History UsefulNotes / EastGermany

* ''{{Sandmännchen}}''

* The appallingly dreadful film ''Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2'' involves a superpowered baby secret agent codenamed Kahuna (just go with it) whose jealous older brother seeks to spite him by defecting to East Germany and growing up to be a Stasi captain performing medical experiments on children(and later turned television producer) imprisoning his victims beneath the Berlin Wall, played by a painfully scenery-chewing John Voigt.

[[caption-width-right:320: [[BilingualBonus Halt!]] [[Music/MCHammer Hammerstaat!]]]]

* In Anime/{{Cyborg 009}}, Albert Heinrich aka 004's backstory in almost all continuities (save for the Archaia graphic novel) reveals that he was an East German truck driver who tried to defect with his girlfriend Hilda via using the truck to go past the Berlin Wall. It soon went FromBadToWorse, with her dying and him being wounded and then re-made into a cyborg by Black Ghost. (Plus 40 years of cryogenic sleep in the 2001 series, thanks to its SettingUpdate.)

On the other hand, the East German rail network retained the pre-1945 name of Deutsche Reichsbahn ("German Imperial Railways"), while the West Germans renamed theirs [[UsefulNotes/DeutscheBahn Deutsche Bundesbahn]] ("German Federal Railways"). This may have been done since several treaties dating to the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII mentioned special privileges--particularly relating to trackage rights in West Berlin, including the right to run the [[UsefulNotes/BerlinUAndSBahn S-Bahn]] there--given by name to ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' that might not have transferred automatically to ''VEB Bahn der DDR'' or some such, so it was best not to risk it. In 1994 the two were unified to form the new "Deutsche Bahn AG", though the name "Bundesbahn" somehow still sticks around in the minds of many West-Germans.

The GDR was also famous for its bureaucratic nomenclature. Coffins for example were named ''Erdmöbel'' (literally: ground furniture), or the term ''Sättigungsbeilage'' (literally: ''[[EvenTheSubtitlerIsStumped Well, it is difficult to translate, really.]]'' It would be something like "a filling side dish", and means stuff like potatoes, dumplings or rice as a supplement to a proper meal[[note]]Though German cuisine usually includes one source of carbohydrates as a necessary component of a proper meal, besides meat and vegetables. So it's doubly strange that it was called a "supplement".[[/note]]). Even more hilarious were the words they invented for religious stuff, like ''Frühjahrsschokoladenhohlkörper'' (hollow chocolate article of spring - a chocolate Easter Bunny) and ''Jahresendflügelpuppe'' (winged doll of the year's end - a Christmas angel for the Christmas tree and the like). The reason: Religion wasn't verboten in the GDR, but the ruling people didn't like it too much either.

During its early years, the conservative government of UsefulNotes/WestGermany did everything they could to not acknowledge East Germany's existence; breaking off diplomatic relations with every state (other than the USSR, which was too big to ignore) that acknowledged the GDR, calling it derogatory names like "[[Series/EinHerzUndEineSeele Ostzone]]" (east zone), "Sowjetische Besatzungszone" (Soviet-occupied Zone), "so-called GDR" and "Undeutsche Undemokratische Diktatur" ([[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Un-German Undemocratic Dictatorship]]), and generally claiming that western Germany was the only legitimate German state. The GDR rulers did the same, just the other way round. Later, under Social Democrat Willy Brandt, diplomatic relations between the Germanies improved (the so-called ''Neue Ostpolitik'', "New Eastern Policy") and relations with the Eastern Bloc were established. However, all the way until 1990 there was a lot of InsistentTeminology on the part of West Germany when it came to the East. For instance, the "embassy" in East Berlin was not called a ''Botschaft'' but a "''ständige Vertretung''" and maps went to absurd lengths when describing the ''de facto'' borders of Europe with terms like "administered by Poland" for the former German territories east of Oder and Neiße.

During its early years, the conservative government of UsefulNotes/WestGermany did everything they could to not acknowledge East Germany's existence; breaking off diplomatic relations with every state (other than the USSR, which was too big to ignore) that acknowledged the GDR, calling it derogatory names like "[[Series/EinHerzUndEineSeele Ostzone]]" (east zone), "Sowjetische Besatzungszone" (Soviet-occupied Zone), "so-called GDR" and "Undeutsche Undemokratische Diktatur" ([[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Un-German Undemocratic Dictatorship]]), and generally claiming that western Germany was the only legitimate German state. The GDR rulers did the same, just the other way round. Later, under Social Democrat Willy Brandt, diplomatic relations between the Germanies improved (the so-called ''Neue Ostpolitik'', "New Eastern Policy") and relations with the Eastern Bloc were established.

