Dresden was in the German Democratic Republic or the Federal Republic of Germany. Cozy bunker. Political system of the GDR

Today we will continue our virtual tour of Dresden and see the city from the height of the Frauenkirche bell tower, take a walk through the historical suburb, which more or less survived the war, and take a look at the Volkswagen plant, where they produce the luxury Phaeton model.

The interior decoration of the Frauenkirche is, of course, impressive. There is a special entrance for going up to the bell tower, and if you arrive at the very opening (at 10 am, I think), you can be there practically alone for some time.

And here are the views from the bell tower.

The scale of the ongoing reconstruction is clearly visible. Of course, it is amazing how meticulously the Germans approach the restoration of the destroyed city. Much has been irretrievably lost, both due to the scale of the losses and the post-war order of priorities: there was no time for beauty, especially considering that Dresden was part of the GDR, with all the ensuing architectural consequences.

And this is what Dresden looked like 70 years ago, after the Anglo-American bombings.

Someone's cozy terrace.

Some kind of installation, I still don’t understand.

Let's walk around the city a little more. "St. Petersburg Street" in Dresden (like Dresdenskaya Street in St. Petersburg) appeared after these two cities became twin cities.

Ideal road: cars have only one lane, between the bike path and the tram line.

The Green Vault Museum is a famous collection of jewels in Dresden, the former Wettin princely treasury, spanning the period from the Renaissance to Classicism.

There was serious debate about this sculpture, and the decision to dismantle it was considered: someone thought that its hand symbolized a Nazi gesture. Fortunately, common sense prevailed and the sculpture remained in its place.

The German Hygiene Museum was founded as a public hygiene training center in 1912 by the German entrepreneur and manufacturer Karl August Lingner. In the museum one could gain knowledge about human anatomy, healthy eating, personal hygiene and maintaining health. Since 1933, the museum has created an exhibition dedicated to the preservation of the purity of the Aryan race and racial hygiene in the spirit of the National Socialist ideology that dominated the country.

Dresden is a fairly green city, but, like in Berlin, there are very few people in the parks and squares. Perhaps this is due to the peculiarity of the mentality - to work during working hours, and not to walk in the parks :-) Maybe this feature makes Germany the number 1 economy in Europe.

One of the Volkswagen factories is located in Dresden, where they produce only one model - the luxury Phaetons. The building itself is called the “Glass Manufactory” and has a completely cosmic architecture; its construction cost the company 180 million euros.

Bicycle parking in front of the building.

A prototype somewhat reminiscent of a VW Scirocco.

Handsome "Phaeton". Although sales of this model somehow did not take off in Russia, which is not surprising, because few people are ready to shell out 4.5 million rubles. for a Volkswagen, albeit at a premium level.

Factory foyer. Tours of the plant, including the assembly lines, begin every hour.

Layout and interactive map. It’s not exactly a factory, but a real museum.

The main feature is transparency. According to the architects' idea, the building has transparent walls. Here, for example, is a warehouse for finished products.

Assembly line.

Body shop.

General plan from the back side.

I have never seen a Phaeton on the roads in Dresden, and in general, expensive cars are rare there. But there are as many bicycles as you like. There are probably more of them in this photo than pedestrians.

Monday, working day, half-empty roads.

Let's look at one of the low-rise areas of the city that survived the war.

Albrechtsberg Castle is one of three Elbe castles on the right bank of the Elbe. Built in the style of Prussian classicism in 1850-1854 by Schinkel's student, architect Adolf Lohse, for the Prussian Prince Albrecht, the younger brother of the kings of Prussia, Frederick William IV and Wilhelm I. Since 1937, the castle buildings have been used as barracks and stables for the SA cavalry company. Since 1943, the castle cellars served as a refuge during the bombings for children from Dresden orphanages. After the war, Red Army units were stationed in Albrechtsberg, as in other Elbe castles. In 1948, the Intourist Hotel opened in the castle, purchased from the city by the GDR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1951, the first Soviet-style pioneer palace in the GDR opened in the palace. Now the castle building is used for various cultural events and is rented for wedding ceremonies.

On the left is Lingner Castle, the middle of the three Elbe castles. The villa, built in 1850-1853 by order of Prince Albrecht of Prussia and designed by the architect Adolf Lohse, is better known thanks to the most famous of its owners, entrepreneur Karl August Lingner (the same one who opened the public hygiene training center).

And on the right is Ekberg Castle. This powerful and mysterious structure was built over almost three years, from 1859 to 1861. The customer was the merchant Johann Daniel Suchet from Frankfurt am Main, the architect was the Dresden master Christian Friedrich Arnold. Suchet’s love for England played a big role in creating the style of the castle, so all elements of Tudor neo-Gothic were used during construction. Thus, in the second half of the 19th century, the magical world of Britain arose on the banks of the Elbe.

Although the central part of Dresden was almost completely destroyed, the outskirts of the city escaped this fate, so we can still find original historical buildings.

Well, a few more shots from the central part of the city.

