerance.

Do you have the feeling that the citizens of Chemnitz are behind the Chemnitz Peace Day?
People have long been in favour of the Chemnitz Peace Day. I notice very clearly that when I hand out flyers and say, "This is for Peace Day", everyone nods immediately. Peace Day is well known and popular in the city. This is also an expression of peace culture; we have achieved a high level of acceptance and community here. Whenever people act in a confined space, you have to find ways of working together. Even when all parties want to make decisions for the good of the city, there are disputes. That's why we need a day that looks beyond party lines. For me, the joint call by all political groups for Chemnitz Peace Day, supported by a broad citizenry, is a sign of this culture of peace.

Peace Day as an internal culture of debate and well-being. Does the Peace Day also have an impact beyond the city limits?
By having a Peace Day and a Peace Prize, we have something institutionalised that makes us special and also has an external impact. With our schools' art project, we have developed a project over several years that is unique in Europe in its breadth and expressiveness. Three weeks ago, at the international colloquium in Dresden entitled "The Peace of Cities", this was the consensus of the participants. Some cities have already shown interest in distributing the banners. On 8 March, we will be opening an exhibition in Dresden's Kreuzkirche church for two months, where 24 peace banners will be displayed, which together cover an area of 200 m².

Are you a convinced Chemnitz resident yourself? Do you like to say where you come from?
I grew up in the city, went to school here and came back after my studies. I have spent my entire professional life here as an architect and have renovated many public buildings, for example Chemnitz University of Technology, numerous school buildings, Rabenstein Castle and Klaffenbach moated castle. I have been able to contribute professionally to the preservation and renovation of listed buildings in the city. Many other people in the city also contribute to the well-being of our city with their work. Nevertheless, we still need voluntary work, we still need people who, alongside their work, are committed to things that cannot be paid for with money, who develop ideas and concepts on how to overcome new problems, how to deal with strife. War, flight and asylum are just one part of this. In a globalised world, we can't lull ourselves into a sense of security behind a wall. Yes, I am a Chemnitz resident with conviction, I am really proud of our art project, it is so good and topical that we can now take it out into the world with energy.

Do you have to encourage the people of Chemnitz?
Absolutely. I keep hearing that the people of Chemnitz think that not much is happening here. I can't say that in comparison with others. We have achieved a lot. It's always important that the good things are publicised. That doesn't happen enough here. Good things have a much harder time being publicised.