Ernst Thälmann Island ( or Cayo Blanco del Sur; or Südliche weiße Insel) is a 15 km long and 500 m wide island in the Gulf of Cazones that is named after Ernst Thälmann, a German communist politician. During a 1970s state visit to the German Democratic Republic (GDR) (East Germany), Fidel Castro made a promise that Cuba would donate an island to the East German government, and Cayo Blanco del Sur was renamed in a ceremony during a state visit by Erich Honecker. After the reunification of Germany, a claim could be made that Ernst Thälmann island was still part of GDR, however when a German newspaper tried to visit the island, they were told this transfer had only been "symbolic".

History

1970s

Until 1972, the island was known as Cayo Blanco del Sur. During a state visit in June 1972 by Erich Honecker, Fidel Castro renamed the island in honour of German communist politician and activist Ernst Thälmann. According to a newspaper article in Neues Deutschland dated 20 June 1972, the Cuban leader announced the renaming of the island, and one of its beaches to Playa República Democrática Alemana. East Germany's state television newscast, Aktuelle Kamera, reported on the ceremony and the unveiling of the bust of Thälmann on 18 August 1972 in the presence of the GDR ambassador, some East German delegates, and approximately 100 Cuban representatives. In March 1975, the East German government sent singer Frank Schöbel to Cuba to make music videos. Some footage of the island was also shot, which was later included in a documentary emphasizing the island as a symbol of GDR–Cuban friendship.

Recent history

In 1998, the island was severely hit by Hurricane Mitch, knocking over the bust of Thälmann. According to both the Cuban embassy in Germany and the German Foreign Office, the renaming was a "symbolic act", and the island was never transferred from Cuba. Neither of the German states controlled the island during or after the reunification. The film (2022), starring Max Riemelt, tells the story of an East Berliner who travels to Cuba to fulfil his late mother's wish to scatter her ashes on the Cayo Ernesto Thälmann.