German National Identity and Representations of The Wende' in Post-Unification Cinema

Department of German Studies
GE436
German Studies Dissertation

German National Identity and Representations of the Wende
in Post-Unification Cinema
Coming to terms with the past and forging an understanding of a new national
identity in a reunified Germany

Student
Andrew Jones

Dissertation Supervisor
Sen Allan
WORD COUNT
9931 excluding footnotes
GE436 GERMAN STUDIES DISSERTATION
German National Identity and Representations of the Wende in Post-Unification Cinema
German Studies Andrew Jones 2014
1
Contents

Abbreviations 2
Referencing 2

Introduction 3
I. Memories of Progress: Die Architekten (1990) 6
II. The Quest for Normalisation: Coming to terms with the East 15
III. Memories of Settlement: Sonnenallee (1999) 18
IV. Memory Contests: Alles auf Zucker! (2004) 26
Conclusion 32

Filmography 34
Bibliography 35

2
Abbreviations

DEFA Deutsche Film Aktiengesellschhaft
FDJ Freie Deutsche Jugend
FRG Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany)
GDR German Democratic Republic (East Germany)
SED Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschland (East German
Communist Party)

Referencing

This dissertation follows the conventions of the Chicago Manual of Style in
regards to referencing for footnotes and bibliographical entries.

Figures refer to stills taken from the respective films of that section and are
embedded within the text.

3
German National Identity and Representations of the
Wende in Post-Unification Cinema
Coming to terms with the past and forging an understanding of a new national
identity in a reunified Germany

Introduction
Questions of national identity have plagued the German nation for the majority
of the twentieth-century and continue to do so today. Even prior to the
establishment of Germany as a sovereign state in 1871, there existed a sense
of Germanness in the German-speaking territories of Europe, regardless of
geopolitical borders. The division of Germany after the Second World War,
which culminated in the formation of two ideologically opposed states, started to
endanger this sense of solidarity and common, borderless German identity, an
identity that would inevitably diverge due to the politics of the Cold War.
The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the West was the legal successor to
the previous incarnation of the German state the Third Reich but it was in
no way its spiritual successor. The FRG established a state that placed great
importance on the rule of law, in stark contrast to the Unrechtsstaat that
preceded it. The state saw it as its moral and historical responsibility to come to
terms with the troubled past of Nazism, a process that would come to be known
as Vergangenheitsbewltigung. It was a responsibility that aimed to
understand the drastic change of course in German history, from the notion of
the culturally rich land of Goethe and Schiller to the genocidal nation of Hitler
and Himmler.
On the other side of the inner-German border in the East, the German
Democratic Republic (GDR) approached the nations shared recent past
differently. Grounded in the Soviet model, the socialist state and its ruling party,
the SED, saw National Socialism as the most extreme form of capitalism. The
state therefore attempted to gain legitimacy through the dissemination of its
founding myth. Auferstanden aus Ruinen, as the countrys anthem would
proclaim, the East was starting anew, rising from the physical ruins of war, the
psychological and economic failure of fascism, and, der Zukunft zugewandt,
4
was now striving for and building a better future. The SED would style the GDR
as anti-fascist with its western neighbour, due to its capitalist nature, seen as
the continuation of fascism. These ideological beliefs would be concretised by
the Party in 1961 with the erection of the Antifaschistischer Schutzwall, more
commonly known as the Berlin Wall.
Diametrically opposed concepts of historiography thus became entrenched in
the German psyche as it had been in the respective states politics. Fulbrook
and Swales describe this as an extraordinary experiment [!] to reappropriate
and reinterpret a common past
1
and it is a process that would continue in a
unified Germany, one which would also have to be applied to their divided past.
The Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, the culmination of weeks of peaceful
protests, many with the slogan: Wir sind ein Volk. Despite decades of division,
a sense of Germanness prevailed and swift unification would become politically
imperative. It was a process that came to be known as the Wende, or turning
point, and as former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt would declare:
Jetzt wchst zusammen, was zusammengehrt. But, as Fuchs notes,
although [! the fall of the wall and unification] appeared to heal the war-torn
history of the twentieth-century, unification posed the question of identity
afresh.
2
Brandts declaration is both poetic and optimistic but also hints at
Germanys coming problems. Forty years of separation and a rapid reunification
would prove to be a rupture in the complex fabric of German national identity.
The government of the now reunified Germany, or the Berlin Republic as it
would come to be known, was keen to foster inner unity. It was thought that
the Western approach of Vergangenheitsbewltigung, typically associated with
the Aufarbeitung of the countrys fascist past, could be utilised to come to
terms with the countrys socialist past. With this in mind, by the end of the 1990s
the Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur had been established.
3