Dresden Station is a beautiful, monumental building. The city is a major railway junction. The railway lines of five directions converge here. By high-speed train you can reach Berlin in 2 hours 10 minutes.

On this train I returned back to Prague, which I talked about in previous posts.

Kurt Vonnegut"Slaughterhouse-Five or the Children's Crusade"

David Irving"Destruction of Dresden. The largest scale bombing of the Second World War. 1944-1945"

Dresden (Germany) - the most detailed information about the city with photos. The main attractions of Dresden with descriptions, guides and maps.

City of Dresden (Germany)

Dresden is a city in East Germany, the capital of the federal state of Saxony. It is one of the most important cultural centers of the country and one of its largest cities, which is often called “Florence on the Elbe”. Dresden is a city of amazing beauty, a pearl of the Baroque, an arts center on a European scale, practically destroyed during the Second World War and carefully restored again.

The city of Dresden is located on both banks of the Elbe River at the foot of the Ore Mountains. The highest peak in the surrounding area is 384 meters high. Nature - rolling plain covered with forests and farmland. Interestingly, Dresden itself is a very green city. Parks and other green spaces occupy 60% of its area. The climate is temperate with some maritime influence. Summer is warm, winter is cool but mild with an average temperature around zero. More than 600 mm of precipitation falls annually.

Practical information

1. The city's population is more than half a million people.
2. Area - 328 km 2. By area, Dresden is one of the largest cities in Germany, second only to Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne.
3. The official language is German.
4. Currency - euro.
5. Visa - Schengen.
6. Time is Central European UTC +1, in winter +2.
7. Dresden's main shopping street is Prager Straße, which starts from the main train station, extends to Wiener Straße and ends at the old market square. Many shops, cafes and restaurants are located in the historical core of the city. In general, the old town of Dresden offers simply extensive opportunities for shopping and entertainment. There are several large shopping centers in the area. Among them, it is worth highlighting Altmarkt-Galerie at Webergasse, 1, Karstadt and Centrum-Galerie.
8. The Dresden Christmas market is one of the most beautiful in Germany. It starts from the end of November and lasts almost until Christmas.

Story

The founding and development of Dresden is associated with the resettlement of Germanic tribes to the east. At the end of the 12th century, there was a Slavic settlement on the southern bank of the Elbe. The first mention of the city dates back to 1206. Already in 1270, Dresden became the capital of the Margraviate of Meissen. He performed this function until 1422 until the unification of the Margraviate and Saxony.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Dresden played an important role in the region. But the city experienced its greatest prosperity in the 17th century under the Elector of Saxony, the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Augustus the Strong. Under him, the city not only turned into one of the cultural centers of Europe, but also acquired a wonderful Baroque appearance.

In the 18th century, Saxony was constantly fighting with other principalities and Prussia itself. During the Seven Years' War, Dresden was occupied by the troops of King Frederick II of Prussia. Prussian troops inflicted more damage on the city. In 1813, a major battle took place in the vicinity of the city between Napoleon's troops and the united army of Bohemia. After the Napoleonic Wars, the importance of Dresden sharply decreased, although its cultural role in Europe was still high.

In February 1945, the historical center of Dresden was almost completely destroyed during bombing by American and British aircraft. The restoration of Dresden took more than 40 years. And even now you can find scars left by World War II here. After the war, Dresden becomes one of the main cities of the GDR. Currently, it is one of the most important cultural, tourist, industrial and educational centers in East Germany.

How to get there

Dresden is located near the border of Germany and the Czech Republic, 100 km from Leipzig, 200 km from Berlin, 150 km from Prague. The city is easily accessible by air, train, bus and car.

Dresden has its own airport, which is located north of the center. From the airport to the city you can take bus 77 or 97, tram 7 or take the S2 S-Bahn line. Although it is worth noting that Leipzig Airport offers more international departures.

Dresden is a major railway junction. The city has two railway stations: Neustadt on the northern bank of the Elbe and Hauptbahnhof (main station) on the southern bank. There are regular connections with Leipzig, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Prague, Budapest, Wroclaw and other major cities.

Dresden is well connected to the rest of Germany via the autobahn system. The highway also connects the city with the capital of the Czech Republic - Prague.

There are many bus routes to Dresden. From Berlin you can get there by bus for 7 euros.

To get around the city you can use public transport: trams and buses. In general, the historical center is quite compact, so it is convenient to explore the city on foot.

Attractions

Dresden is an amazingly beautiful and balanced city that offers tourists wonderful architecture and attractions, numerous museums and art treasures, beautiful city and natural landscapes, walks along the Elbe and in numerous parks.

The old town of Dresden is located on the left bank of the Elbe. It is distinguished by beautiful architecture of the 17th-19th centuries in the Baroque and Renaissance styles. Despite the destruction of World War II, the historical city center was carefully restored and retained its attractiveness.

The main attractions of Dresden

You should not miss these attractions and definitely see them.

