What was it like to live in East Germany in the early 80's?

In conclusion of the end of World War II, Germany decided to split their country into four zones. With a major physical representation of this split being the berlin wall that divided the western and eastern worlds. East Germany otherwise know as the German democratic republic (GDR) developed a distinct culture and had many developments over the years due to their separation from the West.

The West was very capitalist, modern, free owned by the UK and US whereas the East was communist under the ruling of the Soviet Union. The East was government controlled using the secret police, The Stasi.

Some people may agree to the fact that East Germany was hidden away from reality in their ‘own bubble’ and never actually experienced the ‘real world’ until the Wall fell down 44 years after it was built. Others may argue this and state that even though the GDR restricted and controlled many of the outputs of its citizens in many ways, the government provided multiple benefits for them. The GDR offered work, support, free health care, free places in nurseys and schools, affordable houses etc. which are not common in todays society.  There was a sense of valued community in east Germany, the type of place where you could let your child walk to school by themselves and not have to worry about them getting there alone. Everyone watched out for one another regardless of status and financial standing.

What was banned in east Germany?

•        Movies that promoted capitalist ideologies such as Grease.
•        Music heavily censored. The lyrics were carefully reviewed for any hints of dissent and bands were only allowed to sing in German.
•         Fashion views were different, female models were everyday women who promoted a healthy body and healthy living.
•        East Germany created Vita-cola as alternative to Coca-Cola due to the difficulty of getting it.
•        Jeans band in the GDR until the 1970’s
•       The Trabant car was the only allowed automobile in east Germany, sometimes it took up to fifteen years to receive one.
•       Western porn was banned in east Germany.

There was persistent unpredictability of supply in the GDR such as shortages of chocolate, meat and butter. Many people had to improvise or trade when this would happen. Along with this east German salary were very low but life essentials where cheap. This way things such as bread, water and rent were affordable but when purchasing something at a world market price they could be heavily expensive. Selection in shops were poor so when desirable goods came in, they were hard to get your hands on. In addition to this, unemployment was non-existent yet people would question that the state are ‘inventing’ work rather than leaving people idle.

The Stasi was a secret police force which had a large network of intelligence. They were able to infiltrate every facet of society. Constant surveillance. People were afraid to do anything remotely wrong which would bring the STASI onto them. Even if they were against the East German communist government, they were afraid to show it. Citizens of the GDR would live a double life with how they live at home compared to outside their house in public.

Economy - In economy, the decrease of heavy industry (coal mining, steel production) was at its peak; coal mines had already been closed in the 60s to 70s with few exceptions, now steel production was breaking apart. The following restructuring of the German economy led to the expression, that “Germany is the weak man of Europe”