© Goethe-Institut e.V. / Jenny Windell
Show description in:
Ostalgie - Romanticizing East Germany
Compelling Question: How does nostalgia help people cope?
Characteristics
Target group
Topic
Description
Inquiry Overview:
This inquiry explores nostalgia—its meaning and effects. Students will study the current wave of Ostalgie (a combination of the German words for “East” and “nostalgia” referring to a cultural phenomenon present in the former GDR). After reading several articles discussing the reunification of East and West Germany, students will list off the reasons for this nostalgia and its dangers.
By the end of this inquiry, students should be able to understand the difficulties that Germany has faced in reuniting two similar—yet distinctly different—countries and the need for people to reminisce about the past, even if many aspects of it were marked by hardship.
This inquiry explores nostalgia—its meaning and effects. Students will study the current wave of Ostalgie (a combination of the German words for “East” and “nostalgia” referring to a cultural phenomenon present in the former GDR). After reading several articles discussing the reunification of East and West Germany, students will list off the reasons for this nostalgia and its dangers.
By the end of this inquiry, students should be able to understand the difficulties that Germany has faced in reuniting two similar—yet distinctly different—countries and the need for people to reminisce about the past, even if many aspects of it were marked by hardship.
Similar materials
© Goethe-Institut e.V.
© Goethe-Institut e.V.
© Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1990-1003-400 / Grimm, Peer / CC-BY-SA 3.0
© Unsplash, Ben Kupke (@benkupke)
© National Archives, NAID: 6460674
© National Archives, NAID: 6438596
© States Air Force Historical Research Agency via Cees Steijger (1991), "A History of USAFE", Voyageur, ISBN: 1853100757
© Einaz80, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
© Goethe-Institut e.V. / Getty Images
© Goethe-Institut e.V.
© Transatlantic Outreach Program / Chris Ippolito
