Adolescence is considered a liminal phase between childhood and adulthood. In modern societies, adolescents largely make the transition from youth to adulthood independently. At the same time, elements of classic initiation rituals are always present in how transitions are undergone (Friebertshäuser, 2009, p. 188). Within the GDR, a formal youth inauguration ceremony (Jugendweihe) was a central instance of socialisation.

The ceremony was introduced in 1954 with great propaganda effort as a declaration of allegiance to the state and its ideology (Kauke-Keçeci, 2002, p. 212). It was implemented within a very short time. In 1955, only 17.7 percent of each age cohort participated; by 1961, this figure had risen to 90.3 percent; and by 1989 to almost 98 percent of all adolescents (cf. ibid.; Bickelhaupt, 2015). The proportion of those who attended confirmation decreased over time, although there were always those who participated in the ceremony as well as confirmation, those who only participated in the Christian profession of faith, and a few who did not participate in any of the youth rites.

Since its introduction, the ceremony had been "an important component of the anti-church education system in the spirit of the SED (German Socialist Unity Party, Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands) and was in direct competition with confirmation. The pledge became an oath of allegiance to the state" (Brunotte, 1999, p. 144). In the spring of each year, after a year of preparation for the ceremony, eighth graders gathered in cultural centres and theatres in formal evening attire and were then called to take the stage to pledge their allegiance to the SED state and its policies. At the ceremony, the ten commandments for the new socialist man („10 Gebote für den neuen sozialistischen Menschen"), first proclaimed by Walter Ulbricht on July 10, 1958, at the fifth SED party congress, were read aloud. During the ceremony, each commandment was read out individually and ritually confirmed in chorus by the eighth-graders with “Yes, we pledge to that” (German: „Ja, das geloben wir.“, denigrated from: „Ja. Das globen wir.“, denigrated to “Yes, we believe that“ in dialect). They were thereby required to always work for the international solidarity of the working class and all working people, "as well as for the unbreakable bond between all socialist countries" (first commandment), "to live cleanly and decently and to respect one’s family" (ninth commandment), or "to practice solidarity with the peoples fighting for their national liberation and defending their national independence" (tenth commandment). After the pledge, each participant on stage received a certificate adorned with carnations, along with a booklet made specifically for the ceremony (Jugendweiheschrift) with various differing titles, including “Universe Earth Humanity” („Weltall Erde Mensch”, from 1965), “The Meaning of Our Life” („Von Sinn unseres Lebens”, from 1983), and “Socialism – Your World” („Der Sozialismus – Deine Welt”, from 1974). The contents of the books changed over time and were adapted to current developments. However, they always focused on the presentation of a comprehensive system of nature and society based on the Marxist-Leninist model (Wolle, 2005).

Most participants remember above all the family celebrations and the numerous cash gifts they received, which they used to buy things like their first Simson or a double cassette deck (see Lehmann, 2022). Within the GDR, the formal youth inauguration ceremony was thus a festive initiation that marked the socialist transition to adulthood.