Border control DDR

[Ingsoc75]

Found this on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNkPV4Nbh2s

[Venturefan260]

I saw this a few years ago, it is a great video showing the Zollverwaltung in action. Fascinating to see how someone was trying to smuggle Third Reich memorabilia!

-Joel

[Tretov]

I saw this a few years ago, it is a great video showing the Zollverwaltung in action. Fascinating to see how someone was trying to smuggle Third Reich memorabilia!

-Joel

Saw that too, at 8:30 ... I take it this would go for militaria going out from GDR as well, in whatever extent there was any export of such.

[Venturefan260]

Saw that too, at 8:30 ... I take it this would go for militaria going out from GDR as well, in whatever extent there was any export of such.

From what I've heard, it was practically impossible to get your hands on East German militaria back when the country still existed. However, there are also rumors about the GDR government/Stasi organizing some exports of militaria to foreign countries in order to gain foreign currency. Not too hard to believe!

-Joel

[Ingsoc75]

I believe it. DDR was involved in all sorts of ventures to get hard currency.

[Tretov]

From what I've heard, it was practically impossible to get your hands on East German militaria back when the country still existed. However, there are also rumors about the GDR government/Stasi organizing some exports of militaria to foreign countries in order to gain foreign currency. Not too hard to believe!

-Joel

How about export of Third reich items, as possibly depicted in the film?

[Venturefan260]

How about export of Third reich items, as possibly depicted in the film?

Perhaps by individual citizens through smuggling as we saw in the film. But on a governmental level, probably not. I doubt they had much of that stuff anyway, and I especially doubt if West Germany, or any other government would've been interested in buying old and outdated Nazi junk.

The HVA/KVP did use some old Wehrmacht equipment during the late 40's and the 50's (Luger/Walther pistols for example) and they were used until the early 60s. By the time the currency crisis happened in the 80s, I would think that all the old WH surplus was long since sold or discarded.

-Joel

[vacollector]

From talks with old collector, I have to agreed with the earlier statements on how had it was to obtain DDR items. DDR items pre-1989 carried a big premium, and many sources of the items came from places like Africa, Central America and I would be hard to the believe from the East Germans themselves.

[Todd Holmes]

I liked the soundtrack. It reminded me of The Brady Bunch or some goofy 70's TV commercial.

[RichW.]

Back in the late 60s early 70s DDR militaria was the most difficult to obtain of all East Bloc countries. I knew an advanced ollector who paid over $300 for a DDR helmet. Ten years later they were $10 a pop. What's the going rate now?