GDR joke: Do you want to celebrate or forget?

Do you know him? “What is luck? – That we live in the GDR. What is bad luck? – That we are so lucky.« There was probably no more humorous people in the sky than the citizens of the East German workers’ and farmers’ state. They had a joke ready for every situation. The Ostwitz is a German cultural asset that should be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It reveals much more about the soul and self-image of an ethnic group than, for example, the Bavarian Schuhplattler; it shows esprit and stubbornness.

Anyone who might now object that the GDR disappeared over 30 years ago and that the matter is therefore unnecessary should be referred to the heritage that goes back several thousand years and is considered worthy of preservation by UNESCO. In addition, the East Germans did not die out with the East German state, they are not even thinking of dying out, as their rebelliousness and resistance from Fichtelberg to Cape Arkona proves again and again. And so the Ostwitz continues to waver immortally through East German society.

In order to be ennobled as an intangible treasure of humanity worthy of protection, a detailed application with well-founded justification is required. What is special about the Ostwitz? Who invented it and who maintained it, when and why? For that, I would know a tough, brave man who experienced Eastern jokes in their heyday and spread them himself, knows more than anyone else and is now also shedding light on their background and content: Peter Jacobs, born in 1938. The experienced journalist doesn’t just cite excellent examples for the liberating way that GDR citizens deal with annoyances and anachronisms in their living and working world, and with supply bottlenecks (in the HO shop someone asks for toilet paper. “It’s not bad. Come back tomorrow.” – “I can’t wait that long .”) to the stress of socialist competitions and the heroes of work (“Nothing works where we are, but we can’t be everywhere.”) to training in Marxism-Leninism and other things. (“The theory is Marx, the practice is nonsense.”) And of course – the Wessis are too cowardly for that – the lustful making fun of “those up there”. (Honecker broke his arm. He wanted to lean on the youth.)

Jakobs sees the Ostwitz as a cheerful rather than cynical examination of social adversity. “We were accomplices in laughing at the punchlines.” The worst jokes about the real socialist leaders probably even came from the Central Committee or Politburo itself, such as this one: “When did Lenin demand: “Learn, learn and learn again”? When he saw Erich Mielke’s school report.” However, the literal fulfillment of the state slogan “There is a lot more to be gained from our companies” by the working people may not have amused VEB directors; Kleptomania was more difficult to deal with than the foreign exchange shortage.

The turnaround and unification have made the Eastern humor wither, and the reality has become too cruel. And yet he is not dead, still alive. Do you know him? In a restaurant: “Waiter, what wine do you recommend for the anniversary of reunification?” – “It depends.” – “On what?” – “Do you want to celebrate or forget?”

Peter Jacobs: The Ostwitz. A German moral image. Image and homeland, 127 pages, hardcover, €12.
The author will present his book on Thursday, March 21st, 3 p.m., at “Rendezvous” in the Helen PankeKopenhagener Str. 9, 10437 Berlin.

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