However, as one author argued, it became clear that:

1. Mary Fulbrook and Martin Swales. Introduction: Representation in Literature and History, in
Representing the German Nation: History and Identity in Twentieth-Century Germany (Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 2000), 2.
2. Anne Fuchs, Kathleen James-Chakraborty and Linda Shortt. Introduction, in Debating German
Cultural Identity Since 1989, ed. Anne Fuchs, et al. (Rochester: Camden House, 2011), 1.
3. See Ruth Wittlinger, The Quest for Inner Unity, in German National Identity in the Twenty-First
Century: A Different Republic After All? (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), 68.
5
Geschichte kann weder aufgearbeitet noch bewltigt werden. Sie ist nur
aus dem Alltag heraus zu begreifen [...] Es sind Geschichten des Alltags,
dem die Historie verwoben ist.
4

History could no longer easily fit into a single, universal narrative; public and
private histories failed to align. As Fuchs explains, while historians agree in
their evaluation of the GDR as a totalitarian system [!], former East German
citizens emphasize the normality of their lives in the GDR.
5
It is a dialectic that
has been termed a memory contest, a term which puts emphasis on a
pluralistic memory culture which does not enshrine a particular normative
understanding of the past but embraces the idea that individuals and groups
advance and edit competing stories about themselves that forge their changing
sense of identity.
6

Sabrow pinpoints three separate memory discourses that affect both
contemporary Germanys understanding of the GDR and, with it, contemporary
German identity. Firstly, there is the memory of the GDR as a totalitarian
dictatorship (Dikataturgedchtnis), a view that often correlates with that of
official history. Secondly, there is the memory of settlement
(Arrangementgedchtnis), an understanding that a sense of normality could be
achieved under the regime for those willing to compromise. Thirdly, there is the
memory of progress (Fortschrittgedchtnis) that understands socialism as a
legitimate alternative to capitalism.
7
With the existence of such conflicting
memory strands, traditional historiographical studies of the past therefore no
longer seemed to suffice in a reunified Germany and, just as it had with
Vergangenheitsbewltigung, the past moved into the cultural sphere. The
importance of this development is not to be underestimated and Fulbrook puts it
perfectly when she writes:
Historians delude themselves if they think that they are the key to
shaping popular historical consciousness. Of arguably far greater impact
are the emotionally more accessible, if sometimes intellectually less
rigorous media, novels and dramas [!], films, television

4. Kerstin Hensel, as quoted by Karen Leeder in Introduction, Oxford German Studies 38, no. 3 (2009):
239.
5. Fuchs, James-Chakraborty and Shortt, Introduction, 1.
6. Anne Fuchs and Mary Cosgrove, Introduction, German Life and Letters 59 no. 2 (2006): 4
7. See Martin Sabrow, Die DDR erinnern, in Erinnerungsorte der DDR, ed. Martin Sabrow (Munich:
Beck, 2000),18-20.
See also Fuchs, James-Chakraborty and Shortt, Introduction, 8-9.
6
documentaries, museum exhibits, commemorations and reconstructions
in the authentic locations of the past, the sacred sites of collective
memory.
8

By analysing three such pieces of media namely Peter Kahanes Die
Architekten (1990), Leander Haumanns Sonnenallee (1999), and Dani Levys
Alles auf Zucker (2004) this dissertation offers an analysis of the changing
historical consciousness underpinning the Germans equally-changing sense of
identity and understanding of the past.
I. Memories of Progress: Die Architekten (1990)
Filmed shortly before the fall of the Wall and released a few months before the
unification process would begin, Die Architekten consequently (and
unintentionally) critiques a society and system that was now itself a mere
memory. Understandably, going to the cinema was not top of the agenda for
many East Germans at the time and the film would be of little interest to West
Germans, for, as Wittlinger notes, whereas East Germans, due to access to
West German TV and radio, were fairly well informed about the West, West
Germans were not only rather ignorant about the GDR but were also not
particularly interested.
9
The film then, for a time, remained largely ignored, ins
Wendeloch gefallen,
10
but it nevertheless warrants attention, as it is able to
offer a unique contemporary commentary on the East German experience of
the Wende.
Concerning himself with the Baupolitik of the GDR, Kahane follows a tradition
set by other DEFA directors. Architecture proved to be an apt metaphor for
exploring the political structures of the regime. Frank Beyers
Spur der Steine (1966) banned in the wake of the Eleventh Plenum
highlighted the slow-moving nature of construction in the GDR, with its limited
budgets, out-dated technology, and corrupt officials. Lothar Warnekes
Unser kurzes Leben (1980) followed, focusing on a young female architect,

