The Waldsiedlung - Where the East-German politicians lived

[@yashvardhanrautela]

This channel is such a goldmine for DDR history in English, thanks

[@herosstratos]

These HO specialty outlets like the one in Wandlitz were discussed particularly intensely after a radio interview with Egon Krenz, who claimed that he, like every other GDR citizen, would sit in front of the television in the evening with a can of beer. But canned beer was not available anywhere in the GDR, only in these specialty outlets - and there, at that, for reduced East German money. Egon Krenz, who was able to shop in Wandlitz, was not even aware of this because he did not know of any normal East Berlin department stores.

[@hahahaha5444]

Egon Krenz is still around and writes books about his "truth"🤬

[@AlfaGiuliaQV]

@@hahahaha5444 His two sons seems to be doing good for themselves, living in Swizerland and Canada. Good on them to make sucessful careers and leave the old behind.

[@ColinH1973]

​@@AlfaGiuliaQVThey've done well probably using the money that he salted away.

[@OffGridInvestor]

​@@AlfaGiuliaQVyeah. Left the old behind. But TOOK the money from the old to start anew. Just like the soviet politicians kids

[@jackg3729]

Reminds me of the situation with George Bush Sr. Leading up to the 1992 election he went to a grocery expo to network for lobbying and fundraising purposes where he was shown a self checkout barcode reader. Though somewhat mischaracterized, he was quoted as being amazed by the technology when millions of Americans were shopping with it for nearly 20 years up to that point.

[@jamessteel9016]

Fascinated by East German history, thanks for the new video 👏

[@michaelblack1864]

Yes, agreed. Excellent vids as always!

[@ColinH1973]

Yes, me too.

[@bgggsht]

Same. Living in western Poland i am more interested in this part of the world than - say - our capital, which is twice the distance from here, as compared with Berlin 😂

[@twentyrothmans7308]

Thank you for showing us the lifestyles of our selfless, modest, comrades.

[@Ah01]

More or less similar to any priviledged luxury, be it west or third world. For the DDR it can still be said that there was a genuine attempt to house decently most of the population, and this is a big contrast to countries like USA, India or Brazil even nowadays.

[@sleepenjoyer-on2dr]

Those houses of the top GDR politicians are absolutely nothing in comparison to how government politicians today live. They definitely had more luxuries than the average GDR citizen, but the quality of life wasn't nearly as radically different as it is today.

[@lap125]

@@sleepenjoyer-on2dr how lucky for them, to always have evil western politicians to point to. That way they can never do wrong

[@flarp671]

So these GDR leaders lived in the equivalent of an American suburb and reported feeling uncomfortably isolated? Color me shocked!

[@cramer4506]

Ahh yes, the typical American suburb comes with servants, armed protection, and the paranoia of living amid powerful figures of a totalitarian regime. You need to touch grass.

[@kevinivers]

Every video on KZbin seems to have tons of anti-American comments in English from mostly inauthentic accounts, finding any possible minimal reference to latch onto in order to make a snide comment and give people the impression of massive widespread unhappiness. Looks like the state methods of the DDR live on in other places today

[@AMEENHAI]

excellent vlog and important documentation for the future generations. thanx.

[@skiueli]

I love the segments when you go out and get footage yourself.

[@vselenautika]

Holländischer Spion! 😜

[@creepermk]

Thank you for your work on this channel, an absolutely (though hidden) gem! Even as a German who studies history I learn so much about the gdr and the now forgotten places so close to home!

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thank you!

[@TeslaRoadtrips]

Thanks!

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thank you!

[@marks_sparks1]

Fantastic video Olav. Live your channel

[@soytnly]

Thanks! I love your channel and appreciate what you do. I visited the DDR briefly in 1983 when stationed in West Germany

[@Historydude-qd2ou]

Was it normal for them to allow US military personnel into East Germany?

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thank you!