The Frauenkirche is one of the symbols of Dresden, a beautiful Protestant Baroque church built in the 18th century. This landmark was almost completely destroyed in February 1945 and restored only in the 90s of the 20th century. The church is located on one of the main squares of the city - Neumarkt (New Market). The square originated in the mid-16th century. During the Renaissance it acquired features typical of this period. After the destruction of the Seven Years' War, Neumarkt was rebuilt in the Baroque style. Now the square has almost restored its historical appearance.

The Opera House is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. The Dresden Opera is one of the most famous theaters in Germany. It was built in the first half of the 18th century. Restored after the war in 1985.

The Zwinger is a German late Baroque masterpiece built in the early 18th century. Initially, this building was intended as a greenhouse and a venue for special events. Currently it is one of the most famous exhibition halls in Germany. There is an art gallery, a porcelain collection, and a museum of mathematics and physics.

The Royal Palace is one of the most beautiful buildings in Dresden, built in the 15th century as the residence of Saxon princes and kings. The first historical building was damaged during a fire in 1701 and reconstructed under Augustus the Strong. The palace contained more than 500 halls. After restoration, a museum is located here.

Next to the palace there is a 101-meter-long painting “Procession of Princes”, lined with porcelain and depicting the princes of Saxony. More than 24,000 porcelain tiles were used to cover the image.

The cathedral is the largest religious building in Saxony and one of the latest Baroque buildings in the historical center of Dresden. This Protestant church was built in the mid-18th century. The niches and balustrades are decorated with 78 stone figures. 49 Saxon princes are buried in the crypt.

The Old Market or Altmarkt has been the heart of Dresden's historical center almost since the city's founding. This is a large rectangular square where all the main city events have long been held: fairs, tournaments, holidays.

The Kreuzkirche is one of the oldest churches in Dresden, with a history going back 7 centuries. If you climb the tower, you can enjoy stunning views of the Elbe Valley and the old town.

Brühl's Terrace is a historic embankment of the Elbe with the oldest Renaissance structures, under which are fragments of the Dresden Fortress. Here you can look at the old brick city gates, see relics of medieval fortifications and the old bridge. Also located here is one of the largest and most interesting museums in Dresden - the Albertinum.

Neustadt and its attractions

Neustadt is a historical district on the right bank of the Elbe. The area developed as a separate settlement independently of the left-bank historical center. After a severe fire in 1685, the area was rebuilt in Baroque style and incorporated into the city.

The Golden Horseman is an 18th century sculpture depicting Augustus the Strong, under whom Dresden became one of the most important cities in Europe.

In the center of the Neustadt district there is an old Jewish cemetery from the 18th century.

The Church of the Epiphany is one of the main religious buildings in Neustadt. It was built in the 30s of the 18th century. The 100-meter neo-Baroque tower was added 100 years later.

Neustadt is the embodiment of Augustus the Strong's dream of an ideal royal city. There are many beautiful baroque buildings and palaces here. This is a place with a large concentration of craft shops and cozy cafes. If you are looking for something unusual, then most likely you can only find it here.

Residents of the former GDR: the USSR abandoned us, and the West Germans robbed us and turned us into a colony

KP special correspondent Daria Aslamova visited Germany and was surprised to discover that 27 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the country remains divided...

– You can tell us later what life is like there in East Germany...

I'm sitting in a Berlin beer hall with my German colleagues, Peter and Kat, and I can't believe my ears:

- Are you joking?! Dresden is two hours away by car. Have you really never been to the former GDR?

My friends look at each other in confusion:

- Never. You know, for some reason I don’t want to. We are typical “Wessi” (West Germans), and between “ Vassy" And " Ossie"(East Germans) there is always an invisible line. We're just different.

– But the Berlin Wall was destroyed more than a quarter of a century ago! – I exclaim in confusion.

“She hasn’t gone anywhere.” It stands as it stood. People just have bad eyesight.

This is how the ancestors of the Germans looked menacing (sculpture in Dresden)

Rising from the Ashes

All my life I have avoided meeting with Dresden. Well, I didn't want to. “There in the ground there are tons of human bones crushed into dust” (Kurt Vonnegut "Slaughterhouse-Five"). My half-German mother-in-law was nine years old in 1945 and survived the night of February 13-14 when the full might of British and American air power fell on Dresden. She survived only because her grandmother managed to drag her out into the corn fields.

She lay with the other children, who were frozen in the grass like rabbits, and looked at the bombs falling on the city: “They seemed terribly beautiful to us and looked like Christmas trees. That's what we called them. And then the whole city burst into flames. And all my life I was forbidden to talk about what I saw. Just forget."

The city was hit overnight 650 tons incendiary bombs and 1500 tons high explosive The result of such a massive bombing was a fire tornado that covered an area four times larger than the destruction of Nagasaki. The temperature in Dresden reached 1500 degrees.

People flared up like living torches and melted along with the asphalt. It is absolutely impossible to calculate the number of deaths. The USSR insisted on 135 thousands of people, the British held on to the figure in 30 thousand. Only corpses pulled out from under destroyed buildings and basements were counted. But who can weigh human ashes?

