GDR in Reunified Germany

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

With German reunification in 1990, the division of Germany that had lasted since the end of the war came to an end; at that time, the GDR, whose political, social, and cultural constitution had decisively shaped the life experience of every fifth German, disappeared from the map. In the seminar, we will examine how these influences came about, how they continued to have an effect after 1990, and how they triggered various debates: for example, about the "Wenderoman" as the supposedly valid literary processing of the epochal break, or the Stasi files as the most problematic legacy of GDR socialism. Also to be discussed will be the emergence of "Ostalgie" and a number of films that were inspired by the GDR theme and received international attention.