*Katja Hoyer, author of Beyond The Wall*

“I have so often wondered”, the historian Katja Hoyer says, “what I would have made of the state that I was born into had I been born a few years earlier and lived through it in the way that other people did.”

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That state was East Germany or the German Democratic Republic (GDR). This was a nation that emerged out of the ashes of World War II and existed until the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in 1990. The GDR is remembered today in the West as a neurotic, oppressive nation, synonymous with its Ministry for State Security or Stasi.

But in her new book Beyond The Wall, Katja presents a fresh image. What was life really like for the citizens of the GDR, especially its youth? How did the ideals of the time impact them? Why were young leftists - among them Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn - so drawn to visit?

In this revealing episode, we walk the streets of 1973 East Berlin and attend some of the city’s most exciting cultural events of the year.

First, we head to the cinema to watch the premiere of “The Legend of Paul and Paula” and participate in the twenty minute standing ovation the film received once it was finished. “The Legend of Paul and Paula” is one of the most popular East German films ever made (Angela Merkel once said it was her favourite) but it was almost never released. The state had considered censoring it for its provocative depiction of infidelity and honest portrayal of East Berlin’s decaying architecture. In the end, it was personally permitted by East German leader Erich Honecker.

Honecker had become leader of the GDR just two years before, after a series of shrewd political manoeuvres allowed him to oust his predecessor Walter Ulbricht. Ubricht had been a central figure in the creation of the GDR in the 1950s and its leader since 1960. His death in 1973 would mark the end of an era. He hadn’t been a charismatic leader but one who had, in the words of one man who queued to see him lying in state, achieved “more than a little”.

Next we grab a beer and walk to the Alexanderplatz, for the 10th World Festival of Youth and Students. The festival had taken place in cities around the world since 1947 as an event of global youth solidarity for democracy and against war and imperialism. This year’s slogan was “For Anti-Imperialist Solidarity, Peace and Friendship” but, Katja ensures us, the festival was as much about young people from all around the world socialising with one another as it was about left-wing politics.

The stories that feature in this episode are covered in much more depth in Katja’s fascinating new book, Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990.

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Show Notes

Scene One: 29 March 1973, the Kosmos cinema, for the premiere of the film The Legend of Paul and Paula.

Scene Two: 2 July 1973, East Berlin in the Alexanderplatz, for the 10th World Festival of Youth and Students.

Scene Three: 7 August 1973, the death of Walter Ulbricht, the man at the top of the GDR’s political framework.

Memento: A silk scarf bearing the inscripted hopes and dreams of anyone the guest may have met at the Youth Festival.

People/Social

Presenter: Artemis Irvine

Guest: Katja Hoyer

Production: Maria Nolan

Podcast partner: ACE Cultural Tours

Theme music: ‘Love Token’ from the album ‘This Is Us’ By Slava and Leonard Grigoryan

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About Katja Hoyer

Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian, journalist and. A visiting Research Fellow at King's College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she is a columnist for the Washington Post and hosts the podcast The New Germany. Her new book, Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990, is available to buy now.