[@cthoadmin7458]

@@Historydude-qd2ou I believe the four powers agreement allowed the militaries of all 4 occupying powers free access to Berlin, both east and west. Not sure about US, British or French militaries being able to freely visit the GDR outside East Berlin, except for small observer corps. I visited East Berlin in 1986 and I remember seeing a fair number of US military personnel visiting.

[@snubbedpeer]

Further to what you said about the gilded cage and no solidarity among those who lived there, the "top brass" I mean. I read somewhere that a wife said they looked forward to the weekend when they could go to their second home.

[@Tirana44]

Fascinating video! It’s so rare to see videos about the DDR in English, especially about those who ran the country.

[@TDeibara]

Mooie aflevering. Jammer dat de Duitsers hun recente geschiedenis proberen te verdoezelen. Het is aan vrijwilligers als Paul Bergner te danken dat het nodige is gedocumenteerd. Helaas is de man al behoorlijk op leeftijd, hopelijk zijn er mensen die het stokje kunnen overnemen.

[@clavichord]

Ik weet niet of het bewust het verdoezelen is van de DDR geschiedenis, maar er is veel minder politieke interesse in Duitsland (en ook Rusland wat betreft het Stalin tijdperk) , invergelijking tot bijvoorbeeld het Nazi tijdperk en de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Niet dat ik hiermee een vergelijking wil maken tussen de misdaden tijdens het Derde Rijk met misdaden in de DDR.... maar er zou best wel meer onderzoek gedaan kunnen worden naar bv de hoeveelheid mensen die vermoord en omgekomen zijn onder Stalin.... maar er is weinig politiek wil en ook weinig geld beschikbaar, zeker niet in Rusland. Gelukkig waren de schendingen van mensenrechten tijdens het DDR regime in ieder geval vele malen minder dan onder het bewind van zowel Hitler en Stalin....

[@adaw2d3222]

I read about this in Hoyer's book but it's interesting to see this more in depth look and the buildings themselves.

[@hahahaha5444]

Thank you for this well-researched video. I really like the information about the sculptures bc I didn't know this before. This is the video I desperately needed after seeing a horrible documentary on German TV last week. I visited the Waldsiedlung last September, unfortunately the Ladenkombinat was demolished. Fun-fact; The Government of the FRG has known about the Waldsiedlung since the middle of the 1960s. The general state of research about the gdr is insanely bad.

[@thadkarwowski]

Thank you for this channel! I find DDR history very interesting, and you go very in depth in your topics. ❤❤❤

[@frontenac5083]

*7:39** It all sounds very **_mysterious_** (not "mysteriously").*

[@chrismannion3418]

Every video on this channel is fascinating. So well researched and produced.

[@janelo2]

Takk!

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thank you!

[@lunabouch]

Thanks for the continued segments of history of the DDR as it was so mysterious to us Americans. Excellent

[@kerlyenai]

Thank for your work. This is fascinating.

[@JacekBorowski-Lubowicz]

Thanks a lot for this interesting material... BTW Do you know who who was the architect of this settlement? The architecture of those houses isn't great indeed, but anyhow I am curious who designed this small hidden town. Thanks one more time!

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

The architect was Walter Schmidt. He also led the architect's group that planned the 'Dynamo Sporthalle' and the 'Sportforum Hohenschönhausen'.

[@JacekBorowski-Lubowicz]

@@eastgermanyinvestigated Thanks for your kind respond. Take care!

[@francisdec1615]

Those houses look like the boring 1970s houses here in Sweden.

[@scrambaba]

@@francisdec1615Too bad they don‘t meet with your approval. Maybe they should tear it all down and then invite you to rebuild them…

[@patrickmccutcheon9361]

@@francisdec1615maybe but they were far better than where the rest of the people lived. With socialism, people are supposedly all treated equally but in reality some are more equal than others.

[@jere-pontusleppikorpi6213]

Fascinating piece of the past totally unbeknownst to me. Thank you for your diligence and efforts in bringing history available to us all. Looking forward to your future content - keep up the good work!