* ''Series/TheSingingRingingTree'', a fairy tale filmed by the East German DEFA studio in 1957 and adapted by the BBC as part of the "Tales From Europe" strand, being oft-repeated on British TV during the 1960s and 70s. Well enough known to have been spoofed by TheFastShow.

Under considerable Soviet influence (and with a huge Soviet military presence, the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany), East Germany is best known for the massive amount of surveillance carried out on its citizens by its SecretPolice, the ''[[TheStasi Ministerium für Staatssicherheit]]'' (Ministry for State Security), known as "Stasi". Its police force, the ''Volkspolizei'' (People's Police, known as "Vopos" for short) were also fairly notorious. It built the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall and heavily fortified the UsefulNotes/IronCurtain to stop its people from fleeing to the West (officially, it was to prevent Western spies going East -- it probably did that, too [[note]]well, except for the Military Liaison Missions, see below[[/note]]).

On the other hand, the East German rail network retained the pre-1945 name of Deutsche Reichsbahn ("German Imperial Railways"), while the West Germans renamed theirs Deutsche Bundesbahn ("German Federal Railways"). This may have been done since several treaties dating to the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII mentioned special privileges--particularly relating to trackage rights in West Berlin, including the right to run the [[UsefulNotes/BerlinUAndSBahn S-Bahn]] there--given by name to ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' that might not have transferred automatically to ''VEB Bahn der DDR'' or some such, so it was best not to risk it.

There is a degree of "Ostalgie" ("Eastalgia") in TheBerlinRepublic, including GDR-themed parties.

The Eastern side did have [[UsefulNotes/OssisWithOsas a pretty good military]], getting the full Soviet versions of military tech rather than the weaker export versions. Planned the one or other raid on West Germany too, but the unification stopped the plan before it could be executed. [[PuttingOnTheReich Their uniforms, though...]] Due to Germany still being, in many regards, an occupied [[strike:country]] [[strike:couple of countries]] [[InsistentTerminology country with two separate and independent governments]], the Western powers (US, UK, France) had [[OvertOperative Military Liaison Missions]] in the GDR, allowing them to observe Soviet forces in action.

East Germany also did quite well in sporting events... largely because many of its athletes were doped up to the eyeballs with the latest performance-enhancing drugs, in an effort to make the Communist regime look like it was working on the international stage. Most would suffer serious health problems as a result. In American TV of the [[TheSeventies seventies]] and [[TheEighties eighties]] look for many jokes about East German sportswomen [[VillainousCrossdresser not really being women]]. Less amusingly, some female athletes were so badly messed up by the doping regimen (which in some cases started at the age of ''ten'') that they had to undergo a full sex change operation, while others found themselves unable to properly bear children.

Most of East Germany could pick up West German TV networks, which helped undermine the regime. The channels couldn't be jammed since it would also jam West Germany and that would be bad diplomatically. The Dresden and Rügen areas couldn't, so were dubbed "The Valley of the Clueless". This was done a) because GDR television was full of propaganda and b) it appears not to have been that good. The only programmes that TheOtherWiki discusses in its English version are:
* ''Der schwarze Kanal'' ("The Black Channel"- derived from a German plumbing term for sewer): Think of a Communist {{MST}}ing of West German television news, only without the humour. Or the popularity.[[note]]One urban myth even going so far as to claim power station enginers struggled to prevent blackouts ensuing from viewers turning their sets off when it was broadcast![[/note]] (May fall under SoBadItsGood, though.) Or, basically, you'd have clips of West German news programmes and presenter Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler[[note]]nicknamed "Sudel-Ede", or "Botch Eddie" for his vitriolic style, according to TheOtherWiki[[/note]] providing pro-regime, anti-Western commentary on those clips in an attempt to undermine beliefs that Western news was more accurate than the Eastern offering...

