DDR Consumer Products

[Ultramatic]

 

 

Ran across this fascinating video about East German consumer products manufactured in the 1980's. While not as advanced as contemporary West German products, they certainly were attractive. Oh to be in that warehouse wondering among all those wondrous planned economy home products! 

 



 

(In German)

 

[jamiel]

I went to the Consumer Museum in Berlin about 20 years ago--it was absolutely fascinating. A look at how you do a controlled economy within media reach of a first-world market economy. Really eye opening. The last exhibit was really meaningful--it was someone's sparkasse bankbook (passbook) with the entries quarter by quarter, then the cut in half from Ostmark to DM. Well worth an afternoon if you're in Berlin.

DDR Museum - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[petek]

Tale of the orange handmixer

It looks like an interesting video . If only I understood German.

 

[vacerator]

Spreken ze

Deutsche? So so. The dish at the end was sauer braten beef with knudle potato dumpling. I have some nice porcelain pieces from the DDR. A model train company Piko is still in Sonneberg. When the wall came down, the currrent owner bought the company for phennigs on the Euro, or Deutschmark, in 1990. He retained all the employees, and today, they make high quality models in excellent detail and digital functions. Of course the infamous Trabant car was made in the DDR.

 

[vacerator]

Spreken ze

Deutsche? So so. The dish at the end was sauer braten beef with knudle potato dumpling. I have some nice porcelain pieces from the DDR. A model train company Piko is still in Sonneberg. When the wall came down, the currrent owner bought the company for phennigs on the Euro, or Deutschmark, in 1990. He retained all the employees, and today, they make high quality models in excellent detail and digital functions. Of course the infamous Trabant car was made in the DDR.

 

[cfz2882]

I have a pair of early 1980s era driving lights made in the DDR and at a pawn shop,~1990,found a pair of small stereo speakers made in the DDR.

 

[Chetlaham]

I was so craving this!!!!!!!!

Thank you- this is why I love this place!

 

[foraloysius]

Spreken ze

That's Dutch! lol

There are automatic generated subtitles in a lot of languages available. Not very accurate, but if you don't speak German it may be better than nothing.

 

[sudsmaster]

Ja, I watch for a bit with the English subtitles. but after about 30 minutes I had to move on!

 

 

[panthera]

Cool!!

I think it's worth noting that the quality exported to the 'West' was often much higher than that which was offered domestically.

 

 

[gizmo]

So far I've only watched a few minutes.
I have seen that orange mixer here in an opp shop only a few months ago. So they must have been exported to Australia.

That "cocktail" being mixed in the RG28S combined red wine, beer, milk, sugar and spices. It sounds like a vile concoction designed to induce vomiting. What were they thinking?

 

[foraloysius]

Basic food in the DDR/GDR were kept low by government subvention. Other goods were rather expensive, a lot of people couldn't afford expensive consumer goods. Through the years it became custom for people from the BRD to buy consumer goods for their relatives from a Konsum catalogue. That kept western currencies flowing to the DDR. People from the BRD also sent a lot of goods (especially coffee) to their relatives in the DDR. The western money kept the economy on the east side of the iron curtain going at least partly that way.

 

[vacerator]

Louis,

Deutsch und Dutch are close. Deutschland is Germany. DB, or German railroad AG is Deutsche Bundesbahn. Qualitat is German, qualestei is Dutch.

 

[foraloysius]

Don’t make it worse Mike. lol Qualestei isn’t even a Dutch word.

 

[gizmo]

Hey Louis, go easy on Mike.
Americans can't tell the difference. Pennsylvania Dutch are descendants of German immigrants...

Please don't take offense anyone, just stirring the pot...

[this post was last edited: 7/24/2020-22:12]

 

[foraloysius]

Well Chris, all in good fun. But I think it is really funny that Mike is trying to tell me something about Dutch and German, getting things wrong while I speak both languages fluently.

 

[panthera]

Dahlinks,

I recollect someone here correcting my plural case in German a decade or so ago...in the Nominative, singular.

 

We're all grammar nazis in our hearts.

 

Louis, however is Dutch. Not Pennsylvania Dutch, not German like me. Not even chocolate cake Dutch. This means he grew up in a culture which expected perfection in at least three languages before leaving elementary school.

 

And tidiness. How the Dutch manage to put up with us untidy Germans is beyond me.

 

[vacerator]

Ok Louis,

Perhaps having just some knowledge of a language, etc. isn't always good. I have a Langensheidt conversion dictionary. I knew the Pa. Dutch are Germans. I collect Marklin model trains from Goppingen Germany. I have an S-bahn ho scale 3 car set with advertising on it for Dutch eggs. They say Ei like it, qualestei, and produktscoop. The color scheme is orange striping and half cracked eggs on a light grey body. Marklin item #4389 if you'd like a look see. Just google it.

 

[joeekaitis]

A laundry room survivor of reunification

 

 

They could call it Spree and give the mascot an outfit that doesn't look so, uh, pimpish for the USA.

https://www.spee.com/de/startseite.cky.html