In the funeral hall at the Schwerin Forest Cemetery, freelance author and journalist Matthias Baerens will present the TV documentary “Mourning Under Control—The 1986 Plane Crash” (NDR, 2025, 55 min., Writer: Carolin Kock), which sheds light on state-controlled mourning during the GDR era.
This film commemorates the plane crash of December 12, 1986, in which 72 people lost their lives.
Following the screening, Matthias Baerens invites the audience to an open discussion about the film and the culture of remembrance in Schwerin in connection with the plane crash.
For years, Matthias Baerens has been researching this plane crash in various archives and has sought out and interviewed numerous eyewitnesses.
Baerens has documented the results of his extensive research in his book *Trauer unter Kontrolle* (Grief Under Control).
Matthias Baerens will also provide information on how those affected can access archives and records if they wish to learn more.
This event is part of the series “40 Years After the 1986 Plane Crash—Schwerin’s Community Remembers and Commemorates,” supported by the Sparkasse Mecklenburg-Schwerin Foundation and the association Politische Memoriale e. V. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
The association was founded in 1996 as the “Project Group for Memorial Work in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern” and operates as a continuing education institution recognized by the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Federal Agency for Civic Education.
