Tag Archives: East Germany
How Two Families Escaped to West Germany in a Balloon Posted by Sten on Sep 17, 2021
It’s September 16, 1979. Germany is still separated in East and West. The Berlin wall has stood for almost 20 years. Germans live and grow up in two very different realities. One communist and supervised by the state, the other capitalist and free. Before the wall, things were easier. Many chose to leave their homes…
The Germans on the Germans: East & West Posted by Constanze on Nov 13, 2019
Hallo! Every country has names for people from different regions within that country. Over the next few posts we’ll look at what words Germans have for other Germans, and why. In this post we will look at what people from eastern Germany call people from western Germany, and vice-versa. A follow-up post will look at…
The Last Remaining Part of East Germany? Posted by Constanze on Nov 6, 2019
Following the end of the war in 1945, Germany was divided in two. One side, the east, became Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) while the other side, the west, became Bundesrepublik Deutschland (BRD). When the country was eventually reunited in 1990, the BRD absorbed the DDR, and so what was formerly East Germany ceased to exist…
3 Words About Former West Germany Posted by Constanze on Jul 24, 2019
Guten Tag! I recently read a book about the history of Germany. It contained many words I hadn’t heard of before, that gave insights into specific aspects of German history. The section on the post-war/Cold War period (1945-1991), in particular, used several German words when discussing the topic of East and West Germany. We all…
3 Words About Former East Germany Posted by Constanze on Jul 22, 2019
Guten Tag! I recently read a book about the history of Germany. It contained many words I hadn’t heard of before, that described specific aspects of eras in German history. The section on the post-war/Cold War period (1945-1991), in particular, mentioned several German words when discussing the topic of East and West Germany. We all…
Germany’s Historic Ghost Stations Posted by Constanze on May 8, 2019
Guten Tag! Today’s post is about die Geisterbahnhöfe – ‘ghost train stations’. This is a term you may already be familiar with, but in German, this word has a significant and interesting history. So, let’s delve right into it! Throughout this post I may refer to the word in its singular or plural form, so…
A Brief History Of The German Flag Posted by Constanze on May 8, 2017
The German flag, with its black, red and gold stripes, is one of the most easily recognisable flags in the world. In this post, I’ll give you some information about the origins of the current flag, and show you some of its variations throughout history. The Holy Roman Empire 962–1806 Known in German as…