Breadfreeing

At the town hall in Neustadt an der Orla, a small town in Thuringia, there is a stone bread hanging from an iron ring with an equally stone toad sitting on it. This landmark was once used as a pillory stone, today perhaps still as a memorial stone, and I have replaced this so-called “toad stone” with a freshly baked loaf (replica of the original).

There is a legend behind the stone: Once there was a farmer who worked hard all his life. When he got older, his children asked him to hand over his farm to them. He agreed, on the condition that they would care for him as long as he lived. So the deal was made, but over the years, his children grew tired of him. They neglected him more and more and eventually banned him from the dinner table, as he had become a messy eater in his old age. Finally he was put up in a little room and almost forgotten, not even fed regularly. The bread bin remained locked for him, and one day he died. From that day on, a big ugly toad appeared in the bread bin, crouched on every fresh loaf of bread, and could not be removed.

The situation in many East German towns and regions today can be compared in a way to this old legend: Due to the poor economic situation, young people are leaving to start a new life far away. Only the elderly remain, so the relationships between the generations have become unbalanced again. The square in front of the town hall was declared a “nationally liberated zone” by right-wingers in 2000. The action uses the old story to question the situation once again.