Ostalgie

In German culture, Ostalgie (German: [ˌʔɔstalˈɡiː] ) is nostalgia for aspects of life in communist East Germany. It is a portmanteau of the German words Ost (east) and Nostalgie (nostalgia). Its anglicised equivalent, ostalgia (rhyming with "nostalgia"), is also sometimes used. Another term for the phenomenon is GDR nostalgia (German: DDR-Nostalgie). The term was coined by the East German standup comic Uwe Steimle in 1992. Social scientist Thomas Ahbe argues that the term "ostalgia" is often misunderstood as a lack of willingness to integrate, an attempt to reverse German reunification and reinstate the GDR. However, Ostalgia is rather an integration strategy used by East Germans who wanted to retain their own original experiences, memories and values incompatible with those of the West German majority. As with other cases of Communist nostalgia, there are various motivations, whether ideology, nationalism, wistfulness for a lost sense of social status or stability, or even aesthetics or irony. In 2023, a poll found that 40% of Germans living in the former East Germany still identified as East Germans, while 52% considered themselves to be Germans.