Today I was listening to a program on Euro FM, a Russian (pro-Putinist, almost official Moscow) radio station in Reval. Apparently today is the birthday of the German Democratic Republic, GDR, DDR, history's first "Good Germany".
I just realized that the GDR was proclaimed on the 7th of October, the day of the German-sponsored Bolshevist putsch in Petrograd and the destruction of the Russian state against which Germany fought so hard for the three years that preceded the catastrophe. The choice of the date to proclaim the Republic was remarkable and laden with irony: The 7th of October, the day Russia was eliminated and Germany gained breathing space in the West (didn't help it much in the longer term) as well as created a number of inbetweenie ethnostates like Estonia that poisoned the soil with their presence from Adriatic to the Baltic was probably one of greatest though unintentional German triumphs but also a spectacular failure. Like the German Democratic Republic that was proclaimed on the very same day and today celebrates its' 62nd anniversary though I found an illustration for the 61st.
After re-reading the previous passage in a sober state I realized that I erred big time: the time of creation of this German state was different from the Bolshevik putsch, I was off by one month, the coup in Petrograd happened on October 25 (if one uses the correct Julian calendar) or November 7 (if the date is recalculated per heretical though now alas dominant Gregorian calendar). Therefore the entire preceding passage makes no sense - sorry about that, this happens all the time, a lesson thought why it is desirable to write about states in a sober state or at least get a qualified proofreader.
This does not diminish my celebratory enthusiasm for the glorious date:
I just realized that the GDR was proclaimed on the 7th of October, the day of the German-sponsored Bolshevist putsch in Petrograd and the destruction of the Russian state against which Germany fought so hard for the three years that preceded the catastrophe. The choice of the date to proclaim the Republic was remarkable and laden with irony: The 7th of October, the day Russia was eliminated and Germany gained breathing space in the West (didn't help it much in the longer term) as well as created a number of inbetweenie ethnostates like Estonia that poisoned the soil with their presence from Adriatic to the Baltic was probably one of greatest though unintentional German triumphs but also a spectacular failure. Like the German Democratic Republic that was proclaimed on the very same day and today celebrates its' 62nd anniversary though I found an illustration for the 61st.
After re-reading the previous passage in a sober state I realized that I erred big time: the time of creation of this German state was different from the Bolshevik putsch, I was off by one month, the coup in Petrograd happened on October 25 (if one uses the correct Julian calendar) or November 7 (if the date is recalculated per heretical though now alas dominant Gregorian calendar). Therefore the entire preceding passage makes no sense - sorry about that, this happens all the time, a lesson thought why it is desirable to write about states in a sober state or at least get a qualified proofreader.
This does not diminish my celebratory enthusiasm for the glorious date:
So a Happy Birthday, GDR
As I was listening (and what I am going to narrate here tells a lot about the quality of broadcasting or of the public discourse in general in today's Russia or what's left of it and of the mushy brains in the skulls of the broadcasters) to the Euro FM commentary on the anniversary of the German Democratic Republic, the woman (badly mangling and mispronouncing words) listed the names of today's Federal Länder which were incorporated into the GDR - saying out loud in automata style, Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Western Pomerania (the preceding two are the same thing, but that's okay, the radio commentator is not supposed to know everything especially if it happens to be a woman), so Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, then she paused and said.. Those states of the German Democratic Republic were separated from Germany by the (hated) Berlin wall and remained separated until the wall collapsed in the 1990.
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag, DDR!
PS
As a side note, the place where I borrowed this picture from, a political journal of a bloggish nature, puts forth a credible claim, that at least from the German perspective that the DDR is still with us.
