A Trip to Eastern Germany’s countryside, 20 years after DDR
By CircusTraveller | Location: Germany | 05/06/09
http://matadortravel.com/travel-blog...ears-after-ddr
During a recent trip to Germany, I went to Dresden, close to the Czek Republic in the south east of Germany. Friends I met in 3 other continents met me there to show me to their near village, Kamsdorf, in the Thüringen region, known as “The green heart of Germany. This simple meeting turned out to be one of the most culturally interesting trip I had in Europe. You think you know anything of the fall of the Berlin wall from your Berlin walking tour? Well a trip to modern East Germany’s countryside would make yourself realise how most of what we learned is seen only from one side of this wall.
Both Dresden and their village used to be part of East Germany/DDR regime, which everyone remembers as the collapse of the Berlin wall, 20 years ago. Annika, my friend, and her friendly Brazilian boyfriend who speaks fluent German, showed me around the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt region, which boast itself as the region where there is no highway less than 1 hour away, a feat in Germany nowadays.
For the average West European or American, the fall of the Berlin wall was a great moment in history, widely televised with an horrible choice of singer. That was not the case in Dresden and it’s surroundings. “We the Germans say that Dresden is in the ‘bottom’ of Germany” Annika explains me. Due to this special geographic characteristic, Dresden could not get West TV, Radio or other propaganda media from the west like they did in Berlin for example. “People here didn’t know much about the West after the war. We knew it was capitalist and they could have anything, but we also had everything we needed” says Inge Wenzel, Annika’s grandmother. Everyone had food, work, clothes and with a bit of time in the waiting list, anyone could get their own Trabbi.
Annika, who is now 26, was only 6 when the Berlin wall became history. She has little souvenirs of that time, but everywhere we look she points me ‘typical East German furniture’ and such things. Her mother, in the middle of her adult life, saw much more difference. “You know, we heard on the radio that the wall had fallen down here, but the next day, like everyday, the workers went to work in the state factories, childrens went to school. It was a normal day” says Ilona Buettner, who’s now 48. But, soon things started to change. West Germany offered 100 Marks per person travelling to East Germany, so that they can taste what Capitalism is like. East Germans packed their Trabbi, bringing anyone they could fit in the car to get the extra money, and did a sightseeing trip of capitalism. Annika says her most marking souvenir of the change back home was all the colors that appeared at her local Convenience store, where she helped her aunt. Instead of the 2 choices of chocolate they had, now there were up to 10 different brands, with many different designs and names. Bananas, which did not grow in East Germany and was a capitalism fruit, became available to all.
Annika’s grandmother explained me that when that East Germany vanished, so did all the public companies making East German goods. “Everyone had work at the time. We had an excellent bus system, which would take everyone to work at the right time, as they arranged the opening of the factories with the busses”. Then, all theses public factories closed, and we where all back to school to learn new things about the rest of the world. They also teached them new skills, new languages, to eventually maybe get them a new job. Many people had to relocate to find work, and it was hard times for many people. But, for the ones interested in politics and travel, this was a change for good.
Later, while enjoying a very German game of which I discovered the existence last year, underwater Rugby, George explain me that here the team used to be the best there is 30 years ago. But now, there are very little young people around, and no one to replace the old foxes. West Germany still has a low reputation.
Even today in East Germany the wages are lower. Most young people go to the West to get better wages, and while walking around Saalfield, we pass along dozens of empty shops and houses, victims of the exile to the west. Wages are still 25% higher in the west, even in this global economy. Still, it is better than in 1992, where an average 52% wage difference got people moving. But, my friend also notes that even nowadays East Germans are different than their cousins on the other side for seeking a job. In the DDR time, everyone was equal. You didn’t have to promote yourself, to make a résumé and argue why you where better than your neighbour. This is the education we had, and it still shows nowadays. Most of us never had to do that, we are not good at it and we don’t like it.