The GDR was also famous for its bureaucratic nomenclature. Coffins for example were named ''Erdmöbel'' (literally: ground furniture), or the term ''Sättigungsbeilage'' (literally: ''[[EvenTheSubtitlerIsStumped Well it is difficult to translate, really.]]'' It would be something like "a filling side dish", and means stuff like potatoes, dumplings or rice as a supplement to a proper meal[[note]]Though German cuisine usually includes one source of carbohydrates as a necessary component of a proper meal, besides meat and vegetables. So it's doubly strange that it was called a "supplement".[[/note]]). Even more hilarious were the words they invented for religious stuff, like ''Frühjahrsschokoladenhohlkörper'' (hollow chocolate article of spring - a chocolate Easter Bunny) and ''Jahresendflügelpuppe'' (winged doll of the year's end - a Christmas angel for the Christmas tree and the like). The reason: Religion wasn't verboten in the GDR, but the ruling people didn't like it too much either.

The East Germans had their own state airline. They originally called it Deutsche Lufthansa, but the West Germans complained and got awarded that trademark, so it adopted the name of a separate charter airline- [[InherentlyFunnyWords Interflug]].

On the other hand, the East German rail network retained the pre-1945 name of Deutsche Reichsbahn ("German Imperial Railways"), while the West Germans renamed theirs Deutsche Bundesbahn ("German Federal Railways"). This may have been done since several treaties dating to the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo mentioned special privileges--particularly relating to trackage rights in West Berlin, including the right to run the [[UsefulNotes/BerlinUAndSBahn S-Bahn]] there--given by name to ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' that might not have transferred automatically to ''VEB Bahn der DDR'' or some such, so it was best not to risk it.

In a curious note, the DDR also [[strike:"owns"]] does not own an island off the coast of Cuba as a gift from Castro, although some [[SarcasmMode incredibly funny people]] like to twist facts to make it look that way.

* The rogue fictional Eastern Block state of Pottsylvania in ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'', despite the thick Slavic accents of many of its citizens, had many elements making out to be a parody of East Germany, most notably the fact that there were Teutonic Iron Crosses everywhere (despite the East Germans not using the symbol) and the fact that Boris and Natasha's boss Fearless Leader closely reseambled a stereotypical SS officer (a nod to East Germany's Putting On The Reich uniforms.)

East German agents were also common in UsefulNotes/ColdWar fiction, partly because of their major role in the WarsawPact and partly (possibly) to what might be called the "[[TheSimpsons German Commie Nazi]]" factor, which allowed writers to combine the worst stereotypes of Germans, Nazis and Communists.

''Film/CoolRunnings'' features a nasty East German. The East German Judge was a common element at international sporting events such as TheOlympics, where they would invariably give ridiculously low scores to anyone not from CommieLand; the term has come to mean anyone who seems to grade harshly and give low scores, such as Kishi Asako on ''IronChef''.

** Prussia nicknames his younger brother, Germany, [[WhatdoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic "West"]].

* [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/features/polyplay.shtml The video game ''Poly Play'']] was the only video game officially created in East Germany. Strictly speaking, it's a collection of eight different arcade games, including a ''PacMan'' clone. It is low resolution, uses a complete TV set as a screen, and is emulated in MAME, the ROM allegedly being freely available (which is probably not true, since ''someone'' must have inherited the East German copyrights - but apparently, no one can tell). It has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly_Play an article]] on TheOtherWiki.

East Germany's most famous consumer products were the Exacta and Praktica cameras (the Praktica brand still exists; it was part of the Kombinat Volks Eigener Betrieb Zeiss Jena (how's that for a company name, eh?) that ''invented'' the prism SLR design which is still the standard for cameras today - one of the few communist inventions to have an impact in the west), MZ motorcycles (whose engine technology gave Suzuki quite a boost in the early '60's) and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabant Trabant]] [[TheAllegedCar car, which was, by Western standards, obsolete before the '60s were over]] but gave many a Worker and his family the opportunity to move themselves about a bit, trailing a blue two-stroke smoke cloud. It pretty much disappeared from the East German streets as soon as the Wall opening brought other choices, but it's now considered a [[TheAllegedCar classic car]]. Some drivers have succeeded in making their Trabants capable of passing the [=MoT=], Britain's strict government-mandated roadworthiness test; divine intervention is suspected. However the Trabant, suitably renovated, is making a bit of a comeback today among enthusiasts, who rebuild them into customized hotrods or simply restore them to better-than-new conditions.

