EWIGKEITSPROBLEME

Dead water, toxic waste, air pollution – in the 1980s, the Bitterfeld-Wolfen region was considered one of the dirtiest in Europe. But there was resistance: organized by the then Bitterfeld district youth pastor Jürgen Kohtz, one of the first environmental demonstrations in the GDR took place in May 1984. A handful of young people met for a protest march that led from the environmental library in the Martin Luther House in Bitterfeld via Greppin to Wolfen. Today, at first glance, there is little to indicate the toxic legacy of the chemical industry, which is stored underground as a so-called eternal problem – the region has local recreational value .

A cycle tour led by poet Stefan Wartenberg from Bitterfeld to Wolfen, past the Greppin toxic waste disposal site, is intended to commemorate the demonstration of that time. Along the way, pastor Jürgen Kohtz will talk about his experiences in the church environmental movement of the 1980s. At selected stations, experts and contemporary witnesses will report on how nature, people and industry have developed and rearranged themselves in and around Bitterfeld-Wolfen over the last 40 years. Shortly before arriving at the festival center, the bike tour will become part of the big puppet parade ALLEE DER TAUSEND DÜFTE.