Parchim preserves GDR history: street names with an eventful past

Parchim preserves GDR history: street names with an eventful past

In Parchim, a town with an eventful history, the street names connect the present with the GDR past. The meaning of these names goes far beyond the everyday; they reflect political eras and social ideals. Again Northern Courier reports, many of these names tell of socialist pioneers and anti-fascist martyrs.

The **Otto-Nuschke-Straße** is particularly striking. She is one of the few names that openly refers to the politics of the GDR. As chairman of the Eastern CDU, Otto Nuschke was a central figure of his time and symbolized the attempt to propagate the unity of Christians and socialists. This street name is a relic of an ideological strategy that aimed to create a broad social alliance under the SED.

Street names and their stories

Another important street name is **August-Bebel-Straße**, which is named after the co-founder of the SPD. In the GDR, Bebel was glorified as a revolutionary forerunner of socialism. The adjacent residential areas, which were created in the socialist era, give this name a special historical significance.

**Fritz-Reuter-Straße** commemorates a Low German writer who was celebrated as a “people's poet” in the GDR. His works were viewed as fitting the socialist ideology. There is also the **Werner-Cords-Weg**, which commemorates an anti-fascist resistance fighter and occupies a place in the region's commemorative narrative.

Although many of these street names are deeply rooted in everyday life in Parchim, their ideological origins often remain obscure. After reunification, many cities were renamed, but Parchim was characterized by a certain degree of restraint. While some other places loudly expressed their dissatisfaction with the SED past and renamed numerous streets, in Parchim the names were simply de-ideologized. The historical significance has largely faded into everyday life.

A look at East Germany

Communist street names are still an issue throughout East Germany. The Hubertus boy shows that many streets are still named after SED icons, including the prominent Ernst-Thälmann-Straße, which even has 613 street signs. These names have endured through the peaceful revolution of 1989 and the reunification that followed. The use of street names reflects the relationship to the SED dictatorship and gives an insight into the difficulty of coming to terms with one's own history.

In comparison, there are only a few streets in Parchim that are reminiscent of the resistance against the SED. The popular uprising of 1953 is only honored by 16 streets, which illustrates how rarely the memories of dissidents find their place in public space. This development can also be seen in the larger cities of East Germany, where dissatisfaction with communist street names in many cases led to protracted disputes, such as in Berlin, where the square of the popular uprising was renamed after difficult negotiations.

In Parchim, historical memories remain alive through the street names. They are a part of urban life and a sign that the change in ideals and memories is often a gradual process.