From Kaffeemix to Chanel: The Politics, Culture of Design and Nostalgia in the German Democratic Republic.

“On the 3rd of October 1990, the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist” (Hoyer, 2023).

The German Democratic Republic (GDR) was a socialist one-party state led by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). The state existed from 1949 until reunification with West Germany (FRG) in 1990 a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The SED, along with the Ministry of State Security (Stasi), monitored nearly every citizen’s movements, opinions, and freedoms. Julier (2014) notes that the collapse of state socialism in Eastern Europe introduced 350 million people to liberal democracy and capitalism. Despite the rapid fall of the Eastern Bloc, nostalgia for the GDR, known as Ostalgie, has grown since reunification unlike in other former Eastern Bloc countries such as Poland or Romania.

In this article I aim to answer, “How did the interplay between state-driven design and Western consumer goods shape the everyday cultural political economy of the German Democratic Republic, and how does the recent rise of Ostalgie reflect 34 years from German reunification?” This article is from the viewpoint of an Industrial Design student who is researching, designing for socialist/mass need and cultures, stemming from the breakthrough of English language research of the GDR. This research is informed via main streams of literature such as Katja Hoyer’s Beyond the Wall (2023), Guy Julier’s The Economies of Design (2017) and The Culture of Design (2014).

The purpose of this article is not to romanticise the GDR or its political system. Instead, it critically examines how state socialism, consumer desire, and design culture shaped everyday life and memory.

“Auferstanden aus Ruinen” (Becher, 1949)

Understanding design is essential, particularly in the context of the GDR’s establishment after World War II, as the nation faced numerous challenges. These challenges, These challenges, primarily due to the lack of natural resources, combined with Marxist-Leninist ideals, shaped the GDR’s unique design culture compared to Western and other Eastern Bloc nations nations (Pfützner, 2019). Guy Julier, in The Economies of Design (2017) and The Culture of Design 2014), emphasises that design is too broad and diverse to define concretely. Julier (2017) argues that we must consider the various contexts in which design functions, stating that “no object is an island” (p. 2).

Cultural Political Economy and the VEB.

Examining the GDR’s state-owned companies through this lens of ‘ economic and political structures’ shows how state-owned design reinforced socialist values, aligning everyday life with ideology a unique perspective on design’s impact within a command economy.

Therefore, to begin answering the research question, we must dissect “cultural political economy”. As outlined by Julier (2017) political economy can be defined as the intersection of economics, politics, and the law. On the other hand, the symbolism created by business and policy, as well as how and for whom these meanings work, are the main concerns of cultural political economy both formulating the cultural political economy. Julier (2017) explains that “design works to get us used to certain economic processes and ambitions is a question at stake here” (p. 3). Although Julier’s (2017) Economies of Design specifically focuses upon capitalist societies, it is still important to understand this context when referencing to the GDR.

The cultural political economy of the GDR was heavily shaped by Marxist-Leninist principles, with design culture playing a significant role in reinforcing and legitimising “economic processes and ambitions” (Julier, 2017, p. 3) plus economic systems to legitimise the GDR domestically and on the world stage.

One aspect this article will focus on is how the GDR ‘designed’ a strong cultural political economy via the Volkseigener Betrieb (VEB). Finally outlined in 1953 with Walter Ulbricht’s ‘New Course’ (Neues Deutschland, 1953), VEB’s were state owned enterprises/companies (Pillrul-Arp, 2005). VEBs often combined several companies into one centralised entity (Hoyer, 2023).

VEBs produced more than just products; they were also involved in reinforcing socialist values, curating a strong design culture. For example, urban planning projects like Halle-Neustadt were undertaken by state-controlled organisations and VEBs to showcase the achievements of socialism in providing for its citizens (Hoyer, 2023). This led to GDR citizens being surrounded by a centrally planed design culture, their neighbourhood, work, possessions, all linked together by the state planners.

This led to (for some) the VEB being more than just work. Hoyer (2023) notes that VEBs often included playschools, canteens, and after-work events. Democratically elected managers, typically floor workers, could nominate others for special holiday packages, such as cruises on the coveted Völkerfreundschaft for good work or for aligning with the SED.

Contrary to popular belief in the FRG, GDR citizens had a strong working culture. In comparison to western societies, and particularly the FRG, the GDR prided itself by having a 0% unemployment rate, this is due to the state imposing full employment as state policy (Betts, 2010). Although, this data does is from a dictatorship so must be taken witha pinch of salt. Therefore, the VEB became a large part of everyday civilians of the GDR, forming this strong cultural link to the political economy, while emphasising socialist values. The SED in tern forced the VEB life onto civilians, so the state could not escape civilians’ livelihoods and was deeply infiltrated by the Stasi.

High Design Culture in the GDR, The Intershop.

To start, it’s important to define high and low design. According to Julier and Munch (2019), high design is characterised by an artifact’s cultural and aesthetic value, which is largely determined by its price, authorship, and the deliberate intervention of the designer. In contrast, low design and low culture prioritise functionality, affordability, and accessibility over luxury, exclusivity, and artistic sophistication. Prevalent in Socialist based economies, low design emphasises practical, utilitarian aspects that cater to everyday needs and mass-market appeal, rather than pursuing aesthetic prestige or cultural statements.

The author of this article redefines what high and low design means because what in the West would class as low design, would have been classed as high design in the GDR. Everyday products in the West for the 1980s such as Marlboro cigarettes, Fairy washing up liquid or instant coffee, was the pinnacle of high design for a regular East German.

