Michael Brack

Michael Brack was born in Berlin-Neukölln in 1949. In 1954, his family moved to the East Berlin district of Treptow.

In response to the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968, Michael Brack and a friend wrote the slogan "Long live Dubček" on the walls of houses around Ostkreuz station. It was not until a year later that he was arrested by the criminal investigation department. 

He was initially sent to the Keibelstraße police prison near Alexanderplatz. After four months in custody, he was suddenly released without charge.

Brack then worked in various jobs as an unskilled labourer. In 1972, he began a traineeship at the Magdeburg Puppet Theatre and was reassigned to study acting. Right in the middle of this came his call-up order to the National People's Army (NVA). After 18 months of military service, he was unable to continue his studies. Michael Brack moved back to East Berlin and worked as a stage-hand and cemetery gardener until he got a job at the Academy of Arts in the events department in 1978.

From autumn 1989, Michael Brack was involved in the "New Forum" and became mayor of Hartmannsdorf (Brandenburg) in the first free local elections. He held office until 1998 and studied administrative law at the same time. From 2002 to 2009, he was Managing Director of Kulturgießerei arts and culture initiative in Schöneiche near Berlin. Michael Brack has been a tour guide at the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial since 2016 and a contemporary witness at schools and educational institutions for the Coordinating Office of Contemporary Witnesses since 2018.