Only communism.
German contest to live in depopulated Soviet-era city proves global hit – Eisenhüttenstadt offered spacious central flats rent-free for two weeks in effort to attract valuable professionals.
Like Disneyland
Tag Archives: Communism
The best time to cross the Elbe was in November…
When fog obscured the visibility along the river.
Refugees had to endure freezing temperatures, scaling barbed-wire fences and hiding from soldiers on patrol. Getting caught meant a one-way ticket to one of East Germany’s special prisons — if you were not shot…
How Germany’s “death Strip” Became A Sustainable Lifeline.
How did they gather all that information without everybody carrying handheld surveillance monitors?
You know, like we do now?
Very impressive.
Stasi: How the GDR kept its citizens under surveillance – Do all intelligence agents live like James Bond? Not those who worked for East Germany’s Ministry for State Security (Stasi). A new book reveals the mundane lives of the agents.
“Comrades, we must know everything!”
“Free money”
Brilliant. This is better than free lunch!
Why didn’t anyone ever think of this before?
Free money for all: Germany’s basic income experiment – One of the world’s most extensive studies on unconditional basic income was held in Germany. What does the experiment reveal?
… It is seen as a redistribution of wealth through taxes. In the activists’ calculation, Germany’s top earners — 10% of the population — would end up contributing a part of their income to everyone else. They estimate that 83% of the population would thereby have access to more money. The remaining 7% mid-earners would be unaffected by the redistribution scheme.
In times of rising populism, the basic income activists believe that this is a way to combat the population’s dissatisfaction due to wealth inequality.
German of the day: Mauerfall
The means the fall of the wall. The Berlin Wall.
Thirty-five years ago today.
German of the day: Zwangsarbeit
That means forced labor.
IKEA’s motto: “Everything is possible if you think in opportunities.”
IKEA to compensate East German prisoners for forced labor – The German branch of IKEA has pledged millions to compensate victims of the former Communist East German regime, who were forced to make furniture components in the GDR.
German of the day: Erics Lampenladen
The means Eric’s Lamp Shop (Eric Honecker’s Lamp Shop).
Das waren Zeiten. That means those were the days.
A demolished communist palace and other rubble: How Berlin is managing its GDR buildings and monuments – An exhibition commemorates the demolition of the former parliament building in the German capital in 2008, an example of the persistent erasure of traces of socialism in the city.
Pre-Game Show
It only makes sense to warm up with a little senseless violence before the real, official senseless violence begins.
May demonstration in Berlin: police report riots. “Bottles and pyros” thrown – At least one stone was thrown at police during a demonstration in Berlin on the eve of May 1 with around 3,300 participants. One woman was arrested.
On the night of May 1, demonstrators attacked police officers in Berlin-Kreuzberg. During a left-wing queer-feminist demonstration on Sunday evening, participants threw bottles and firecrackers at the police.
Democracy: It Ain’t Much
But it’s still better than a Nazi dictatorship and a totalitarian communist regime. I guess.
Study: Germans more satisfied with democracy as a form of government – Public satisfaction with democracy in Germany has risen over the past two years, while in some cases extreme right-wing attitudes have declined significantly. At the same time, hatred of migrants, women, Muslims and other groups in Germany has increased and become widespread. In addition, stronger desires for authority can be observed in the wake of the pandemic. These are key findings of the representative “Leipzig Authoritarianism Study.”
Why Eastern Germans Feel Closer To Russia?
My guess is it’s because they are closer to Russia. Western Germany is further away. Get it?
What’s behind eastern Germans’ empathy for Russia? – For decades, many in former East Germany felt closer to Russia than their western compatriots. But opposition to Russia’s war on Ukraine now outweighs historical grievances about the West…
East Germans’ residual suspicion of the West and sympathy for Russia are visible in plenty of surveys, especially those that date from before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A survey carried out by pollster Forsa in July 2021 found that 50% of eastern Germans would have liked Germany to have closer ties with Russia, compared to only 25% of western Germans.
Observing Hermann 