The Schwabing riots in Munich of 1962 alreday indicated the beginning of a decade in the light of protest. The U.S. peace movement against the Vietnam War spilled over to Europe, the student movement and the increasingly radical APO led the protests against the prevailing conditions in Germany. Parents had to face uncomfortable questions about their past and the youth proclaimed the sexual revolution. The rebellion of the young people became a global phenomenon. Its heyday was celebrated by the hippies at the Woodstock Festival in 1969.
The complex '68-movement changed the daily life in Germany sustainably. Germany became more liberal and open. The mini skirt conquered the fashion world, migrant workers from southern Europe brought unprecedented cultural diversity to the Federal Republic.
Dramatic events shaped the 1960s. In 1962, the Cuban missile crisis kept the world in suspense. A year later, the assassination of John F. Kennedy shocked the people. The construction of the Berlin Wall and the violent suppression of the "Prague Spring" cemented the realities of the Cold War even more. At the end of the decade, the final frontier of mankind seemed to be crossed with the first manned moon landing.