Many in the West still think of communist East Germany as a consumer wasteland, devoid of attractive products. Two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, SPIEGEL ONLINE takes stock of GDR department store shelves and, through archival material, uncovers a lost world. Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in einestages.de, SPIEGEL ONLINE's award-winning history portal. The discrete directive to journalists was clear: "Don't do anything that might awaken people's needs." The edict from the German Democratic Republic's Socialist Unity Party was meant to help protect the people of the communist state from anything that could spark Western-style consumer desires. Shopping sprees may be the norm in capitalist societies, since they boost demand in a supply-side economy. The economy of East Germany, however, became one of scarcity starting in the 1970s -- the GDR's citizens became increasingly sophisticated and began wanting more than the system could possibly supply. Necessities such as bicycles and washing machines were no longer enough -- leading the ruling party, the SED, to try and curb consumption. Still, it's not as if East German store shelves were empty of products. The selection might not have been Macy's or Marks and Spencers -- and the products may have lacked the glossy packaging of their Western cousins -- but they existed nonetheless. Indeed, East Germany had its own brands -- they just happened to have a socialist spin. And until the Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago, East Germans lived a consumer world of their own.
Many in the West still think of communist East Germany as a consumer wasteland, devoid of attractive products. Two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, SPIEGEL ONLINE takes stock of GDR department store shelves and, through archival material, uncovers a lost world.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in einestages.de, SPIEGEL ONLINE's award-winning history portal.
The discrete directive to journalists was clear: "Don't do anything that might awaken people's needs." The edict from the German Democratic Republic's Socialist Unity Party was meant to help protect the people of the communist state from anything that could spark Western-style consumer desires.
Shopping sprees may be the norm in capitalist societies, since they boost demand in a supply-side economy. The economy of East Germany, however, became one of scarcity starting in the 1970s -- the GDR's citizens became increasingly sophisticated and began wanting more than the system could possibly supply. Necessities such as bicycles and washing machines were no longer enough -- leading the ruling party, the SED, to try and curb consumption.
Still, it's not as if East German store shelves were empty of products. The selection might not have been Macy's or Marks and Spencers -- and the products may have lacked the glossy packaging of their Western cousins -- but they existed nonetheless. Indeed, East Germany had its own brands -- they just happened to have a socialist spin. And until the Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago, East Germans lived a consumer world of their own.