One of the most luxurious and ancient cities in Europe, "Florence on the Elbe", was almost completely wiped off the face of the earth. The goal of the British (namely, they insisted on destroying the historical center of Dresden) was not only the moral destruction of the Germans, but also the desire to show the Russians what the aviation of the so-called “allies” was capable of, who were already preparing an attack on the war-weary USSR (Operation “Unthinkable” ").

Afterwards, I heard many times how stubborn, die-hard Germans stubbornly collected ancient, charred stones, how they carried out unprecedented construction work for more than forty years and restored Dresden, but I just shrugged my shoulders. I don't need props. I don’t like, for example, the toy center of the restored Warsaw, which looks like a Lego construction.

But Dresden shamed my unbelief. These German pedants achieved the impossible. Dresden has once again become the most beautiful of European cities. Two contradictory feelings possess me: admiration for the Saxon industriousness, their passionate love for their land and... fury at the thought of our stupid Russian generosity.

Once, looking at a portrait of some Saxon elector in the Dresden gallery, I compared it with the face of a museum guard and involuntarily burst out laughing. Well, just twins: the same pink, plump cheeks, double chin, slightly bulging blue eyes, arrogant look. Nothing has changed in three hundred years!

Famous Dresden porcelain

There aren't many people here. Even in Dresden, where you've never heard of traffic jams. And beyond Dresden, closer to the Polish border, you can drive tens of kilometers and not see not only people, but even cars. But the cleanliness everywhere is like in an operating room! There is nowhere to throw the bull. Everything seems to have been licked by the tongue. This is not Cologne, spit on by migrants, or Frankfurt.

The green geometry of the fields, vigorous, tall hops, from which such excellent beer is then made, earing wheat, rich peasant lands with strong outbuildings, sleek, trimmed, washed land. A real holiday of labor and order!

Trees grow like soldiers, flowers are brought up under strict discipline. But where are these stubborn farmers themselves? Where are their tracks on the neat gravel paths? Nobody!

I even developed a theory that at night little green men descend from the sky onto beautiful Saxony, cultivate the fields, cut the grass, clean the roads, and at dawn disappear like ghosts. There are simply no other explanations.

But later I realized where people from eastern Germany disappeared.

GDR: a country that has disappeared from the map

We know well what happened BEFORE the fall of the Berlin Wall, but it is almost unknown what happened AFTER. We know nothing about the tragedy experienced by the “socialist” Germans, who so enthusiastically broke down the wall and opened their arms to their “capitalist brothers.” They could not even imagine that their country would disappear within a year, that there would be no equal unification agreement, that they would lose most of their civil rights. An ordinary Anschluss will occur: capture West Germany and East Germany and the complete absorption of the latter.

“The events of 1989 were very reminiscent of the Ukrainian Maidan,” recalls historian Brigitte Quek. – The world media broadcast live how thousands of young Germans broke the wall and applauded them. But no one asked, what does a country of 18 million people want? Residents of the GDR dreamed of freedom of movement and "better socialism". They had a hard time imagining what capitalism looked like.

But there was no referendum, as for example, here in Crimea, which means that the “Anschluss” was absolutely not legitimate!

Merkel in Nazi uniform

“After the start of perestroika and Gorbachev’s rise to power, it became clear what kind of end awaited the GDR without the support of the Soviet Union, but the funeral could be worthy,” says Dr. Wolfgang Schelike, Chairman of the German-Russian Institute of Culture. – United Germany was born as a result of a hasty and unsuccessful birth. Helmut Kohl, Federal Chancellor of Germany, did not want to delay, fearing that Gorbachev would be removed. His slogans were: no experiments, Germany is stronger and has proven with its history that it better GDR. Although the intelligentsia understood that if all West German laws were poured into another country overnight, it would cause a long-term conflict.

On October 3, 1990, the GDR ceased to exist. The Federal Republic of Germany created a special humiliating Office for the care of the former GDR, as if the East Germans were backward and unreasonable children. In essence, East Germany simply capitulated. In just a year, almost two and a half million people lost their jobs, out of a total workforce of 8.3 million.

“All government officials were kicked out first,” says Peter Steglich, former GDR ambassador to Sweden. – We, at the Foreign Ministry, received a letter: you are free, the GDR no longer exists. I, unemployed, was saved by my Spanish wife, who was left to work as a translator. I had a few years left before retirement, but for young diplomats who had received an excellent education, this was a tragedy. They wrote applications to the German Foreign Ministry, but not a single one of them was hired. Then they destroyed the fleet and army, the second most powerful in the Warsaw Pact countries. All the officers were fired, many with pitiful pensions, or even no pensions at all. Only technical specialists who knew how to handle Soviet weapons were left.

Important people arrived from the West gentlemen administrators, the purpose of which was to dismantle the old system, introduce a new one, compile “black” lists of unwanted and suspicious people, and carry out thorough purges. Special "qualification commissions" to identify all “ideologically” unstable workers. “Democratic” Germany decided to brutally deal with the “totalitarian GDR”. In politics Only the vanquished are wrong.

