Auferstanden aus Ruinen: Some impressions of East Germany

Previously posted at another site, which recently purged me, DDR style. This was intended as a "review" of the DDR flag, which they were actually selling! Its original title was "Taking it easy with Gysi", a phrase I stole from that DDR-loving outfit, the Spartacist League. 

I'm old enough to remember the German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany or the DDR. And yes, I've been there. In Sassnitz, East Berlin and Dresden.

Oh sorry, did I say East Berlin? I mean Berlin, Haupstadt der DDR!

This advanced socialist society used steam-powered locomotives still during the 1970's. The border guards and custom officers at Sassnitz and Dresden were just as scary and "German" as you imagined them to be. If you didn't have a transit visa (paid for in foreign currency), you were in trouble. Carrying evangelical Bibles across the border was another no-no.

I also remember the old, Cold War version of Berlin Ostbahnhof. I, my brother and two aunts were virtually stranded there once, on our way to a more hospitable and laid-back European nation. We missed the so-called Meridian train, due to the usual delays in the DDR railway traffic. Ostbahnhof was large. In fact, it was the central station in East Berlin. Yet, we couldn't find anything to drink, except beer - which is unsuitable for children. After some looking, we found a sunky bar in a very long and empty corridor which served something that at least looked non-alcoholic. Non-alcoholic beer, perhaps? It didn't taste very well, though. Finally, we took a ride with the metro to Lichtenberg, the new central station. Unfortunately, it wasn't finished yet, so there was nothing to drink there, either!

Clearly, the Central Planning Agency of the German Democratic Republic had missed something. But then, I suppose a Coke was off limits east of Checkpoint Charlie, anyway, LOL.

I also vaguely remember a really run down metro station called Ostkreuz. I laughed heartily the other day, when I read on Wikipedia that Ostkreuz is *still* run down. Apparently, the station hasn't been given an overhaul for ages. Well, it seems the new, united and capitalist Germany sometimes misses a thing or two, as well...

I also saw the famous TV tower. But not the Berlin Wall, Brandenburger Tor or the checkpoint. It was mostly Ostbahnhof, Ostkreuz and Lichtenberg, as far as I was concerned.

Now, did I *really* miss something? I don't think so. Frankly, I was fed up with New Germany after this experience! A friend of mine, on his way to the goulash socialism in Hungary, saw more of the DDR than I ever did. He described it as a really extreme, kitschy and "Soviet" place, filled with propaganda posters, Soviet flags and huge portraits of Marx, Engels and Lenin. (And presumably Erich Honecker.) Nothing like Hungary, then. ;-)

The weird design on in the centre of the flag is the coat of arms of East Germany. It symbolizes the firm unity of workers, farmers and intellectuals. In reality, the DDR was a bizarre society with Stasi spies in every bush. The regime even had an international spy network. They gave secret asylum to the Baader Meinhof gang and had a cozy relationship with one Idi Amin. All DDR athletes were pumped up with steroids so they could win the gold medals in the Olympic Games and make propaganda for New Germany. A small national minority known as Sorbs were given extensive rights, and their folksy dance teams were used for good propaganda effect. The Berlin Wall was euphemistically called The Great Anti-Fascist Defence Wall. Et cetera.

So, no I didn't miss much.

What the people of New Germany thought of all this became abundantly clear when the Wall come tumbling down. In the first and only free elections before re-unification with West Germany, only one political party demanded the continuation of East Germany as a Communist state. The party, known as the Spartakist Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands, was financed by an erratic left-wing sect in New York City (!), the so-called Spartacist League. With 2,600 votes, the Spartacists ended up last, getting less votes than the Beer-Drinkers' Party. (Any connection to Ostbahnhof?)

I admit that I would gladly have experienced that one! :D

Everyone else preferred taking it easy with Gysi.

Credit: Frank Vincents