Visualised in Image 1, using the example of coffee, which Hoyer (2023) outlines was an essential element to GDR daily life, and when shortages occurred, had the potential to cause national instability in the late 1970’s with the GDR ‘coffee crisis’.

Image 1: Comparison of Low-High Design in the GDR to the FRG with regards to Coffee. (Authors Image).

For this article, I interviewed Thomas, a former East German citizen, who was 21 when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. Thomas described how Western products were imported into the GDR through the state-owned Intershop. Rushton (2020) explains in the Berliner Zeitung (a former GDR newspaper still in print), the Intershop was initially for Western tourists to buy products tax-free, but over time, GDR citizens could also visit. Thomas recalled its distinctive smell of strong Western perfumes, bright neon lights, and the allure of instant coffee which he’d seen on West German TV (available in the GDR), commenting:

“I remember in Magdeburg 1987, I went to the Intershop with my mother, I got such an awful headache from Chanel №5 as she depleted the test bottle everywhere, even on my own clothes! I can still feel that headache today, it was a life altering experience […], these brands were out of this world to me.” (Translated from German).

Intershop in the GDR https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Intershop.jpg

For GDR citizens the Intershop became a status symbol and a small taste of unknown cultures. However, products could only be purchased with Western currency, such as the West German D-Mark. As Rushton (2020) explains, East Germans were legally prohibited from owning foreign currency until 1974. Therefore, citizens could only obtain D-Marks through postal packages sent by family in the West or via black-market exchanges. This practice established a distinct culture, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The process of the Intershop affecting the Cultural Political Economy of the German Democratic Republic. (Authors Figure).

Figure 1 illustrates how regular (or exceptionally lucky) GDR citizens obtained precious D-Mark to shop at the Intershop, allowing them to obtain the high design products such as Chanel. Neuman & Cullars (1992) use the example that East Germans often chose inferior Western cigars over premium Cuban cigars due to the appeal and status being a product from a western society. This clear divide of cultures led East Germans to view their state-produced VEB goods as low design and Western products as high design.

Ultimately, the SED used the Intershop to gain hard currency from its citizens, supporting the regime with Western capital, a rather capitalist move for a socialist state (Rushton, 2020).

High Design, Low Design and Ostalgie.

34 years have passed since the GDR ceased to exist, the allure of the Intershop now long gone, reserved for those who experienced it. This nostalgia to the GDR is called ‘Ostalgie’ and importantly, does not refer to a desire to return to GDR leadership.

After the thirst for western culture wore off, former GDR citizens became nostalgic and wanted the products which formed their very own design culture back in their households. These products were no longer available due to the privatisation of GDR VEBs by the highly controversial (to this day) Treuhandanstalt. Ostalgie refers to these items and experiences from the GDR, for example, low design products of the East, produced in the collective VEB’s which were common household items.

Therefore, this sense of longing is encapsulated in the term “Ostalgie,” which refers to the items and experiences from the GDR, including the low design products produced in the collective VEBs that were once common household staples. Recently there has been a small resurgence of products from the GDR returning to stores. One example used by Hoyer (2023) is Vita Cola. This was the cola developed in the GDR for its citizens as an alternative to the western Coca Cola. Now according to Hoyer (2023) Vita Cola is the number 1 selling cola brand in Germany.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this essay explored how the VEB was used as a symbol of socialism, used by the SED to control aspects of peoples lives and how state-driven design and Western consumer goods from the Intershop shaped the everyday cultural political economy of the GDR. The rise of Ostalgie reflects a longing for these low design ‘artifacts’, not merely just as products but as symbols of identity within a unique socialist framework which is no longer apparent. This study highlights how design, even under strict political control, can resonate deeply within collective memory, reinforcing the DCN’s theme of design’s role in cultural and ideological expression.

Finally, the author urges a renewed commitment to understanding and respecting the GDR’s complex legacy a nation too often overlooked. Although a major aspect, the GDR is not just the Wall, SED and the Stasi, as Hoyer poignantly concludes her book…

“its time to take the GDR for what it is — apart of German history beyond the wall” (Hoyer, 2023, p. 423).

References:

Becher, J. R. (1949). Auferstanden aus Ruinen [Audio recording].

Betts, P. (2010). Within Walls: Private Life in the German Democratic Republic. Oxford University Press.

Hoyer, K. (2023). Beyond The Wall, East Germany, 1949–1990. Penguin Books.

Julier, G. (2014). The Culture of Design (3rd Revised Edition). Sage.

Julier, G. (2017). Economies of design. Sage.

Julier, G., & Munch, A. (2019) ‘Introducing design culture.

Neues Deutschland. (1953, December 6). Über die Sitzung des Ministerras der DDR vom 11. Juni 1953. Neues Deutschland, 6.

Neumann, E., & Cullars, J. (1992). The Planned Economy in Search of the World Standard: Reflections on Advertising and Design in the DDR. Design Issues, 8(2), 74. https://doi.org/10.2307/1511642

Pfützner, K. (2019). Designing for Socialist Need: Industrial Design Practice in the German Democratic Republic. Journal of Design History, 32(2), 213–214. https://doi.org/10.1093/jdh/epz020

Pillrul-Arp, A. (2005). „VEB-GmbH“: „Vatis ehemaliger Betrieb — Geklaut mit besonderer Höflichkeit“. Klein- und Mittelunternehmer in der DDR: Lebensläufe zwischen 1949 und 1990 im Vergleich. 22.

Rushton, E. (2020, April 10). Intershop. Berliner Zeitung. https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/en/2-intershop-li.108967