Home child from the GDR is looking for his father: a moving fate!

Home child from the GDR is looking for his father: a moving fate!

On July 10, 2025 there will be excitement again in Prignitz! The 24th Elbland Festival, which will take place on July 11th and 12th in Wittenberge, is just around the corner. Under the motto “Festival of Lights of Dreams”, a varied program will be offered in which the Italian singers from Appassionante will delight visitors with their sounds of opera and pop music. Tickets are available from just 39 euros, both in advance and at the box office. If you don't want to miss this highlight, you should act quickly!

Another interesting aspect of the region is the improvement of the mobile network. As Deutsche Telekom reports, a new antenna location has been put into operation in Lanz. This enables almost 100 percent household coverage in Prignitz, which is particularly important in times of increasing bandwidth demand. Over the next three years, 16 additional antenna locations are already being planned, which will be upgraded with LTE and 5G to meet the requirements.

A look into the past

An important topic that concerns the region is coming to terms with the past of children in care in the GDR. Karl-Heinz Brüdigam, who grew up in a GDR children's home and later worked as a home director, tries to get in touch with his half-brother in order to find out more about his missing father. There were various types of children's homes in the GDR, which were often characterized by strict, regimented educational methods. Many children lived there because their parents were imprisoned, for example due to “state agitation” or attempted escape from the republic. Living conditions were often cold and harsh, with a clear focus on the collective rather than the children's individual needs.

The topic also receives particular attention through the experiences of contemporary witnesses such as Kerstin Gueffroy, who documents the frightening circumstances in the former homes in her autobiographical work “The Hell of Torgau”. She talks about her experiences in child psychiatric clinics and youth work centers, which were anything but a place of protection. Her book and the works published by Ralf Marten provide an important insight into the strict conditions under which many children had to suffer and which in some cases had a lasting impact on their lives.

Current developments in Prignitz

Filming is also underway in Perleberg for an image video in which the Pearl Princess Eva Wickel presents the city. The film aims to illustrate how Perleberg has changed through urban development funding by comparing old photos with current ones. This combination of nostalgia and modern advances makes the city particularly attractive.

Meanwhile, members of the state parliament and representatives of the hunting association are discussing the sika deer population near Neustadt. The hunting authority has demanded that all escaped sikas be shot to avoid damage to forestry and agriculture. A possible classification as an invasive species could have far-reaching consequences that could reach beyond the region.

Prignitz is therefore not only a place with charming festivals and a growing infrastructure, but also a region that deals intensively with its history and responds to new challenges in the present.