Ostalgie
Nostalgia for aspects of life in East Germany / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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. Another term for the phenomenon is GDR nostalgia (German: DDR-Nostalgie).
The term was coined by the East German standup comic Uwe Steimle [de] in 1992.[1] Social scientist Thomas Ahbe argues that the term ‘ostalgia’ is often misunderstood as a lack of willingness to integrate, an uproar to reverse German reunification and reinstate the GDR.[2] However, Ostalgia is rather an integration strategy used by East Germans who wanted to retain their own original experiences, memories and values incompatible with those of the West German majority.[3]
As with other cases of Communist nostalgia, there are various motivations, whether ideology, nationalism, wistfulness for a lost sense of social status or stability, or even aesthetics or irony.