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thank you and thanks for your support!

[@Baurles]

Another interesting video as always. I've always been fascinated by the seemingly strange electoral system of East Germany, with elections being held and several parties which all essentially acted as satelitte organisations for the SED. Could you do a video explaining this, it would be very appreciated!

[@davidanderson9664]

Fascinating. Thank you. Love your vids! D.A., NYC

[@vauxpedia]

Olav, love your channel & another really great video. But can you please do a video about Egon Krenz!

[@flemmingsorensen5470]

Facinating video!

[@malekiththewitchking2799]

Hey hello, I have recently been researching into East Germany and it's history when this channel just stumbled across my recommended. Could have not come at a better time for my research. Many thanks.

[@towgod7985]

Really interesting video, we don't get much impartial information on the old East Germany here. Cheers from Toronto.

[@JulianCourtneyLukacs]

Your videos are awesome

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thank you, again!

[@nrwmike7061]

I used to lived in one of those houses before when i worked there. They turn the area into a rehaklinik and provide housing to staff working in the klinik.

[@dsdonovan]

Excellent again! Thanks for showing what might be an overlooked history.

[@turborocketmedia]

Thank you for once again for a fantastic video on East Germany! I had to binge watch all of you videos the day I discovered your channel, and instantly became a fan! If I may recommend a video, I'd love to see you talk about the Genex catalog, I think there's even a guy in Germany who specializes in Genex-only cars for sale. Wish you all the best and lots of success with your channel! 👌😎🌟

[@AlfaGiuliaQV]

Yes! i would like to see a visit and interview in english with Gerrit Crummenerl. Love his car collection.

[@ogpu1]

Really well researched and presented video! Thanks for your efforts ! Knowing how devious the Stasi was, I wonder how many houses had listening devices

[@Hongaars1969]

Thanks

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thank you!

[@petermcfarlane6749]

Really interesting video.

[@NoirFan01]

Interesting coincidence: during the night I had a dream about being in a movie set in East Germany in which the lead character (and his family) is paranoid about surveillance by the Stasi. I woke from the dream at 2:30 AM and could not get back to sleep right away. So, I opened KZbin on my iPad and a thumbnail of this video was at the top of the page as a recommended video.

[@udirt]

The movie that made you dream of that could be "Das Leben der Anderen (the life of others)" I met a woman who was thrown into jail there, as teens, because they painted things like a cute elephant in a tunnel. And prison in that case means with interrogations etc. It was such a horrible "system" and still we are ridden by millions of people who glorify this era.

[@BruceDanton-xw6eg]

Terrible of course too.

[@DaveSCameron]

I really enjoy your uploads and please keep them coming, respect from Liverpool.🇬🇧☘️📚👍

[@lptomtom]

I really love the channel: the East German topics are always interesting and often surprising, the format is great, his delivery is simple but effective AND there are subtitles! Thanks for doing such great work!

[@monsieurlespaique2333]

Yet another fascinating addition to your series, they're always well presented and well made. I always look forward to them and make sure to put aside some time to watch them with the attention that they deserve.

[@johntamlyn6383]

Many thanks, this is genuinely interesting, as is the rest of your channel for those who enjoy German history.

[@al1384]

Hello Really love the channel Can I ask if you can speak about the watch industry in east Germany especially pertaining with glashutte

[@jakekaywell5972]

Glashutte, like most other high-end watchmakers in the area such as A. Lange & Sonne, was reorganized into the conglomerate Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe (GUB). GUB wristwatches were solid quality pieces, mostly exported on the international market to bring foreign capital to the GDR.

[@specto1]

Very nice video, it's surprising how little luxury thes people were afforded compared to modern day dictators

[@bruhlel2220]

Because the DDR was for the people, and it's leaders priotized the collective and not themselves like true Marxists

[@judsonbox9845]

@@bruhlel2220yes of course. That’s why they had 24/7 service, access to goods their populations had to smuggle in goods, and of course their 2nd homes. 2nd homes very Marxist and self-sacrificial.

