Former GDR today

I don’t remember the GDR at all, although as my mother told me, I was born in a military town north of Berlin, where my father, a Soviet officer, served at that time.
I became an independent person quite early and, having left my parents, I never took long heart-to-heart talks seriously, considering them dense conservatives.
Now, of course, I understand that I was wrong and now, of course, I have a lot of questions for them, but alas ... I can’t get an answer.

What do I remember about the GDR?

I don’t remember the GDR at all, although I spent some time there. But not being an independent traveler, but a baby doll with a pussy in the foreground - judging by the b / w old photos
Already at a thinking age “from some to school” I remember a beautiful accordion - dark red and with mother-of-pearl.
I remember German songs from a reel-to-reel tape recorder (Accord?), which my father liked to listen to and therefore I suspected him of sympathies for the Nazis and shared my suspicions with my mother.

And there was also the Madonna service, which the parents were very proud of.
Seeing no reason for pride, I just looked with curiosity at the fleshy half-naked aunts depicted on cups and saucers.
By the way, I just remembered that my milk tooth was stored in the milk jug (it was not used in the family). Some of…

And there was also a Leipzig store on Leninsky, where the most beautiful toys were sold and there was a toy railway - the ultimate dream of that time.
And there was a TV program on the box “Mom dad and I are a sports family”
In general, it is clear that I did not know about the GDR and was not there

Therefore, it was interesting for me to visit those places where perhaps I was taken in a stroller
Where do the accordion songs I heard as a child come from?
And it turned out very well and almost according to tradition already: on my birthday to go traveling on lakes and canals to Europe. This time to the land of a thousand lakes - Mecklenburg, Vorpommern
It's north of Berlin, no more than 100 km

Why wrote this?

A review, but in fact an online report, I wrote during our trip:
And in this note I want to write about my impressions of people in this part of Germany. We travel more and more in Bavaria, because from there it is closer to the Alps, to the place of skiing
Well, now, while checking key phrases for search engines, I came across some nonsense written in the Russian media about how badly the former GDR people live and how they want to live behind the iron curtain with the brotherly people in an embrace again.

What surprised and moved

The first thing that surprised me in people was the complete, almost complete lack of knowledge in the English language.
How well he is known in the villages and towns of Bavaria, so they don’t know him and don’t want to know him in Vorpommern
How to communicate with the Germans here?
And here is the second surprise: many people remember Russian. Many - almost all
Remember - does not mean that they speak fluently. No. But they are trying - it is clear that they are digging into the closets of their memory and give out with pride: Hello! Please!
And understand even better

I don’t know how it was in the GDR before reunification, but now I don’t see the difference between a village in eastern Germany and western Germany
The same houses, beautiful flowers in a flowerpot and small fences
Soviet “Khrushchevs” look somewhat dissonant against the backdrop of a pastoral picture of calm and serenity, but even they are in perfect order: neatly painted, windows replaced with double-glazed windows, flowers, flower beds, flowers in front of the entrances

East Germans are dressed the same as West Germans or Poles or Lithuanians
Cars ... ordinary German, Korean, French cars - globalization ... But wait a minute:
It’s a pity - I didn’t have a camera with me - in one of the towns where we stopped I saw in the parking lot near the cherry-colored Zhiguli 2103 house.
Treshka, as they called her. With chrome grille.
Clean, well-groomed, without any flashing sykalok and red mud flaps ... Well, these are Germans! - I said

How do they treat Russians?

How do they treat Russians?
Friendly and a little naive: at one place I ordered a beer. The owner learned from a mixture of English, Polish, Russian and Hyundai Hoch that I immediately took a bottle of Putinoff vodka from the refrigerator from Russia and poured me a stopar of vodka to accompany my beer.
Those who barely remember the Russian language are happy to practice reproducing it
And in one small town, in the very center of it, I discovered a cemetery - that was a long-standing (still World War 1) burial of German soldiers, local residents and right there the graves of Soviet soldiers and a monument with Russian inscriptions.
Clean and well-maintained graves, although the tombstones themselves have already faded and it is difficult to make out what is written on them

Do the Germans from the former GDR want the return of the past?
I didn't ask.
It never occurred to me to ask such a question: firstly, this is not tactful, and secondly, I do not want to be considered crazy.
Of course, there are warm feelings about the past - like any feeling of nostalgia for the times of childhood, youth.
Memories that bring back only the good.
But I am sure that the East Germans will never erect a monument to Honecker (although he seemed to be a harmless uncle)