Like any proper PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, the German Democratic Republic ''did'' have elections, and other parties than the Socialist SED, but they were far from democratic. East Germans called this voting "Falten gehen" (going to fold), because anybody who did anything but fold their ballot (like crossing out candidates, or even staying at home) and put it in the urn immediately became suspicious. As the East Germans said, the only way to vote was "by foot", i.e. leaving the GDR for UsefulNotes/WestGermany. Well, until 1961 that is, [[UsefulNotes/BerlinWall afterwards this was less of an option]].

* ''{{Sandmaennchen}}''

-->--'''Creator/BertoltBrecht''', ''Die Lösung'', written after the East German government and [[RedsWithRockets Soviet forces]] massacred 513 workers demonstrating for better conditions.

-->''After the uprising of the 17th of June\\

Under considerable Soviet influence (and with a huge Soviet military presence, the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany), East Germany is best known for the massive amount of surveillance carried out on its citizens by its SecretPolice, the ''[[TheStasi Ministerium für Staatssicherheit]]'' (Ministry for State Security), known as "Stasi". Its police force, the ''Volkspolizei'' (People's Police, known as "Vopos" for short) were also fairly notorious. It built the BerlinWall and heavily fortified the UsefulNotes/IronCurtain to stop its people from fleeing to the West (officially, it was to prevent Western spies going East -- it probably did that, too [[note]]well, except for the Military Liaison Missions, see below[[/note]]).

Like any proper PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, the German Democratic Republic ''did'' have elections, and other parties than the Socialist SED, but they were far from democratic. East Germans called this voting "Falten gehen" (going to fold), because anybody who did anything but fold their ballot (like crossing out candidates, or even staying at home) and put it in the urn immediately became suspicious. As the East Germans said, the only way to vote was "by foot", i.e. leaving the GDR for UsefulNotes/WestGermany. Well, until 1961 that is, [[BerlinWall afterwards this was less of an option]].

Under considerable Soviet influence (and with a huge Soviet military presence, the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany), East Germany is best known for the massive amount of surveillance carried out on its citizens by its SecretPolice, the ''[[TheStasi Ministerium für Staatssicherheit]]'' (Ministry for State Security), known as "Stasi". Its police force, the ''Volkspolizei'' (People's Police, known as "Vopos" for short) were also fairly notorious. It built the BerlinWall and heavily fortified the IronCurtain to stop its people from fleeing to the West (officially, it was to prevent Western spies going East -- it probably did that, too [[note]]well, except for the Military Liaison Missions, see below[[/note]]).

* [[JohnLeCarre John le Carré]] used East Germany as a subject in his early novels, including ''Call for the Dead'', ''The Looking-Glass War'', and, most strikingly, ''The Spy Who Came in from the Cold''.

* ''Night Crossing'', a film about two families who escape from the DDR via a home-made hot air balloon.
* The hilarious comedy ''OneTwoThree'' is set in both halves of Berlin, before the wall was built (which lead to DudeNotFunny and TooSoon when this happened shortly before the movie hit the theaters, even if it wasn't director Creator/BillyWilder's fault).
* The rogue fictional Eastern Block state of Pottsylvania in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, despite the thick Slavic accents of many of its citizens, had many elements making out to be a parody of East Germany, most notably the fact that there were Teutonic Iron Crosses everywhere (despite the East Germans not using the symbol) and the fact that Boris and Natasha's boss Fearless Leader closely reseambled a stereotypical SS officer (a nod to East Germany's Putting On The Reich uniforms.)

* ''Series/AktuelleKamera''- the East German TV news broadcast, which was pretty much Propaganda.

* ''Der schwarze Kanal'' ("The Black Channel"- derived from a German plumbing term for sewer): Think of a Communist {{MST}}ing of West German television news, only without the humour. Or the popularity. (May fall under SoBadItsGood, though.) Or, basically, you'd have clips of West German news programmes and presenter Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler[[note]]nicknamed "Sudel-Ede", or "Botch Eddie" for his vitriolic style, according to TheOtherWiki[[/note]] providing pro-regime, anti-Western commentary on those clips in an attempt to undermine beliefs that Western news was more accurate than the Eastern offering...

