East German Socialist Modernity and Consumer Culture Before and After the Wall

With the fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago and the subsequent union of both Germanys, the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist as a state. Culturally, however, the GDR remains a presence in contemporary Germany. There has been a steady flow of books and movies about eastern German memory and identity amid discussion of Easterners' Ostalgie. Historians debate the place of the GDR in the larger sweep of German history. Even in political and social debate, the GDR continues to have an impact on united Germany through the presence of the Left Party, which has its roots in part in East Germany's ruling communist party.

The existence of the GDR had an impact on the self-perception of the Federal Republic during the Cold War and in some respects it still does so today. The question, then, as Germany celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is not "Why did the GDR fail?" but rather "Was bleibt? What remains?"