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Chapter 22Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Individual vs. Society

Number of downloads:338

Harald Hauswald @ Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung

How did both Germanys structure the ways in which individuals could be active or inactive part of their respective societies?

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Harald Hauswald @ Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung

Part of the series Divided Germany, the wall and reunification

26 materials

The Wall – a border through Germany

Teaching material is available in the following languages German, English, french
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A Peaceful Revolution - 30 Years Fall of the Berlin Wall

Number of downloads:742
Teaching material is available in the following languages German, English
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Life in the GDR and the FRG

Number of downloads:30601
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Unification in Freedom and Democracy: From the peaceful revolution in the communist east to a united Germany

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Youth culture in divided Germany

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The Future of democratic participation - and what we can learn from German history

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Do walls work?

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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Youth

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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Economy

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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Environment

Number of downloads:453
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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Social Justice

Number of downloads:638
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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Work

Number of downloads:2858
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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Democracy

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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Memories

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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Religion

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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Race/Racism

Number of downloads:488
Teaching material is available in the following languages German, English
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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Gender / LGBTIQ*

Number of downloads:2423
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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Health Care

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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Social Control

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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Education

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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Freedom of Speech

Number of downloads:953
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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Individual vs. Society

Number of downloads:338
Teaching material is available in the following languages German, English
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Commonalities and differences FRG vs GDR: Ideology vs. Reality

Number of downloads:3136
Teaching material is available in the following languages German, English
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Germany between 1945 and 1996

Number of downloads:1213
Teaching material is available in the following languages German, English, Span. (Mex.)
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- esmx

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A day at the Berlin Wall

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Fall of the Berlin Wall- a permanent calendar

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Description

How did both Germanys structure the ways in which individuals could be active or inactive part of their respective societies? Was the wellbeing of the collective a Leitprinzip in the GDR? And did the individual take center stage in Capitalist West Germany? Was is that easy? How did young people in the GDR- despite calls to conformity- try to distinguish themselves from each other?

These videos give some answers.

1. "ELBOW SOCIETY" AND SOLIDARITY BY NECESSITY
In the GDR, the idea that people were there for each other, something called "grassroot solidarity," was a stated goal for the political system. How did solidarity work in reality and what was a "Notgemeinschaft"? How about West Germany's "elbow society?"

2. COLLECTIVITY AND WORK ETHIC
Individual Vs. Society: What counts? How did German citizens find ways to distinguish themselves in a society that favored collectivity?

3. THE WORK BRIGADES
The GDR was described as a Nischengesellschaft (niche-society) in which people withdrew into their private lives (as shown extensively throughout the Open Memory Box), but work brigades were truly sites of sociability.

4. LIP SERVICE LOYALTY
....whereas political parades and demonstrations more often prompted lip-service loyalty.

FOR STUDENTS OF GERMAN
Is sustainability an individual or collective choice? Interactive PDF

ADDITIONAL SOURCES
For German learners: How free am I? Game about democracy and dictatorship

PARTNERS
Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur (Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship), German Consulate General New York, German American Partnership Program (GAPP), American Association of Teachers of German (AATG), Transatlantic Outreach Program (TOP) and Spark for German.