Plakat "1990: Bonzen enteignen statt "Deutschland" vereinigen!"

“1990: Dispossess fat cats instead of unifying ‘Germany’”Demonstration poster, 1989This demonstration poster was probably made in late November or December of 1989 and reflects a deep distrust in politics. It refers to a series of unification-oriented measures planned for the following year. In late November of 1989, there was a television report on the homes and living conditions of Socialist Unity Party leaders. Nearly all heads of East Germany’s party and government resided at a compound in a forested area outside Berlin, which was built in 1958 and had superb facilities by GDR standards: high-quality consumer goods, a cinema, swimming pool, restaurant, club house and clinic. The favourable treatment of persons in power clashed with the country’s promise of equality, and people found it disturbing. The widespread notion of high officials as “Bonzen” (roughly “fat cats”) now acquired concrete visuals.At the same time, the poster opposes calls to unify the two German states, which had become ever louder following the opening of the Berlin Wall. Before 9 November 1989, the dominant slogan at the Monday demonstrations in Leipzig had been “We are the people”. In mid-November a new slogan appeared, namely “We are one people”. A speech on 19 December in Dresden by Chancellor Helmut Kohl was greeted overwhelmingly with calls for unification. It is quite possible that this poster was used at a demonstration held that same day in Berlin calling for the GDR to chart its own course. Organised by civil rights organisations and the PDS, which was the new name for the Socialist Unity Party (SED), it drew around 50,000 people.