[@ColinH1973]

Excellent work, thank you. I can hardly wait for your next one!!

[@harryschubert2490]

Another interesting video about the zone - thank you!

[@Transterra55]

Fascinating information…thanks for the video.

[@gravity-san9781]

The fact that Walter Ulbricht is still around is pretty shocking. I really want to visit it and studies more about GDR.

[@patrickmccutcheon9361]

I think you mean Egon Krenz, the last DDR leader. Ulbricht died in 1973, aged 80.

[@ausaskar]

2:21 Love the cheesy 70s decor, similar to what I got to see preserved in the Stasi Museum.

[@stephenmoerlein8470]

Interesting history. Thanks for posting this content.

[@annehersey9895]

I just love this channel!!!

[@telluwide5553]

A dear old friend's father who lived in Berlin had his business and home near a lake expropriated by the communists. In his stepmothers will, whom he didn't really care for but took care of her from the US after he immigrated, left everything to him in her will. Deeds, etc. But, they were useless at the time since the DDR was still around. However, after the fall of the Wall, he was able to reclaim everything. Thank God the man was one of the most meticulous men I'd ever met. Probably made close to a half a million dollars US at the time since it was prime real estate. The home was occupied by a Soviet Colonel, and at one time a famous author in that world of the time....Fascinating stuff!

[@warren3967]

Many thanks, I have read about the Waldsiedlung, and nice to see some video. Keep up the great work that you do.

[@andysimpson6643]

Great videos, keep up the good work

[@stefansahlin9476]

Thanks for another great video!! I grew up during the Cold War and have always been fascinated by how the system worked (even though I'm swedish). I will also never forget the day the wall fell. Keep up the good work! Note: Do you know the Löwen-Adler Kaserne in Elstal, on the outskirts of Berlin, where the Russians had a huge military base?

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thanks! (No, I wasn't familiar with the Kaserne you mention. Only with the Olympic village at the other side of the street).

[@efnissien]

Another great video, well worth the wait!

[@McRocket]

Very interesting. And - seemingly - complete. Thank you. ☮

[@holgerandersengrn3457]

A very interesting video, thank you

[@ichibanmanekineko]

Love this channel and appreciate the work! Just a shame that the upload schedule is monthly ❤

[@ned900]

Fantastisch! Great content, thank you

[@eddielung31]

I am planning on a trip to Germany and interested in here after watching the clip, any way to get there from Berlin by public transport? Where to book the tour by the former gardener as described?

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Yes, you can get there by public transport: From Bernau Station. Bus 894 will take you to the Waldsiedlung. More info and contact details: www.wandlitz-internet.de/Artikel/Buchautor/7526 (Only in German, I am afraid)

[@aleksandartrendafilov5570]

excellent video

[@tfgrconus]

I wish the video would have described how the politicians were transported to their offices and back each day….routes, travel time, how early did they leave their homes and return, etc.

[@wolfie9019]

Great video as usual :)

[@42willys4]

Good video sir, thank you

[@NoSugarThanks]

Great video, could you do one on the East German film industry?

[@brianlangieri6723]

You have tons of great content on your channel that I am eating up. I'm not sure why there is such a distinct lack of information on the GDR unlike the Soviet Union or Communist China. Either way, your channel fills that niche exceptionally well. I see you made a video on the NVA which was excellent of course but can you make a video on the East German Airforce as well? Also can you make a video about the military structure and training NVA personnel received? I cant find very much information on those topics. Thank you! I have subscribed!

[@stevej71393]

"To each according to their need". It's amazing how many wants become needs when you have power in such a system.

[@AndreaPick]

Excellent, thank you.

[@charnestours1948]

Thank you, as usual, for a fascinating, well produced video! I wonder why the GDR officials chose to live in such humble houses. I understand that these houses were well above the average GDR apartment, but they didn't compare to the luxurious residences of many eastern block leaders.

