A cordial invitation to the report of a contemporary witness.
The late 1980s are among the most significant moments in Germany's recent past. The former German diplomat, Dr. Axel Hartmann, who as a political contemporary witness experienced the decisive events at first hand, will talk about the "Wende". In his lecture, the speaker will look back on his professional career.
This began in the early 1970s in Würzburg, where Hartmann worked as a research assistant to the constitutional and international law expert Dieter Blumenwitz.
In 1978, Hartmann became a consultant for German and security policy at the CDU's federal office in Bonn. In 1980, he joined the Foreign Service.
Between 1982 and 1985, he was head of the legal and consular department at the German embassy in Budapest. In this position, he had to deal with the first major wave of GDR refugees fleeing to German embassies in 1984 and the constant harassment by the Stasi and the Hungarian secret service.
After a two-year period of service at the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to NATO in Brussels, he moved to the Foreign Policy Department of the Federal Chancellery in 1987, where he worked until 1991.
Initially, Hartmann held the post of Eastern European Advisor under Ministerial Director Horst Teltschik. In 1989, he was transferred to the management area of the Federal Chancellery as Deputy Head of the Minister's Office to the Head of the Federal Chancellery, Federal Minister Rudolf Seiters. In this function, he played a key role in West German policy during the turbulent months that led from the refugee movement in Hungary to German reunification.
In his lecture, Dr. Axel Hartmann will talk about his experiences and memories from this time.
