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East Germany

Dossier: What life was like in communist East Germany

Die Ehrentribüne auf der Karl-Marx-Allee während der Militärparade am 7. Oktober 1989 in Ost-Berlin mit dem sowjetischen Staats- und Parteichef Michail Gorbatschow (2.v.l) dem DDR-Staatsratsvorsitzenden und SED-Generalsekretär Erich Honecker (3.v.l.), Raissa Gorbatschowa (hinter Honecker), die Gattin des sowjetischen Präsidenten und Willi Stoph (2.v.r.), Ministerpräsident der DDR. Mit einer Militärparde feierte die Führung der DDR die Gründung der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik vor 40 Jahren.

East Germans worked, cooked dinner and spent time with family and friends just like West Germans did. But they were also spied on by the Stasi and kept from leaving by the inner-German border. Click on the links below to find out more about what life was like for those living in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

East German living

Katarina Witt, socialism's most beautiful face

Katarina Witt was the GDR's poster athlete, everybody's darling in both East and West Germany. (07.01.2009) 

Typically Ossi -- Typically Wessi

It's been 20 years since East and West Germany reunified, but the terms "typically Ossi" and "typically Wessi" are still bandied about. We've selected some of the most common cliches. (05.01.2009) 

East German Stasi tried to recruit Merkel as a spy

The East German Stasi secret police once offered Angela Merkel a position as a spy, but she declined, citing her talkative nature. When the Berlin Wall fell, she toasted the event with a can of beer. (19.05.2009) 

Demolished treasures from East Germany

The former East Germany made significant contributions to modern architecture. Today, they would be historical landmarks full of insights into life in the GDR. But many have been lost. (31.07.2009) 

East German brands thrive 20 years after end of Communism

East German goods had a reputation for shoddy quality and gruesome styling, even if that wasn't always the case. Twenty years after the collapse of the Communist regime, East German brands are once again thriving. (03.10.2009) 

East German comic celebrates 400 editions of slapstick adventure

They've been goofing around in futuristic cities and ancient Rome for over 50 years. Now the Mosaik comic characters, who provided imaginary escape to many in communist East Germany, are celebrating their 400th edition. (07.04.2009) 

The Wall and the inner German border

Metro was cause of conflict and means of escape in divided Berlin

Twenty years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, an exhibition has opened in the German capital about one of the divided city's many anomalies - a local rail network that ran through the West but belonged to the East. (16.09.2009) 

Walled in! - The inner German border

For the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Deutsche Welle has developed a unique project in cooperation with the Berlin Wall Foundation: an animated depiction of the former German-German border. (29.06.2009) 

The Berlin Wall: A symbol of division

On August 13, 1961, construction began on the Berlin Wall. DW-WORLD.DE looks back at the building of an iconic Cold War symbol which divided familes, a nation and two very different ideologies. (13.08.2009) 

Audios and videos on the topic

Pop music in the two Germanies

More on this topic

Street in a town of the former GDR

Eastern Germany is western Germany's trillion euro bet 24.09.2010

German reunification, 20 years underway, has consumed billions of taxpayers' euros in the more affluent western half of the country. So will billions more be needed to keep the new states afloat 20 years from now?

Neo-Nazi skinhead pictured from behind

The rise of the far-right in the East 21.09.2010

Along with many other prejudices, eastern Germany has had to contend with a reputation for neo-Nazism. It's not entirely unjustified, but right-wing extremism in the East has roots in economic hardship.
The Post Tower in Bonn

Bonn booms since losing its status as capital 21.09.2010

For over 40 years the small town of Bonn was the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. After reunification the government moved back to Berlin, but Bonn didn't sink into provincial obscurity. Quite the contrary.

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