Daria and a German are holding a flag, half German, half Russian

On January 1, 1991, all employees of the Berlin legal services were dismissed as unfit to ensure democratic order. On the same day at the University. Humboldt (the main university of the GDR) liquidated the history, law, philosophy and pedagogical faculties and expelled all professors and teachers without retaining their seniority.

In addition, all teachers, professors, scientific, technical and administrative staff in educational institutions of the former GDR were ordered to fill out questionnaires and provide details of their political views and party affiliation. In case of refusal or concealment of information, they were subject to immediate dismissal.

“Purges” have begun in schools. Old textbooks, considered “ideologically harmful,” were thrown into a landfill. But the Gedar education system was considered one of the best in the world. Finland, for example, borrowed its experience.

“First of all, they fired the directors, members of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany that ruled in the GDR,” recalls Dr. Wolfgang Schelicke. – Many humanities teachers lost their jobs. The rest had to survive, and fear came to them. The teachers did not go underground, but they stopped discussing and expressing their point of view. But this affects the upbringing of children! Russian language teachers were also fired. English became a compulsory foreign language.

Russian, like Czech or Polish, can now be learned at will, as a third language. As a result, East Germans forgot Russian and did not learn English. The atmosphere everywhere has completely changed. I had to work with my elbows. The concepts of solidarity and mutual assistance have disappeared. At work you are more not a colleague, but a competitor. Those who have a job work their butts off. They have no time to go to the cinema or the theater, as was the case in the GDR. And the unemployed fell into degradation.

Many people lost their homes. And for what an ugly reason. Many East Germans lived in private houses that were badly damaged during the war (West Germany suffered much less damage than East Germany). Construction materials were in great short supply. Over the course of forty years, the owners of the houses restored them, collected them literally stone by stone and could now be proud of their beautiful villas.

But after the wall fell, beloved relatives who used to send Christmas cards came from the West and claimed a share in the houses. Come on, pay it off! Where did the former GDR member get his savings? He received a good salary, had social guarantees, but he was not a capitalist. Oh, no money? We don't care. Sell ​​your house and pay our share. These were real tragedies.

But the most important thing is there was a complete change of elites. The Germans, who were not very successful there, poured in from the West and immediately seized all the high-paying positions in the former GDR. They were considered trustworthy. Still in Leipzig 70% administrations are "vessi". Yes, there is no mercy for the powerless. Virtually all control over the former republic fell into the hands of the new colonial administration.

Russian flag and poster “Friendship with Russia” at a rally in Dresden

– The USSR abandoned the GDR just like that, without even leaving any agreement between the owners of Germany and the GDR,” says former diplomat Peter Steglich bitterly. – Smart, statesmanlike people foresaw conflicts over property and the Anschluss of the GDR instead of the unification of the two Germanys on equal rights. But there is a statement from Gorbachev: let the Germans figure it out themselves. This meant: the strong take what they want. And the West Germans were strong. The real one has begun colonization of the GDR. Having removed local patriots from power, denigrated and humiliated them, the Western colonialists proceeded to the most “delicious” part of the program: full privatization state assets of the GDR. One system intended to completely devour the other.

The ability to “clean” other people’s pockets

At the state level, one must rob skillfully, gracefully, with white gloves and very quickly, before the victim comes to his senses. The GDR was the most successful country of the Warsaw Pact. Such a fatty piece had to be swallowed immediately, without hesitation.

First, it was necessary to show future victims a gesture of generosity by establishing a one-to-one exchange rate between East and West marks for GDR citizens. All West German newspapers shouted loudly about this! In fact, it turned out that you can only exchange 4000 marks. Above this, the exchange rate was two eastern marks for one western. All state-owned enterprises of the GDR and small businesses could exchange their accounts only on the basis of two to one.

Poster “We want a free Germany: without the euro, without the EU, without NATO and with real democracy”

Therefore, they are at once lost half of their capital! At the same time, their debts were recalculated at the exchange rate 1:1 . You don’t have to be a businessman to understand that such measures led to the complete ruin of the industry of the GDR! In the fall of 1990, production volume in the GDR dropped by more than half!

Now Western "brothers" could talk condescendingly about the unviability of socialist industry and its immediate privatization “on fair and open terms.”

But what the hell are fair conditions if the citizens of the GDR had no capital?! Oh, no money? It's a pity. And 85% of the country’s entire industry fell into the hands of the West Germans, who actively led it to bankruptcy. Why give a chance to competitors? 10% went to foreigners. But only 5% were able to buy the true owners of the land, the East Germans.

- Were you robbed? - I ask the former general director of the metallurgical plant in the city of Eisenhüttenstadt, Professor Karl Döring.

- Certainly. The residents of the GDR had no money, and all property fell into Western hands. And we don't forget who sold us. Gorbachev. Yes, there were demonstrations for freedom of movement and nothing more, but no one demanded that the GDR disappear from the world map. I emphasize this. For this, the corresponding position of Gorbachev, a man who failed the test of history, was needed. No one can take this “glory” away from him. What is the result? East Germans are much poorer than West Germans. Many studies show that we are “second class” Germans.

