Germany trip: What makes the East tick
Germany's regions are diverse and have many unique quirks. Euromaxx reporter Rachel Stewart discovers them on a four-part journey through the country. This time, it's off to eastern Germany.
Transcript
00:00 Our road trip continues and today we're heading east.
00:04 On the agenda, the city-state of Berlin and the states of Brandenburg, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt
00:09 and Tübingen.
00:10 All these states, although only half of Berlin, as well as Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which we
00:14 visited on the northern leg of our road trip, belonged to the German Democratic Republic.
00:19 This recent history has coloured a lot of the culture here, but there's so much more
00:23 to the region than its GDR past.
00:24 So today we're going to get a good dose of history for sure, but also plenty of other
00:28 cultural tidbits and hopefully a few surprises too.
00:31 Let's start in the German capital.
00:33 That side of the city once belonged to West Germany and that side to East Germany.
00:39 But of course today this is one united metropolis and Germany's most populous city with a little
00:43 under 4 million inhabitants.
00:45 It claims to be the birthplace of both the Currywurst and the Döner Kebab.
00:49 And don't worry if your beer comes in one of these alarming colours.
00:52 Berliner Weisse is a local wheat beer that's often drunk mit Schuss.
00:56 That's with a shot of raspberry or woodruff syrup.
01:00 Mmhmm.
01:01 Oh, sweet, but I'm for raspberry.
01:04 The locals here also have a specific personality trait, Berliner Schnauze.
01:09 That literally means Berlin snout.
01:12 Berliner Schnauze is saying what you think.
01:14 What do you think Berliner Schnauze is?
01:16 Can't you hear it?
01:17 A bit of cockiness, cheekiness and humour.
01:21 A lot of people who don't come from here think it's aggressive, but that's not true.
01:26 You'll come across plenty of different dialects in the east.
01:30 Sächsisch gets a particularly bad rap in Germany.
01:33 It's spoken in Sachsen and parts of Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen and it's often voted the least
01:37 popular dialect in the country.
01:39 So let's learn a little local vocab.
01:41 Nu means yes.
01:42 For look over there we say Nacko Gommaldaa.
01:45 A Mutschikipschen is a ladybug.
01:49 People recognise us worldwide because of our dialect.
01:51 Almost as much as the Bavarians.
01:53 Bye!
01:54 Some characteristics of eastern Germany do have roots in the region's GDR past.
01:58 For example, this is the least religious area of the country.
02:01 And some parts of the east have seen strong support for anti-immigration movements and
02:05 populist politics in recent years.
02:07 States in the east also lag behind noticeably in terms of productivity, income and employment.
02:12 So do people here think the east and the west of the country are finally on equal footing?
02:17 Definitely not.
02:18 I think so.
02:19 You don't differentiate anymore.
02:21 Most Germans often see us as second class Germans.
02:25 I don't really care if people come from the east or the west.
02:28 I don't judge anyone.
02:29 So I'd say it's all fine.
02:32 After World War One, Germany's constitutional monarchy was replaced by a parliamentary democracy.
02:36 The assembly that created the new constitution met in this theatre here in Weimar.
02:40 So the city got a name check and the period became known as the Weimar Republic.
02:44 The new system had its strengths and weaknesses.
02:46 But certainly the golden 20s were seen as a time of cultural and artistic progress.
02:52 But Weimar has another claim to fame.
02:54 It's the home of Bauhaus.
02:56 In 1919, Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus Art and Design Movement here in Weimar.
03:02 This new approach sought to unite function with beauty, fine art with design and industry.
03:06 There was a focus on crafts like metalwork, cabinet making and weaving to create pieces
03:11 in the Bauhaus aesthetic.
03:12 Functional, abstract, austere and fit for mass production.
03:17 Bauhaus-inspired buildings can still be found all over Germany.
03:21 And indeed across the world.
03:22 In fact, architecture nerds will have a field day in eastern Germany.
03:25 From distinctive GDR-era buildings to the UNESCO-listed medieval houses of Quedlinburg.
03:31 Or this colourful Hundertwasser creation in Magdeburg.
03:34 Brandenburg has some of Germany's most striking palaces, including Sanssouci here in Potsdam,
03:39 the favourite residence of Frederick the Great.
03:42 If Baroque is more your thing, you cannot miss the city of Dresden, whose architectural
03:46 beauty has earned it the nickname Florence on the Elbe.
03:49 The iconic Frauenkirche lay in a state of ruin for nearly 50 years before a huge reconstruction
03:54 effort finally began in the 1990s and was completed in 2005.
03:58 Brandenburg takes the title of most watery German state, with some 3,000 lakes.
04:05 Let's hit the Sempfenberger See.
04:10 You might get more than you bargained for if you stop off at a lakeside bathing spot
04:14 here.
04:15 Freikörperkultur, free body culture, is very popular around here.
04:18 That brings us to the end of another whirlwind trip.
04:21 I hope you discovered something new along the way.
04:23 Make sure to join me for the final leg of the road trip.
04:25 Tschüss!
04:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]