Von Alumni für Alumni: Reading with Cornelia Dildei and Gretchen Dutschke at Berliner Geschichtswerkstatt e.V.

A literary evening of a special kind - on 19 June 2024, Cornelia Dildei and Gretchen Dutschke read from the book "Auf stacheligen Wegen zur Befreiung - Immer wieder Aufbruch und Neuanfang".

At the centre of the book is Gretchen Dutschke as a person, the passages read gave pictorial, honest and amusing insights into various phases of her eventful life, starting with her childhood and youth in the USA, the first parties in high school, the beatniks, her enthusiasm for philosophy and the resulting desire to learn German and the decision to go to Germany; what it was like to live with someone who was so much in the spotlight and finally her idealism and multifaceted commitment, which continues to this day. With this book, too, her aim is to be a role model for the younger generation and to promote democracy and equal rights.

"Gretchen Dutschke is a person of contemporary history. As such, many texts have already been written about her and by her, primarily in her role as the wife and fellow campaigner of Rudi Dutschke, the icon and shining light of the 1968 movement, which has decisively challenged, shaped and changed the Federal Republic of Germany since the end of the 1960s. This book is the first to focus exclusively on Gretchen Dutschke herself, as a daughter from an evangelical home, as a curious and rebellious student at college, as a newcomer from the USA with a fresh, unspoilt view of post-war Germany, as a researcher, author, environmental, women's and human rights activist and, last but not least, as a private person, wife, mother and grandmother. She has repeatedly changed the centre of her life between the USA and Europe, always starting anew. In conversation with Cornelia Dildei, Gretchen Dutschke talks about how she perceived this adventurous life, the role played by external circumstances, her own will and also chance."

Dr. Cornelia Dildei, born in 1956, worked for many years as a specialist veterinarian for food in state institutes and as a consultant for consumer protection in ministries. She met Gretchen Dutschke while working for the Green Party in Berlin.

The Alumni Office would like to thank Dr. Cornelia Dildei for the wonderful idea of organising a reading for alumni, Gretchen Dutschke for the fascinating insights into her life story, Jürgen Karwelat for his hospitality at the Berliner Geschichtswerkstatt e.V. and looks forward to further events in the "Von Alumni für Alumni" series.

Are you an alumna or alumnus of Freie Universität and would like to present your place of work? We look forward to receiving your e-mail!