[@prieten49]

I think thats Olaf touched on this in the video. The top leaderhip had to be rescued by the Soviet Union during the 1953 worker uprising in East Germany and Pankow was thereafter viewed as a little "too close for comfort" to the East German people. Although the houses themselves may seem plain and nothing special, they mimicked the modern home construction style prevalent in West Germany at the time and were very comfortable in stark contrast to the dilapidated housing of average East Germans. The immense privileges the Politbüro members enjoyed certainly made up for any lack of prestige afforded by the appearance of the houses.

[@bodyloverz30]

Where did Honecker live?

[@IrishCarney]

House 11

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

And at 2:45 you can see what the backyard of House 11 currently looks like.

[@spikethompson2000]

Do you think you could do a video on the volkskammer and the parties of the national front please?

[@whistlingdiesel]

Thanks a lot. Had to laugh hard with the F Club, don't know why 😁

[@kendalson7100]

Cool vid. As relatively modest these homes were the occupant's second homes were palatial.

[@joelcrandell700]

Can you do Erich Honecker

[@Nebarus]

In the GDR all were equal, some were just more equal than others... Thank you for these interesting insights into history :)

[@sarah_757]

Thank you for thsse enlightening videos! I was a child at the end of the cold war so I was aware of it. But everything was focused on the USSR, and much less about the other eastern bloc countries. Thanks!

[@sabflash]

Great video, super interesting but too short😢and too rare! Once a month only😢

[@boink800]

Yet another thing which was in very short supply in the GDR was construction materials. Though, the Waldsiedlung did not seem to have a problem with this.

[@dsm2240]

After 40 years the regime could not rebuild Dresden properly, but the Stasi had the materials to build prisons.

[@NormanF62]

Elites everywhere in the world have power and privileges that go along with it. In the DDR days this was expected and to some extent considered part of the perks of high status in the country. What angered people wasn’t that this happened but the gap between the regjme’s proclaimed ideals and the mockery it made of them. What it does mean to have socialism but all the hard work made to realise it turned out to be empty and pointless. In Germany today, that feeling which emerged during the Wende left everyone feeling betrayed, that in good part explains why no one misses the DDR days. Its a time people prefer to forget.

[@AngloAm]

They seem so average, so nondescript. But the setting is lovely, on that spring day.

[@IrishCarney]

Average to US. To an ordinary East German, who would be lucky to live in a tiny, overcrowded, drab, Khrushchev-era concrete-slab apartment they were palatial.

[@francisdec1615]

The smallest house is in fact the same size as my parents' villa here in Sweden, but most people in the DDR live in small apartments , as you said.

[@thesaltysandvich9257]

Nice

[@Hongaars1969]

Thank you for another insightful upload. 1) oh how the apparatchik must have suffered 2) what were they “afraid” of. Losing their heads. Cheers Zoltán (Dubrovnik)

[@nygothuey6607]

The houses aren't mansions, but they're far more luxurious than anything the general population has access to. So much for equality and communism

[@jakekaywell5972]

Socialism promises not equality, but equity. In that, it delivers.

[@petebondurant58]

@@jakekaywell5972 Not really.

[@nealrcn]

Human nature always wins in the end,

[@patrickmccutcheon9361]

@@jakekaywell5972it delivers lies.

[@Material_Monkey]

8:20 yeah. I would have made the Waldsiedlung into a museum about the gdr because this is an important part of history imo.

[@flitsertheo]

Don't count on the actual German government to remind you about anything East-German.

[@Msus-dd9jd]

If you happen to wonder what a typical Dutch accent sounds like, spoken by a middle aged person from the Netherlands, this is it ;)

[@GunnarMiller]

The Dutch are steadily talking over high-quality English language KZbin! www.youtube.com/@EdsAutoReviews

[@mdshaler]

I was born shortly before the fall of communism and have no memory of it. I love learning about former communist states like the GDR and USSR. Your channel is very informative and very well done! Thank you for sharing the history of the GDR with the world!

