Lutz Hildebrandt

Lutz Hildebrandt was born in Berlin in 1947. He learned the trade of dressmaker. On the occasion of the seventh Party Congress of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in April 1967, Lutz Hildebrandt tore down two propaganda posters of the state party out of recklessness. He was then arrested, taken to the Keibelstraße police prison and subsequently imprisoned at Berlin-Hohenschönhausen.

In December 1967, Lutz Hildebrandt was sentenced to two years and six months for "inciting hatred against the state" and "defamation of the state". He appealed and the sentence was changed to one year and eight months. Lutz Hildebrandt served his sentence at the Berlin-Rummelsburg prison. Due to his poor state of health, he was released from prison early in August 1968.

From 1972 to 1978, he completed a correspondence course to become an engineer economist within light industry and then worked at a Berlin department store. Following the Peaceful Revolution and reunification, he became Chairman of the Barnim District Council and Spa Director at the Wandlitz forest estate. Lutz Hildebrandt has been guiding groups of visitors through the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial site since 2009 and has been working as a contemporary witness at schools and educational institutions for the Coordinating Office of Contemporary Witnesses since 2011.