The next day, during a beautiful afternoon having the traditional coffee and cake in Annika grandfather’s shack in Drognitz. With Annika and George’s translating help, I asked her grandmother if they were more happy in the new capitalist Germany. After very little reflection, she tells me; “I don’t know. It’s the same. Before, everyone had jobs. We had everything, but not many choices. We didn’t need anything different. We didn’t see people wearing very different clothes, so it didn’t even come to our mind to make something different, to be different. There was no need. The busses and trains where very cheap, the food also. Here in the countryside we always had enough food and everyone had a roof. Some goods where difficult to get, but everyone was very handy and we would always make it somehow. It’s not because we couldn’t buy everything that we were poor. Also, here there was never people making manifestations of complaining about the Regime in our region. Yes, maybe some of us would have liked to be able to travel to other countries and maybe buy bananas, but we didn’t want or think of the regime to stop."
Being like the west was only important to people who wanted to be different, and do be more than the others. Artists, intellectuals and people that wanted to be outstanding. Even today, when travelling in countries, you can clearly see that most people have similar outfits, except a small minority.
For a North American like me, and having worked in Western Germany many times, I’ve quickly learned that many of the West Weiner eaters have never travelled to East Germany. Many still sees East Germany as a poor country, where people cannot travel much. “What a shock it was” Annika tells me while crying out one of her high pitched laugh, “when my Grandparents, while in an Italian resort island, where talking with an other German couple”. The other woman was proudly talking about how it had always been her dream to come here, and how beautiful it was. And then inevitably at some point the conversation went to their hometown. When she learned that they where from East Germany, the older woman almost had a heart attack. She couldn’t believe East Germans could afford to come there. Her dream, and her idea of East Germany, where broken that day. I’ve often encountered this prejudice in west Germany, but I’ve quickly learned that many East Germans actually travel more and appreciate it more than their neighbours, most probably because they could not do it before
From theses short days in a beautiful scene, I quickly discovered that the mostly cold, concise Germans that I knew before where maybe only on one side of a long gone frontier. East Germans are one of the most hospitable society. I’ve encountered, and they are so very giving and helpful. They would always politely try to understand my basic German and remind me every time how welcome I was to come by again. Here, they just want you, and their neighbour, and anyone to be happy and have everything you need. Maybe there is a lesson here to be learned…
By CircusTraveller | Location: Germany | 05/06/09
http://matadortravel.com/travel-blog...ears-after-ddr
During a recent trip to Germany, I went to Dresden, close to the Czek Republic in the south east of Germany. Friends I met in 3 other continents met me there to show me to their near village, Kamsdorf, in the Thüringen region, known as “The green heart of Germany. This simple meeting turned out to be one of the most culturally interesting trip I had in Europe. You think you know anything of the fall of the Berlin wall from your Berlin walking tour? Well a trip to modern East Germany’s countryside would make yourself realise how most of what we learned is seen only from one side of this wall.
Both Dresden and their village used to be part of East Germany/DDR regime, which everyone remembers as the collapse of the Berlin wall, 20 years ago. Annika, my friend, and her friendly Brazilian boyfriend who speaks fluent German, showed me around the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt region, which boast itself as the region where there is no highway less than 1 hour away, a feat in Germany nowadays.
For the average West European or American, the fall of the Berlin wall was a great moment in history, widely televised with an horrible choice of singer. That was not the case in Dresden and it’s surroundings. “We the Germans say that Dresden is in the ‘bottom’ of Germany” Annika explains me. Due to this special geographic characteristic, Dresden could not get West TV, Radio or other propaganda media from the west like they did in Berlin for example. “People here didn’t know much about the West after the war. We knew it was capitalist and they could have anything, but we also had everything we needed” says Inge Wenzel, Annika’s grandmother. Everyone had food, work, clothes and with a bit of time in the waiting list, anyone could get their own Trabbi.
