Schlagwortarchiv für: DDR

Haus der Offiziere, an army base settled in south Berlin which has been working till the 90s      

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Have you ever heard about Haus der Offiziere?                                         

Wunsdorf, Germany. Approximately 27 miles away from Berlin lies an army base called “Haus der Offiziere,” which stands for the „officers’ compound.“ Opened in 1916, the building hosted Kaiser William II’s troops. Later on, it was used over World War II as a Nazi command center. The fortress “operated” until 1994, when the last soldiers permanently abandoned it.

Haus der Offiziere as Moscow secondment during the Cold War

Werner Borchert, 67 years old, works as a tourist guide in the building; the man claims that “Haus der Offiziere appears to be a tiny Moscow in a German territory.” In fact, during the Cold war the building became the center of the soviet army for the Eastern part of Germany. Inside the building were several facilities, such as a theater, a museum, a swimming pool, many barracks and different kinds of shops. The army base, approximately 4 miles wide, is surrounded by an eleven-mile-long wall and can contain about 40.000 soldiers. The complex still worked after the reunification of the country. Since the mid-1990s, the base has been abandoned and left unattended.

How the “forbidden city” appears today

During the soviet regime, it was almost impossible to reach the army base. Due to this reason, the building earned the name of “forbidden city” as German citizens couldn’t get into the building. Today, if you want to visit the ex-army base, it is possible to do so by booking tickets in advance. At the main entrance stands a Lenin statue; also, a set of Nazi vaults is to be found there. Currently, the base belongs to the federal state of Brandenburg; however, the building doesn’t have a real owner who can refurbish it.

Photo: Herr_Rettschlag CC0

Kurt Drummer: the most followed chef by DDR housewives

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Kurt Drummer: a tv chef throughtout the DDR period

The Chef Kurt Drummer played an important role during the DDR period. In fact, he was the leading figure of a German tv program called “Der Fernsehkoch empfiehlt”, which means “Advice from the tv Chef”. The show went on air in 1958 on a television broadcaster service which belonged to the eastern side of Berlin. Over his 25-year-long career, Chef Drummer had the chance to undertake food science studies and to be a chef in a well-known hotel chain called Vereinigung Interhotel. Moreover, he won several international cooking competitions in London, Budapest and Vienna.

“Der Fernsehkoch empfiehlt”: Kurt Drummer’s tv show

Kurt Drummer was born in Germany (Gornsdorf) on 20th March 1928. He was both a Chef and a German showman during the DDR period, when almost 650 episodes of his show came out. Drummer started his career in August 1958. The first episode of the cooking show was called “Delicious fish meals”. Over the years, he released lots of episodes in which he showed people his recipes. Drummer’s tv show episodes usually went on every Saturday night and, in some occasions, on working days or in prime time. With a chef uniform and a white hat, Kurt Drummer shared his passion for food paying attention to its nutritional value. His advice was really popular among his audience. One of his suggestions was to use one ingredient rather than another: for instance, margarine instead of butter to make brown bread.

The tv show ending

The cooking show “Der Fernsekoch empfiehlt” was really appreciated by DDR housewives. Thanks to the easy and healthy recipes presented during the show, people enjoyed Drummer’s work. The program was interrupted in 1983 due to Drummer’s health problems. The chef explained to the spectators that he had no longer energy to fetch ingredients and come up with new recipes as stated by the tv contract.

Photo: Pexels CC0