Wednesday, January 28, 2009

East German Time Warp

Wow.

An architect who renovates buildings in eastern Germany unlocked the door last week and was shocked to find himself in a veritable East German time warp.

It appears the inhabitant of the humble flat fled in a hurry and shrivelled bread rolls still lay in a string bag.

Grocery brands from the Socialist state filled the kitchen.

“When we opened the door we felt like Howard Carter when he found the grave of Tutankhamun,” Mark Aretz told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

“Everything was a mess but it was like a historic treasure trove, a portal into an age long gone.”

A wall calendar showed August 1988 and an empty bottle of Vita Cola, Marella margarine, Juwel cigarettes and a bottle of Kristall vodka were in the kitchen.

Plastic crockery and aluminium cutlery completed the picture of a bygone state.

The only foreign product to be found was a West German bottle of deodorant.

A zinc bath stood upright against a wardrobe. There was no toilet in the flat - the occupant had to use a communal one on the landing.

(10) Comments
Posted by Owen at 2241 hrs
Foreign Affairs

  1. Unless this is poorly written, I have my doubts if this a real story.  From the end of the article: According to Mr Aretz, documents and letters in the flat suggest the occupant was a man aged 24 who was in trouble with the East German authorities, and who left in a hurry some time before the Wall came down in November 1989If this is true, that put the man, aged 24, to be 5 years old when the Wall came down.  How can he be in trouble with the East German authorities at that young age?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 28, 2009 at 2351 hrs


  2. Dan:
    You don’t operate heavy machinery or teach children, do you?

    Posted by Brew City Brawler on January 29, 2009 at 0006 hrs


  3. a portal into an age long gone...or a glimpse into our socialist future?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 29, 2009 at 0121 hrs


  4. Back in college, our German TA, who grew up in West Berlin, used to comment on how much Milwaukee resembled East Berlin.  That’s when I told him that this city has been run by socialists for a number of generations.  He then understood the comparison.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 29, 2009 at 0404 hrs


  5. A good glimpse of what is to come if O has his way.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 29, 2009 at 0748 hrs


  6. A good glimpse of what is to come if O has his way

    I’ll give you an AMEN! on that one, Bill.

    Posted by Jim the Fireman on January 29, 2009 at 0905 hrs


  7. The centrally-planned economy.

    Where the government decides what goods and services can be produced, how much money is paid to the workers, and healthcare is “free”.  Sound familiar?

    Ask former East Bloc immigrants what they see happening in the Washington right now and get their reaction….

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 29, 2009 at 1240 hrs


  8. Dan, I think the article means that the man was 24 in 1989...not that he’s 24 now.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 29, 2009 at 1311 hrs


  9. Once again, brain trust, if the US economy improves at all in the next four years, which is almost certain to happen, it will be a huge victory for socialism thanks to your childish rhetoric.  I’m sure Hugo Chavez can’t wait to see things get better here, so he can cite you, and the whole talk radio think tank, when he credits socialism for the improvement.  Way to think things through, culture warriors.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 29, 2009 at 1519 hrs


  10. Amy, I agree with you, but as I said, it was probably written poorly.  Appaerntly brew city blindman needs some glasses.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 29, 2009 at 1934 hrs


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