rick : the Trabant joins the Pinto as one of the worse autos ever built. Nostalgia for east germany is as weird as glorifying nazi germany.

arizonajim : After the wall came down most western Germans were arrogant and considered all western things and designs superior to eastern ones. This just isn't true. A fine example is the "walk/don't walk" lights for pedestrians. The Ampelmann used in the east was very cute while the different design used in the west was just dull and boring.

Diane : Rick doesn't know what he is talking about except for the Trabants. I've driven in several of them, while in East Germany, it's a rough, loud and smelly ride! The artwork that is collected from East Germany was done by a German that happen to live there. My family was and some are still there. They never have been a part of the Nazi party. They were there because of the circumstances at the time. My grandparents were farmers, they lost all their land to the state, they had nothing left. My mother escaped from East Germany to get to the West. She lived in a bombed out apartment and had to find work, otherwise she'd have to go back to the East. She was brave and the strongest person I know. These are people that had to live in the most barest of circumstances. Most didn't have cars, food wasn't always available, everything they produced went over to the West for export. They couldn't even get bricks and mortar to repair homes. They were Germans then and they are Germans now, just with the boarder gone, better lives and hope for a brighter, peaceful future. If you still can't understand this, then try to imagine someone coming into the United States, confining an area with you in it and you aren't allowed to leave or have someone come to see you from a different state. Where you wouldn't have enough to live on and the rest of the world looks down on you for something you had no control over it. Think about it, won't you. We just don't understand here in the United States how lucky we are.

Otto Ottmar Ott : How can this page and the previous posts not have any reference to the 2003 film Good Bye Lenin? The whole plot and context revolves around nostalgia for East German past. If it (inexplicably) was under the radar for you, google the name or Bing It. A good overview is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Bye_Lenin! There are some U-tube clips that come up also. It wasn't a blockbuster but it was in national release. The DVD extras are very good on how they recreated the East Berlin of the past, largely by digitally deleting the then-present of the early 2000s.

NeoAmsterdam : As a product of the tail-end of Cold War and the seedling of the Information Age, I spent most of my formative years completely censored from Soviet- and communist-era arts and crafts. Twenty years later, I am finally beginning to see these forbidden fruits of style, form, and function (albeit online in 99% of the cases). I was lucky: when the Berlin Wall fell, I understood the significance; those younger than I, do not. It is their "prehistory" - not native to the generations now coming of age. That said, with more and more use of the phrase "socialism", and with more and more discontent amongst our number, and with more and more information becoming digitized, the youth are looking at all of the world in all of its times for answers to our present problems. Yes - even from the dreaded Reds, we learn. From Ampelmann and the Trabant, through Mir and the Soyuz, to the Volkswagen and AK-47: one generation's "nostalgia" is another's lesson in history - be it in form, function, style, etc. The only difference between the East German-style crafts revival and an archeological excavation is the age of the artifacts. Even the Museum of Modern Art reserves a room for industrial design. Some of its pieces are aged favorites (Helvetica typeface, 1957; Lego bricks, c. 1940; IBM Selectric typewriter, 1961) and some are practically newborns (e.g.: iMac, c. 2000). Good design should be recognized - doubly so when such designs have been labeled as taboo. One shouldn't condem another's curiosity solely because the design originated from behind the Iron Curtain. Seeing these "relics" teaches me how the other half lived - the half of the planet that I was taught was "evil". At the very least, this resurgence humanizes the "commies"; at most, this resurgence indicates a (capitalistic) demand for volks-ware products.

Miss Flora : I heartily second Otto Ottmar Ott's recommendation of the film "Good Bye Lenin." It is a humorous yet nuanced look at the transition after the wall fell. Plus, a very moving story about a mother & son relationship. To Rick, I would just say that your condemning the Trabant by saying it was as bad as the Pinto is somewhat muddled. The Pinto after all was designed and produced in the USA - a capitalist wonderland. So what's your point? That both communist and capitalist systems are capable of producing bad products? By the way, comparing East Germany with Nazi Germany is offensive. Those that suffered most from the oppression of the communist East German regime were the East German people themselves. Last I heard, East Germany never invaded most of Europe or systematically slaughtered millions.

Andy : The video ended with the comment that nostalgia for this design is also nostalgia for a "fondly-remembered past." Is she serious? Also, while design is of course culture-influenced, it also stands alone. Fondness for good industrial design, which is happening everywhere, could indicate a global nostalgia for "something other" than modern times -- which are difficult to live in. Western alienation, etc. Good design often evokes a simplicity, an efficiency and always somewhat humorous, or brings, at the very least, a smile. Material culture is fascinating and everyone loves a good intelligent emblem. Thank you for posting this video and article.