40 years since Chernobyl

Was the reactor accident the »final nail in the coffin« for the GDR?

On 26 April 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster shook the world – the extent of the disaster only became known days later. The SED regime, in line with Moscow, attempted to downplay the consequences in the GDR. However, it was precisely this trivialisation that contributed to the strengthening of the environmental movement. Was the Chernobyl meltdown not only, as Mikhail Gorbachev later wrote, a »nail in the coffin« of the Soviet Union, but also a turning point for the GDR? In his lecture, Sebastian Stude reconstructs the course of the worst-case scenario 40 years ago and sheds light on the reactions in the GDR. In the subsequent discussion, Reinhard Dalchow, then a pastor in Brandenburg, reports on the significance of the event for civil society engagement.

Lecture and discussion:
Dr Sebastian Stude, Brandenburg State Agency for Civic Education, Potsdam
Retired pastor Reinhard Dalchow, Großwoltersdorf

Moderator:
Dr Liza Soutschek, research assistant at the DDR Museum

Admission is free of charge.

22 April 2026, 6 pm

Conference room DDR Museum
Sankt Wolfgang-Str. 2
10178 Berlin

Here you can see the location.

The event will take place in German.