What was important to Western industrialists? A new market is nearby where you can dump your goods. This was the fundamental idea. They got so carried away destroying our industry that they finally discovered that the unemployed could not buy their goods! If you do not preserve at least the remnants of industry in the East, people will simply flee to the West in search of work, and the lands will become empty.

That’s when I managed to save at least part of our plant, thanks to the Russians. We increased our exports to Russia, selling 300-350 thousand tons of cold-rolled steel sheets in 1992-93 for your automotive industry, for agricultural machinery. Then the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant, one of the largest in Russia, wanted to buy our shares, but Western politicians did not like this idea. And she was rejected.

“Yes, this looks like “fair privatization,” I note with irony.

Poster "Merkel must go"

– Now the remains of the plant have gone to the Indian billionaire monopolist. I'm glad that the plant at least didn't die.

Professor Karl Dering is very proud of his small steelworking town of Eisenhüttenstadt (formerly Stalinstadt), which is only 60 years old. The first socialist city on ancient German soil, built from scratch with the help of Soviet specialists. The dream of justice and equal rights for all. An exemplary showcase of socialism. The creation of a new man: a worker with the face of an intellectual who reads Karl Marx, Lenin and Tolstoy after his work shift.

“It was a new organization of public life,” the professor tells me with slight excitement as I walk along the completely deserted streets of the city. – After the factory, the theater was the first to be built! Can you imagine? After all, what was the main thing? Kindergartens, cultural centers, sculptures and fountains, cinemas, good clinics. The main thing was the man.

We walk along a wide avenue with restored houses of Stalinist architecture. The neatly trimmed lawns are wonderfully green. But in the spacious courtyards where the flowers are fragrant, you can’t hear children’s laughter. It’s so quiet that we can hear the sounds of our own steps. The emptiness has a depressing effect on me. It was as if all the inhabitants were suddenly blown away by the wind of the past. Suddenly a married couple with a dog comes out of the entrance and in surprise I shout: “Look! People, people!

“Yes, there are not enough people here,” says Professor Dering dryly. – Previously, 53 thousand people lived here. Almost half left. There are no children here. Girls are more determined than guys. As soon as they grow up, they immediately pack their things and head west. Unemployment. The birth rate is low. Four schools and three kindergartens were closed because there were no children. And without children this city has no future.

Sculpture of mother and child in Eisenhüttenstadt (formerly Stalinstadt), in a city where there are no more children

Women had the hardest time

With Marianne, a waitress from a cafe in Dresden, we first had a fight, and then became friends. A tired woman of about fifty threw a plate of wonderful pork knee onto my table with such force that the fat splashed onto the tablecloth. I was indignant first in English, and then in Russian. Her face suddenly brightened.

- You are Russian?! Sorry,” she said in heavily accented Russian. – I used to teach Russian at school, but now you can see for yourself what I’m doing.

I invited her for an evening cup of coffee. She came in an elegant dress, with lipstick on her lips, suddenly looking younger.

“It’s terribly nice to speak Russian after so many years,” Marianna told me. She smoked cigarette after cigarette, telling her story, the same as that of thousands of women from the former GDR.

– When the “Wessies” arrived, I was immediately thrown out of work as a party member and a Russian teacher. We were all suspected of having connections with the Stasi. And about the Stasi, the Wessies have now created a whole legend - they say that animals worked there. As if the CIA were better! If we had good intelligence, the GDR would still exist.

My husband was also laid off - he was then working at a mine in the town of Hoyerswerda (we lived there before). He couldn't stand it. I drank myself, like many others. For Germans, work is everything. Prestige, status, self-esteem. We divorced and he moved west. I was left alone with my little daughter. I didn’t yet know that this was just the beginning of all the troubles.

In the West, women hardly worked at that time. Not because of laziness. They did not have a system of kindergartens and nurseries. To get a job, I had to pay an expensive nanny, which practically ate up all my earnings. But if you sit at home with a child for five or six years, you lose your qualifications. Who needs you after this?

Everything was fine in the GDR: it was possible to go back to work six months after pregnancy. And we liked it. We're not homebodies. The children were looked after reliably and responsibly, and their early education was provided.

The "Wessies" came and abolished the entire system, closed most of the kindergartens, and in the remaining ones they introduced such a fee that the majority could not afford it. I was saved by my parents, who were forced into retirement. They could sit with my daughter, and I rushed around looking for work. But I was labeled as an “unreliable communist.” With my university education, I even worked as a cleaner.

Empty Stalinist courtyards in the former Stalinstadt

– But weren’t you paid unemployment benefits?

- Ha! "Vassie" then introduced a new rule that benefits should be paid only to those women who lost their jobs with children who can prove that they are able to provide day care for the children. And at that time my parents and husband still worked part-time. There was no one to sit with the child. And I never received the benefits. In general, I became a waitress. Sorry for throwing the plate. Life just seems so hopeless sometimes. My daughter grew up and moved to the west, working there as a nurse. I hardly see her. A lonely old age lies ahead. I hate those who broke the Berlin Wall! They were just fools.

