Lecture and discussion on November 20 in Rostock
Western music" was extremely popular among the GDR population - and therefore always a thorn in the side of the SED leadership. As early as the 1950s/60s, it saw the attitude to life conveyed by Elvis Presley, the Beatles or
the Rolling Stones as a danger, with massive consequences for GDR beat musicians and their followers in particular.
When Udo Lindenberg performed in East Berlin in 1983, there were riots and violence on the part of the security forces because most of the tickets went to SED loyalists, but many fans had to stay outside. Peter Maffay and his band were also subjected to massive surveillance at their first concerts in the GDR, in Rostock, in June 1986.
In his multimedia lecture, journalist and publicist Thomas Purschke describes why and how the GDR secret police in particular persecuted rock musicians and their followers and even Mick Jagger from the Rolling Stones came under the Stasi's scrutiny during a transit trip through the GDR.