I am going to translate this on the go hence the translation might be a bit crude
| 1. Transportation - every 5th car is a Skoda - Trabant, Wartburg and IFA W50 still drive in the streets. - the streets themselves are in a state as poor as they were back in1985 - the gasoline prices are also like in the 1985 - Subway operates under an emergency schedule. - trains don't run on time and practically all of them are defective - There is no winter service (snow removal) in the streets except for the capital (Berlin). 2. Politics - The head of state is a woman from Mecklenburg-West Pomerania - the freedom of speech is restricted (eeTilo Sarazin) - there is no difference for what party to vote (all the candidates of the national front), the old ones remain in power - there are again demonstrations on mondays (Stuttgart) - FDJ rallies are now called loveparades - Russia and China are the strongest powers while USA is deeply in debt to the Chinese - new socialist states emerge in South America - Companies again spy on their employees (Telecom) 3. Economy - You can only get seasonal goods like road salt and snow shovels if you have to good connections to the Headquarters or the Konsum cooperative. - we are dependent on Russian natural gas and Polish coal. - Powerful Russians partially control German companies - There are again returnable bottles and people who collect them in the streets. - Paper refuse and old garbage are again collected to be in exchanged for cash - Beer cans have become a rarity. - People again use firewood and coal for heating - Largest banks are nationalized (people's property) - A large section of the population does not work but has a full income ( functionaries are now called public servants) - Waiting lines at the cash registers and checkout counters are again common - Parents again get child support payments from the state 4. Education - Children against must attend a nursery and a kindergarten (horrible stuff actually, that's why I would never want to live in Germany, quelle horreur). - Primary and secondary schools are to be merged - There should be an uniform Baccalaureate - the Bätschelorr (bachelors)should again become an Inschenör (Engineers) - again the Doktorhut (doctorate, literally doctor's hut or a pun on mortrarboard) is not something to be earned, but is conferred from the above. |
1. Verkehrswesen: - jedes 5. Auto ist ein Skoda - Trabbi, Wartburg und W 50 fahren immer noch auf den Straßen - die Straßen sind so kaputt wie 1985 - die Benzinpreise sind auch wie 1985 - S-Bahn fährt nach Notfahrplan - die Eisenbahn ist nie pünktlich und fast alle Züge sind defekt - Winterdienst auf den Straßen gibt es nur in Berlin 2. Politik - Staatsoberhaupt ist eine Frau aus Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - die Meinungsfreiheit ist eingeschränkt (siehe Tilo Sarazin) - egal welche Partei (alles Kandidaten der nat. Front) man wählt, es bleibt alles beim alten - es gibt wieder Montagsdemos (Stuttgart) - FDJ Kundgebungen heißen jetzt Loveparade - Russland und China sind die stärksten Weltmächte und die USA hoch verschuldet bei China - in Südamerika entstehen neue Sozialistische Staaten - Firmen bespitzeln wieder ihre Mitarbeiter (Telekom) 3. Wirtschaft - Saisonartikel wie Streusalz und Schneeschieber sind nur mit guten Beziehungen zur HO oder zum Konsum zu bekommen - wir sind abhängig vom Russischem Erdgas und Polnischer Steinkohle - deutsche Firmen gehören teilweise mächtigen Russen - es gibt wieder Pfandflaschen und Flaschensammler - Papier und andere Altstoffe werden wieder gesammelt und gegen Geld abgegeben - Bierdosen sind sehr selten geworden - es wird wieder mit Holz und Kohle geheizt - die ersten Banken sind verstaatlicht (Volkseigentum) - ein großer Teil des Volkes arbeitet nicht, hat aber volles Einkommen ( die Funktionäre heißen jetzt Beamte) - Warteschlangen vor Schaltern und Kassen sind wieder üblich - Eltern bekommen wieder Kindergeld 4. Bildung - Kinder sollen wieder in die Krippe und Kindergarten gehen - Grundschule und Oberschule werden zusammengelegt (längeres gemeinsames Lernen oder auch POS) - es soll einheitliche Abiturprüfungen geben - der Bätschelorr wird wieder ein Inschenör - der Doktorhut wird für die da oben verliehen, nicht erarbeitet |
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