* ''Der schwarze Kanal'' ("The Black Channel"- derived from a German plumbing term for sewer): Think of a Communist {{MST}}ing of West German television news, only without the humour. Or the popularity. (May fall under SoBadItsGood, though.) Or, basically, you'd have clips of West German news programmes and presenter Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler[[note]]nicknamed "Sudel-Ede", or "Botch Eddie" for his vitriolic style, according to TheOtherWiki[[/note]] providing pro-regime, anti-Western commentary on those clips in an attempt to undermine beleifs that Western news was more accurate than the Eastern offering...

* ''Der schwarze Kanal'' ("The Black Channel"- derived from a German plumbing term for sewer): Think of a Communist {{MST}}ing of West German television news, only without the humour. Or the popularity. (May fall under SoBadItsGood, though.) Or, basically, you'd have clips of West German news programmes and presenter Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler (nicknamed "Sudel-Ede", or "Botch Eddie" for his vitriolic style) providing pro-regime, anti-Western commentary on those clips in an attempt to undermine beleifs that Western news was more accurate than the Eastern offering...

** Fake ones are made in ''Film/GoodByeLenin!'', which also features actual clips.

* ''Der schwarze Kanal'' ("The Black Channel"- derived from a German plumbing term for sewer): Think of a Communist {{MST}}ing of West German television news, only without the humour. Or the popularity. May fall under SoBadItsGood, though.

East Germany was one of the economic success stories of CommieLand, with a decent agricultural system and enough manufacturing to put consumer goods within reach of many; their flag reflects this with its hammer and pair of compasses instead of the ubiquitous sickle. They achieved this despite the fact that, like the rest of CommieLand, the government invested far more than was necessary into the military and heavy industry. In fact, while the 1989 protesters had popular support for doing away with the oppressive regime, many East Germans were proud of their state and were not happy with the way that East Germany "[[InsistentTerminology became part of the effective area of the Basic Law of Germany]]" quite so summarily. [[note]]The term ''annexation'' is frequently used. This is incorrect. There was (in theory) only one German state, divided into UsefulNotes/WestGermany, East Germany and the lands occupied by UsefulNotes/{{Poland}} and the UsefulNotes/SovietUnion. East Germany adopted the laws of UsefulNotes/WestGermany and the lands east of the Oder-Neiße border were indeed annexed (or ceded to) the respective countries. Berlin was a special case.[[/note]] At least not after realising that reunification did not bring them an instant paradise, and that the now-ruling Western leaders weren't shy about handing out pink slips.[[note]] Neither were they particularly interested in keeping potential economic rivals of Western companies alive until they found their footing. A lot of previously state-owned factories were sold for next-to-nothing by the new government and then closed down by the "investors".[[/note]]

The ''Deutsche Demokratische Republik'' (German [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Democratic Republic]]) was what was created in 1949 when the Soviet zone of occupied Germany became its own country. Accordingly, it was CommieLand.

There ''were'' elections, and other parties than the Socialist SED, but they were far from democratic. East Germans called this voting "Falten gehen" (going to fold), because anybody who did anything but fold their ballot (like crossing out candidates, or even staying at home) and put it in the urn immediately became suspicious. As the East Germans said, the only way to vote was "by foot", i.e. leaving the GDR for UsefulNotes/WestGermany. Well, until 1961 that is, [[BerlinWall afterwards this was less of an option]].

-->--'''Bertold Brecht''', ''Die Lösung'', written after the East German government and [[RedsWithRockets Soviet forces]] massacred 513 workers demonstrating for better conditions.

The ''Deutsche Demokratische Republik'' (German [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Democratic Republic]]) was what was created when the Soviet zone of occupied Germany became its own country. Accordingly, it was CommieLand.

The leaders of the freshly founded GDR were Walter Ulbricht ("the guy with the Lenin beard"), Wilhelm Pieck ("the guy with the potbelly") and Otto Grotewohl ("the guy with the glasses" - not [[Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses this one]], obviously). As early as 1953, shortly after Stalin's death, the state had its first big crisis when workers rose against the government on June 17th. It didn't end too well. Even Communist author Creator/BertoltBrecht criticized the government in his poem ''The Situation'': "Would it not be be simpler then for the government, To dissolve the people and elect another?"