The Youth initiation ceremony (Jugendweihe) is an East German phenomenon. It was adopted in 1954 in the former GDR as an obligatory pledge to socialism, displacing the Christian rite of confirmation. The number of young people choosing to undergo this initiation ceremony still runs to around 100,000.

• Lutz Mommartz /

• 1998 /

• 38 min - DV - Farbe