Ostalgie

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ostalgie is a German term (the English equivalent would be eastalgia) referring to nostalgia for life in the former East Germany. It is a portmanteau of the German words Ost (east) and Nostalgie (nostalgia).

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and German reunification in the following year, most reminders of the old socialist regime were swept away as former citizens of the German Democratic Republic rushed to embrace their newfound political and economic freedoms. However, with the passing of time some East Germans missed certain aspects of their old lives. There are also many who do not identify with such cultural divisions, and deny the existence of separate East and West German perspectives. Ostalgie particularly refers to everyday parts of life in the former GDR that disappeared after reunification, overwhelmed by capitalism and Western culture.

Many businesses in Germany cater to those who feel Ostalgie. Now available are formerly defunct brands of East German foodstuffs, old state television programmes on video and DVD, and the previously widespread Wartburg and Trabant cars. Life in the GDR is the subject of several recent films, including Leander Haußmann's Sonnenallee (1999), Wolfgang Becker's internationally successful Good Bye Lenin! (2003), and Carsten Fiebeler's Kleinruppin forever (2004).

The term Ostalgie is occasionally used to refer to nostalgia for life under the socialist system in other former communist countries of Central Europe, most notably Poland.

[edit] See also

Culture of the German Democratic Republic
Vita-Cola: an example of a product revived by Ostalgie
Ampelmännchen: a distinctive "mascot" for the Ostalgie movement
Good Bye Lenin!: a movie portraying how the collapse of the wall affected a small family
Trabant: East German automobile produced until 1991; for some, an icon of East Germany.