Wolfgang Harich • 100.Geburtstag

Wolfgang Harich was one of the first GDR journalists to work on the topic of ecology in the 1970s. In his book Kommunismus ohne Wachstum? [Communism without Growth], he demanded an economic change of course away from the futile attempt to emulate the western model of consumerism and prosperity towards a more ecological lifestyle and production mode. This was, Harich conceded, not without implications for the life of GDR citizens, and only feasible with recourse to authoritarian state measures. He was criticised of being an “eco-Stalinist”, but his approach is reminiscent of some of today’s ideas to initiate an ecological transformation from “those at the top”.

Harich is a philosopher and journalist who tried to initiate political reforms towards a democratic communism in the GDR. In a show trail in 1957 he, along with other intellectuals, was sentenced to ten years in prison. After reunification, he advocated the forming of an all-German communist party KPD and opposed projects accounting for the history of the GDR.