Why don't I go west? Don't want. They invited all this terrorist trash to join them. One and a half million idle refugees, when Germany itself is full of unemployed! I'll stay here because we are the real Germany. The people here are patriots. Have you seen? All the houses here have German flags on them. But in the west you won't see them. This, they say, may offend the feelings of foreigners. I go to a rally every Monday "Pegids"– a party that opposes the Islamization of Europe.

Come and you will see real Germans.

“Putin is in my heart!”

Monday. The center of Dresden, surrounded by many police cars. Musicians in folk costumes play folk songs, middle-aged women and men sing along with them, happily stamping their feet. There are also many young men with a defiant expression on their faces. What I see makes me tetanus. Everywhere Russian flags flutter proudly. One flag is simply amazing: half German, half Russian.

The standard bearer tries to explain to me in bad Russian that his flag symbolizes the unity of Russians and Germans. Lots of guys wearing T-shirts with a portrait of Putin. Posters with Putin and Merkel next to them with pig ears. Or Merkel in a Nazi uniform with a euro sign resembling a swastika. Posters of Muslim women in burkas with a cross through them. Calls for " friendship with Russia" And " war with NATO" People, where am I? Is this Germany?

Many protesters are carrying stuffed pigs. A good, fat pig is a symbol of a well-fed, Christian Germany. No halal food! " Long live Russia!- they shout around me. Some enthusiastic elderly woman repeats to me: “Putin is in my heart.” My head is spinning.

Protester wearing a Putin T-shirt

A young man named Michael clarifies the situation.

– Why do you believe Putin so much? – I’m surprised.

“He is the only strong leader who fights terrorism. And who to believe? This pro-American puppet Merkel, who opened the borders to strangers? They rape our women, kill our men, eat our bread, hate our religion and want to build a caliphate in Germany.

“But here in East Germany I hardly see any foreigners.”

No women in burkas!

“And we will do everything so that you don’t see them.” We are not racists. But everyone who comes to this country must work and respect its laws.

I tell Michael about what I saw in January in Munich. Young hysterical fools shouting “Munich should be colored!”, “We love you, refugees!” I remember how five thousand liberals were eager to beat up a hundred sane people who came out with the only slogan “No to the Islamization of Germany!” Only the police saved them from the massacre, clearing the way for the “fascists” with their batons.

“So this is “Wessie,” says Michael with indescribable contempt. “They believe everything their stupid newspapers write.” A we were born in the GDR. We are different and we are not easily deceived.

People carry stuffed pigs to a rally as a symbol of protest against halal food.

Immunity to propaganda

This is how we are alike! We both agreed on this expression! Me and a deputy from the Alternative for Germany party Jörg Urban:

– Yes, we are distrustful, East Germans and Russians, and we hate everything that even remotely resembles propaganda. And this saves us from illusions. West Germany, as a showcase of ideal capitalism, lived without problems for 50 years. They grew up in the spirit that nothing could happen to them. "Vassies" are not realistic and are unable to look at what is happening rationally.

People in the GDR clearly knew that lying was a necessary part of life, for various reasons. They were often lied to, and they knew that they were being lied to. This, oddly enough, did not interfere with life. I was a happy young man, an excellent student, received a scholarship and was planning to supplement my education at the expense of the state abroad. I had confidence that everything would be fine tomorrow.

And then everything collapsed. It’s easier for young people, they are flexible. Now imagine adults who worked all their lives, and then they were told that no one needs you, your socialism was nonsense. They lost their jobs and, in a moral sense, got punched in the face. It was a difficult time, a collapse of illusions.

But these people got up and started their business from scratch. They know that life is not heaven, success is not a gift, and any enterprise can go down the drain right now. The fact that we happily became a united Germany, hang out flags and are ready to fight for our country is not nationalism. This secret of survival. The easiest people to understand us are the Russians, who suddenly lost their identity during perestroika and are regaining it now.

The "Wessies", the West Germans, have lived in a guaranteed paradise for so many years that they are unable to fight. Their culture is Conchita Wurst. Such a person is not capable of fighting for his country. But we can.

I sigh heavily:

– But you understand that Germany is not only part of NATO, but also territory occupied by the United States. Secret agreements...

“I don’t want to know about them,” says Mr. Jörg Urban with a distinctly ironic smile. – There are rumors about a secret pact to subjugate Germany to the United States. Do I really care? The entire history of the world has proven hundreds of times that treaties are just pieces of paper. When a wave of popular anger rises, it sweeps away everything.

Before our eyes, the collapse of the USSR, Yugoslavia, the GDR, and the Warsaw Pact took place. The same could happen with NATO or the EU. When an idea matures and takes hold of minds, any legal act becomes insignificant. If Germany again becomes a strong, independent power defending its interests, the secret pacts will become mere dust in the archives.

The State Duma proposes to consider the unification of Germany as annexation of the GDR

Demolish everything and build a new garden city from scratch - how often do I hear such proposals? Is an old house from the 19th or 20th century interfering with the construction of a road or the construction of a business center? It’s simple: “you understand, the city must develop” and the bulldozers go on the attack. Every month, cities across the country lose a historic building and every week or so a feature. In this whole process we lose ourselves.

