KRATZEN AM BETON (DDR, 1970-1978)
In the 1960s the young people of East Germany watched how social changes arose from pressures created by their peers all over the world. For them, this created hope that there could be a social revolution in their own land. Despite the isolation imposed by their government and the ban on Western books and magazines, attempts were made to connect up with the international hippy movement. But the period of hope, euphoria and experimentation was short-lived. The authorities did everything in their power to bring the rebellious youth to heel. In only a couple of years the country fell back into its familiar state of paralysis. Barbara Metselaar, at the time one of the East German hippies, photographed the brief flare-up of youthful resistance.