[@ZAR797]

Thanks for your efforts. Very interesting and informative.

[@valiciprian2061]

In Romania was The Primaverii Street from Bucharest.😊

[@udirt]

Is it the one where now all the embassies are? In the GDR they were quite good at hiding from the public how fake it all was. One of the reasons why they didn't have the large 8-lane parade roads 😂

[@liliya_aseeva]

Yeah, most of the post soviet countries retained the tradition of a low-cost diner for MPs even today. Some very weird Soviet-era laws are forgotten and never repealed. For example, in many post soviet countries MPs have a right to rent a hotel suit if they are coming from a region and not from the capital. Of course this is very rarely used. The more used thing are the lowcost diners in the Parliament buildings. Usually they have prices in three or four times lower than the most cheap ones in the city.

[@KrazyKatPosse]

Hi, Olaf! Great content as always. You should do a video on Karl Marx University!

[@dsm2240]

Where did Ulbricht live after he was deposed?

[@christelijkroodzwart-ve6eo]

War dieses waldsiedlung platz ''Auferstanden aus ruinen' ?

[@helixator3975]

This is the East German version of Kennebunkport

[@ZeGit]

You should totally do an episode about the East German-Polish border dispute in the Szczecin Bay area which almost caused a military confrontation between the two countries in the 80s

[@dernochjungenoergler]

Thank you for an interesting overview. No wonder they haven't lived in a Plattensiedlung...

[@flitsertheo]

These houses are probably (and partially) Plattenbau too with "custom" pieces. That's how they built the Nikolai quarter in the 1980s.

[@dernochjungenoergler]

@@flitsertheo that actually makes sense, in modern architecture it's quite normal, yet a detached house near a lake is something different than a flat in a 13 stock building with a view into another one...

[@flitsertheo]

That's why I mentioned the Nikolai quarter. The fake "antique" fronts were custom pieces, for everything else they used Plattenbau. It's just the way the GDR constructed.

[@Bulletguy07]

Having an historic interest in WW2 sites and former East German sires post war, I visited Waldsiedlung in 2008. I'd expected palatial houses so was surprised at what I saw. Goebbels Villa is also not far from here, still standing complete and untouched (no graffiti and not vandalised) possibly because its fairly well isolated.

[@francisdec1615]

Goebbels was a bastard, but he had better taste than Honecker et al. I also doubt that Honecker could play the piano or that he invited people for tea and cognac.

[@oliverstianhugaas7493]

"Following the principles of socialism."

[@NormanF62]

A just and egalitarian society that turned out to be neither just nor egalitarian.

[@alvarofb]

Still, many still support this

[@wbrenne]

Some are just more equal than others.

[@sal-z3q]

A bit like our liberal democracy wich is not liberal nor democratic?

[@Pfsif]

Compared to the average factory worker, the politicians lived in LUXURY.

[@Ralphieboy]

But compared to a modern Amercan McMansion, these are garden sheds...

[@peter_de_Jong817]

Compared after the war, yes. But if you look a few decades after that than not really. Still better, but not in the leven that we have today in western societies.

[@lukebarber9511]

It's amazing how much this reminds me of Goldstein's description of the life of Inner Party members in 1984: "a general state of scarcity increases the importance of small privileges and thus magnifies the distinction between one group and another. By the standards of the early twentieth century, even a member of the Inner Party lives an austere, laborious kind of life. Nevertheless, the few luxuries that he does enjoy: his large, well-appointed flat, the better texture of his clothes, the better quality of his food and drink and tobacco, his two or three servants, his private motor-car or helicopter-set him in a different world from a member of the Outer Party, and the members of the Outer Party have a similar advantage in comparison with the submerged masses whom we call 'the proles'. The social atmosphere is that of a besieged city, where the possession of a lump of horseflesh makes the difference between wealth and poverty."