Ina on growing up in GDR and the idea of Ostalgia

I’d like to start off by saying that it was very interesting to hear how growing up in the German Democratic Republic (GDR, DDR, or East Germany) was like. One thing that Ina mentioned that struck my attention was how the education system in GDR was like, and the contrast in subjects between traditional western education in todays day and age in comparison to how education used to be. Ina mentions how the GDR was called “the land for farmers and workers”, and due to that, there was an emphasis on teaching students how to garden. An example she mentioned was how she was taught to “plant strawberries”. It was also interesting to see how political parties would try to use “brainwashing” propoganda tactics on children in schools as Ina mentions how whenever she entered the classroom, there was always a portrait of the General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany until 1989.

In Germany, Ostalgia is nostalgia for aspects of life in Communist East Germany. Ina talks about how she likes to be reminded of the past during her time in East Germany. She discusses how she specifically missed the milk that was sold in East Germany, and how she was able to find it again in 2016 in Hungary as it was also under the communist area. She states that feeling of drinking that milk again made her feel like she was going back to her childhood. When Ina visited the GDR museum, she talks about how it felt like she was “time traveling” as the furniture in the museum was very similar to her home in East Germany as there was not a variety of designs back then.

The East and West divide could have affected sustainable development in Germany by limiting the number of resources each side had. Due to this, the cost of necessities such as energy would be more expensive, making businesses less efficient, and lowering GDP. Hence, making it harder to sustainably develop as a country.