In the process of rapid urbanization, it is important not to lose face and identity. Today, at best, we preserve the ceremonial heritage in the form of temples or palaces, but ignore the utilitarian heritage of industry, the avant-garde or post-war modernism. Even a demolished house from the 1950s or 1970s deprives citizens of the borders of memory - the hereditary thread of cultural tradition is lost. After all, it’s one thing to talk about the past in your head, and quite another to look at and touch this past.

For now, we are just beginning to understand the lost environment and pieces of history due to barbaric demolitions or traces of war. The Poles, for example, after World War II began to restore their history to recreate their identity. Dresden is unique in that its restoration of unique objects and environments began after the unification of Germany. It took decades, but today the city again has its own face and place on the map of human civilization.

War and the GDR

In February 1945, Anglo-American aircraft massively bombed Dresden. A major cultural center, the former capital of the Electorate of Saxony, “Florence on the Elbe” - all this turned into a pile of ruins. Was:

Became:


Frauenkirche church

The condition of Dresden Castle was not much different from the condition of the Royal Castle of Königsberg in the early post-war years. But Dresdensky was mothballed in time and was not allowed to be torn apart into bricks, much less they began to blow up the remains.

During the clearing of the rubble, the remains of old Dresden were preserved and taken outside the city for preservation. City center in 1957:

There was new construction, but the center itself was left mostly empty. The GDR authorities were not opposed to the restoration of historical landmarks; they restored some of the pearls of Dresden very well: the Zwinger palace ensemble and the Opera, for example. However, further work on the revival of the Old Town was not part of their immediate plans.

Year 1990:

United Germany and restoration

In 1989, residents decided that they wanted to return the Saxon capital to its former beauty and grandeur at any cost. They were not worried about the remodel, the disastrous economic situation of eastern Germany after reunification, that the long-defunct Old Town would have to be rebuilt, and other issues.

It is unlikely that they even thought that the invested costs would later be recouped by the flow of tourists. They just wanted their city back in all its glory and to be proud of it. For them it was the same most important spiritual task as for the Poles after the war.

The restoration of the castle began in the early 90s, and ended only in 2013 - Only one object in the Old Town took more than 20 years!

This is where the original details of the lost city came in handy. - The Germans recognized the position of the old bricks and inserted them into their original places. The void was filled with new light-colored material. As a result, it was possible to preserve the historical value and insert the memory of the war for many centuries:

Money for restoration was collected publicly, and the symbol of the campaign was the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche

The restoration of the church was completed in 2005. Immediately after this, the reconstruction of entire blocks of the surrounding historical buildings began. For this purpose, they even demolished GDR houses that were in the way.

The restoration of the Residence Castle and the Frauenkirche was a meticulous job, maintaining maximum historical accuracy. The background development was initially planned as a remodel stylized as antique, without any attempt to create the illusion of antiquity and authenticity.

Almost all the houses are designed from old photographs and paintings, but they deliberately have a modern look. As a result, the recreated buildings create the necessary background for genuine historical monuments and the cozy atmosphere of the old city, but do not mislead about their authenticity. This is just an emulation of what is irretrievably lost.

The process is still ongoing:

Many vacant lots are temporarily given over to parking, but their time will also come:

Knocked out teeth are restored not only in the center, but also closer to the outskirts:

In some places, the buildings from the GDR era imitate the old buildings in their parameters. The panels are inserted along the red lines and the height of the previous buildings. That is, they thought about the appearance and environment even then.

What to keep and what not

Heritage Preservation - a rather late concept that appeared during the Enlightenment. If at the very beginning the value of ancient monuments 2000 years old was recognized, then gradually this threshold decreased. Today, the limit of memory of a place has approached 20 years. If previously houses outlived us and only then became valuable, today heritage is beginning to overtake us.

Heritage can be different, but even station buildings, like monasteries, tell us about the way of life of generations before us. Buildings that outlive their creators speak volumes about the preferences, level of craftsmanship and quality of life of our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. Most importantly, it is a non-renewable resource.

Urban development can be carried out through rethinking the old foundation or through targeted solutions. Many people point out that the concepts of a city’s wealth and architectural heritage are directly related. People love antiques and it is monetized - heritage economics proves that every euro invested in the maintenance of historical buildings generates 10 euros of income for society (google proof at the Norwegian Directorate of Cultural Heritage).

The demolition of every historical building not only destroys the labor invested by ancestors in the construction of the house, but also harms the overall ecology. For example, the remains of the Russia Hotel occupy about 11 km² in the Moscow region. Therefore, today the Save & Reuse principle is applied in the world - save and use in a new way. Redevelopment is better than demolishing and building from scratch.

Demolishing a particular house may seem like a quick and profitable decision here and now, but this should always be a balanced and thoughtful step from all points of view. After the bulldozer's work, all that's left to do is cry at old photographs. It is not for nothing that Europeans today determine the level of civilization in relation to their heritage - this shapes the environment around us (Civilizing influence of continuity). By depriving ourselves of the past, we have no future.

PS I used material for this post