Annika, who is now 26, was only 6 when the Berlin wall became history. She has little souvenirs of that time, but everywhere we look she points me ‘typical East German furniture’ and such things. Her mother, in the middle of her adult life, saw much more difference. “You know, we heard on the radio that the wall had fallen down here, but the next day, like everyday, the workers went to work in the state factories, childrens went to school. It was a normal day” says Ilona Buettner, who’s now 48. But, soon things started to change. West Germany offered 100 Marks per person travelling to East Germany, so that they can taste what Capitalism is like. East Germans packed their Trabbi, bringing anyone they could fit in the car to get the extra money, and did a sightseeing trip of capitalism. Annika says her most marking souvenir of the change back home was all the colors that appeared at her local Convenience store, where she helped her aunt. Instead of the 2 choices of chocolate they had, now there were up to 10 different brands, with many different designs and names. Bananas, which did not grow in East Germany and was a capitalism fruit, became available to all.
Annika’s grandmother explained me that when that East Germany vanished, so did all the public companies making East German goods. “Everyone had work at the time. We had an excellent bus system, which would take everyone to work at the right time, as they arranged the opening of the factories with the busses”. Then, all theses public factories closed, and we where all back to school to learn new things about the rest of the world. They also teached them new skills, new languages, to eventually maybe get them a new job. Many people had to relocate to find work, and it was hard times for many people. But, for the ones interested in politics and travel, this was a change for good.
Later, while enjoying a very German game of which I discovered the existence last year, underwater Rugby, George explain me that here the team used to be the best there is 30 years ago. But now, there are very little young people around, and no one to replace the old foxes. West Germany still has a low reputation.
Even today in East Germany the wages are lower. Most young people go to the West to get better wages, and while walking around Saalfield, we pass along dozens of empty shops and houses, victims of the exile to the west. Wages are still 25% higher in the west, even in this global economy. Still, it is better than in 1992, where an average 52% wage difference got people moving. But, my friend also notes that even nowadays East Germans are different than their cousins on the other side for seeking a job. In the DDR time, everyone was equal. You didn’t have to promote yourself, to make a résumé and argue why you where better than your neighbour. This is the education we had, and it still shows nowadays. Most of us never had to do that, we are not good at it and we don’t like it.
The next day, during a beautiful afternoon having the traditional coffee and cake in Annika grandfather’s shack in Drognitz. With Annika and George’s translating help, I asked her grandmother if they were more happy in the new capitalist Germany. After very little reflection, she tells me; “I don’t know. It’s the same. Before, everyone had jobs. We had everything, but not many choices. We didn’t need anything different. We didn’t see people wearing very different clothes, so it didn’t even come to our mind to make something different, to be different. There was no need. The busses and trains where very cheap, the food also. Here in the countryside we always had enough food and everyone had a roof. Some goods where difficult to get, but everyone was very handy and we would always make it somehow. It’s not because we couldn’t buy everything that we were poor. Also, here there was never people making manifestations of complaining about the Regime in our region. Yes, maybe some of us would have liked to be able to travel to other countries and maybe buy bananas, but we didn’t want or think of the regime to stop."
Being like the west was only important to people who wanted to be different, and do be more than the others. Artists, intellectuals and people that wanted to be outstanding. Even today, when travelling in countries, you can clearly see that most people have similar outfits, except a small minority.
For a North American like me, and having worked in Western Germany many times, I’ve quickly learned that many of the West Weiner eaters have never travelled to East Germany. Many still sees East Germany as a poor country, where people cannot travel much. “What a shock it was” Annika tells me while crying out one of her high pitched laugh, “when my Grandparents, while in an Italian resort island, where talking with an other German couple”. The other woman was proudly talking about how it had always been her dream to come here, and how beautiful it was. And then inevitably at some point the conversation went to their hometown. When she learned that they where from East Germany, the older woman almost had a heart attack. She couldn’t believe East Germans could afford to come there. Her dream, and her idea of East Germany, where broken that day. I’ve often encountered this prejudice in west Germany, but I’ve quickly learned that many East Germans actually travel more and appreciate it more than their neighbours, most probably because they could not do it before
From theses short days in a beautiful scene, I quickly discovered that the mostly cold, concise Germans that I knew before where maybe only on one side of a long gone frontier. East Germans are one of the most hospitable society. I’ve encountered, and they are so very giving and helpful. They would always politely try to understand my basic German and remind me every time how welcome I was to come by again. Here, they just want you, and their neighbour, and anyone to be happy and have everything you need. Maybe there is a lesson here to be learned…
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