Ostalgie is a German term (the English equivalent would be eastalgia) referring to nostalgia for life in the former East Germany. It is a portmanteau of the German words Ost (east) and Nostalgie (nostalgia). The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... There is also a song called Nostalgia by Cracker from their second album Kerosene Hat. ... East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR), German Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), was a socialist state that existed from 1949 to 1990 in the former Soviet occupation zone of Germany. ... Look up Portmanteau in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and German reunification in the following year, most reminders of the old socialist regime were swept away as former citizens of the German Democratic Republic rushed to embrace their newfound political and economic freedoms. However, with the passing of time many East Germans missed certain aspects of their old lives. Ostalgie particularly refers to everyday parts of life in the former GDR that disappeared after reunification, overwhelmed by capitalism and Western culture. Berlin Wall on November 16, 1989 The Berlin Wall (German: Die Berliner Mauer) was a long barrier separating West Berlin from East Berlin and the surrounding territory of East Germany. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... German reunification (Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) took place on October 3, 1990, when the areas of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR, in English often called East Germany) were incorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany). After the GDRs first free elections on 18 March 1990, negotiations... The color red and particularly the red flag are traditional symbols of Socialism. ... East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR), German Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), was a socialist country that existed from 1949 to 1990. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Capitalism The page is about the economic system. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Many businesses in Germany cater to those suffering from Ostalgie. Now available are obsolete brands of East German foodstuffs, old state television programmes on video and DVD, and the previously widespread Wartburg and Trabant cars. Even though everyday life in the GDR was almost a taboo subject, it has now become the subject of several films, including Wolfgang Becker's internationally-successful Good bye, Lenin! (2003), Leander Haußmann's Sonnenallee (1999), and Carsten Fiebeler's Kleinruppin forever (2004). Look up Video in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Video is the technology of capturing, recording, processing, transmitting, and reconstructing moving pictures, typically using celluloid film, electronic signals, or digital media. ... DVD (sometimes called Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... Wartburg 311: in production between 1956 and 1965 Wartburg 312: in production in 1965. ... Trabant is an automobile brand formerly produced by East German auto maker Sachsenring. ... Good bye, Lenin! is a German tragic comedy film, released internationally in 2003. ... Leander Haußmann (sometimes Haussmann) (June 26, 1959, Quedlinburg -) is a German theatre and film director. ... Sonnenallee(1999) German comedy about life in East Berlin in the 1970s. ... Kleinruppin forever is a German romantic comedy film, released in late-2004 The film is set in 1985 and stars Tobias Schenke as Tim Winter, a West German teenager from Bremen with aspirations of being a professional tennis player. ...

The term Ostalgie is occasionally used to refer to nostalgia for life under the socialist system in other former communist countries of Eastern Europe, most notably Poland. Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current national boundaries: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium orange) and other former communist regimes (light orange). ...

See also

• Culture of the German Democratic Republic
• Vita-Cola: an example of a product revived by Ostalgie
• Ampelmännchen: a distinctive "mascot" for the Ostalgie movement
• Good bye, Lenin!: a film that has Ostalgie at its centre