What does the term Ostalgie mean?
nostalgia
In German culture, Ostalgie (German: [ˌʔɔstalˈɡiː]) is nostalgia for aspects of life in Communist East Germany. It is a portmanteau of the German words Ost (east) and Nostalgie (nostalgia). Its anglicised equivalent, ostalgia (rhyming with “nostalgia”), is also sometimes used.
Was East Germany a puppet state?
Initially, East Germany claimed an exclusive mandate for all of Germany, a claim supported by most of the Communist bloc. It argued that the GDR was a Soviet puppet-state, and frequently referred to it as the “Soviet occupation zone”. West Germany’s allies shared this position until 1973.
Is there still an East Germany?
In 1989, it was still part of West Germany (officially the Federal Republic of Germany, or FRG), a separate country from the German Democratic Republic (the GDR, or East Germany), which claimed East Berlin as its capital.
Why did the GDR fail?
The GDR was experiencing an overwhelming financial crisis. Moreover, the refusal to pursue perestroika and glasnost was not well-received by the people. In early 1989, these socio-economic factors caused the people of East Germany to flee to the West, a movement that the East German regime was powerless to prevent.
What type of government is Germany?
Federal republic
Representative democracyParliamentary republicConstitutional republic
Germany/Government
Is Berlin East or West?
Berlin, capital and chief urban centre of Germany. The city lies at the heart of the North German Plain, athwart an east-west commercial and geographic axis that helped make it the capital of the kingdom of Prussia and then, from 1871, of a unified Germany.
Why is Ostalgie more than East German nostalgia?
Boyer says that ostalgie is more than East German nostalgia, examining nostalgia in the context of the Second World War and Vergangenheitsbelastung (“the burden of the past”). The division of East and West Germany was not punishment for Germany’s war crimes. Nazi Germany has made the German postwar generation shameful and anxious about its past.
Which is the best definition of the word nostalgia?
Nostalgia is associated with a yearning for the past, its personalities, and events, especially the “good old days” or a “warm childhood”. The scientific literature on nostalgia usually refers to nostalgia regarding the personal life and has mainly studied the effects of nostalgia induced during the studies.
How did Johannes Hofer come up with the term nostalgia?
Routledge suggests that by invoking the idea of an idealized past, politicians can provoke the social and cultural anxieties and uncertainties that make nostalgia especially attractive—and effective—as a tool of political persuasion. The term was coined in 1688 by Johannes Hofer (1669–1752) in his Basel dissertation.
How is nostalgia related to nationalism and nationalism?
Nostalgia is connected with nationalism; longing for the former homeland generates love for everything associated with it. This evokes negative feelings toward “foreign” products, customs or cultural influences.