After several years in England, I returned to Germany in 1970, after Willy Brandt had become my country's Chancellor. For me, he embodied much more than "respect, friendship, tolerance, and freedom." In a country with this head of government and exciting values from the legacy of the 1968 revolution, I wanted to be involved in creating positive change for the future. After five active years as a member of the Social Democrats and getting to know stuffy and increasingly academically educated and bureaucrat-like members who were not at all willing to embrace change, I left the party in emotional agony. Later, after no more democracy had been attempted and Helmut Kohl ruled the country, I created this collage in the mid-1980s. At first, it hung on a wall in the hallway of my apartment. But the more Social Democracy changed in ways that simultaneously did not change, while putting me in danger of becoming an opponent, the more I hid the work in the basement. Later, I only found space for this party on the wall of a stable, and despite everything, I remained attached to it. The collage rotted into its current state through no fault of my own. Need I emphasize that this development is probably not yet complete? What will the collage look like if I hang it back in the stable for another five years? Will the party, to which I am still emotionally attached quite deeply, still have the strength politically to contribute to achieving respect for people, maintaining friendships in Europe, practicing the tolerance of a Lessing (in whose last place of residence I live), and preserving my freedom and that of all people? In view of the events in Chemnitz that are already being reported on an hourly basis, the chosen values take on an incredibly topical relevance.