8. Mary Fulbrook, Re-presenting the Nation: History and Identity in East Germany, in Representing the
German Nation: History and Identity in Twentieth-Century Germany (Manchester: Manchester
University Press, 2000), 185.
9. Wittlinger, The Quest for Inner Unity, 53.
10. A number of books and films that appeared during the tumult of unification were hardly noticed, hence
the expression, notes Laura Green McGee in Ich wollte ewig einen richtigen Film machen! Und als es
soweit war, konnte ich's nicht!: The End Phase of the GDR in Films by DEFA Nachwuchsregisseure,
German Studies Review 26, no. 2 (2003): 332.
7
Franziska, who encounters similar issues. Warnekes film showcases a state
with a predominantly male bureaucracy set in its ways, resistant to change and
the young architects dream of a more utopian living space. In what would be
one of DEFAs final productions, Kahanes film takes up the challenge and
develops many of the motifs established in Unser kurzes Leben.
The bureaucracy in Die Architekten is shown to be similarly reactionary. At the
start of the film, the protagonist, Daniel, is yet to have anything of note built,
despite being thirty-eight years of age. This apparent lack of opportunity is
caused by the incumbent older generations of the bureaucracy, who appear
reluctant to relinquish power and mistrust of the younger generation. This lack
of trust is evident in an older architect, who, in a sequence near the start of the
film, recounts how much he had done by the same age as Daniel. Accordingly,
the architect is dismissive of Daniel, believing the error lies in his work and not
the system. Another architect of Daniels age eventually gives up:
Wozu habe ich 6 Jahre studiert, wenn sie mir als Architekt nur dann
vertrauen, wenn ich [!] beweise, dass ich ihre politischen Lektion
gefressen habe ! Mit neununddreiig will ich endlich Erwachsen sein!
This architects desire to become an adult is the wish for self-emancipation and
to be free from the shackles of the parent the controlling bureaucracy of the
Party. He sees a chance to redefine his identity if he does not abide by their
rules. Identity in Daniel, however, is by contrast portrayed as being a fixed
concept. Daniel sees this period of time as his last chance to define and confirm
his identity, which is determined by his ideology. Daniel is therefore reliant on
the prevailing political system, no matter how deficient that system may be. The
constitution promised that die Jugend wird in ihrer gesellschaftlichen und
beruflichen Entwicklung besonders gefrdert,
11
but the experiences of the
architects in this film show this promise has been broken, due to what the
screenwriter, Thomas Knauf, describes as das tiefe Mitrauen der Vter dieses
Landes gegenber ihren Shnen.
12
He, like Daniel, had similar problems to get
an opportunity to prove his worth, and, although Daniel is eventually given a

11. Artikel 20(3) of Die Verfassung der DDR vom 7. Oktober 1974, in Die Verfassung der DDR: Ein
Machtinstrument der SED?, ed. Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung, (Bonn: Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, 1987), 71.
12. Thomas Knauf, Die Architekten (1990), in Spur der Filme: Zeitzeugen ber die DEFA, ed. Ingrid
Poss et al. (Berlin: Christoph Links Verlag, 2006), 462.
8
project, this deep inter-generational conflict comes to define the struggle to
realise his ambition.
Following in the footsteps of
Franziska from Unser kurzes
Leben, Daniel and his team
strive to redefine the concept
of a town. Franziska had
observed how the concepts of
wohnen and leben, two
distinct terms in the German
language, were no less distinct
in GDR architecture. She wished to design communities that better combined
the two an observation and intention that similarly motivates Daniel and his
team. Their subsequent plans are highly idealistic and meticulously thought out,
as demonstrated by their constant embellishment of the paper models
(see-Fig.-1). These plans, however, do not conform to the older generations
compartmentalised and conservative attitude towards architecture. Kaufhalle,
Gaststtte, Bckerei und Caf legen Sie zusammen? the elderly konom asks
whilst poring over the plans; das ist verboten, he tells the team, a sign that the
older generations attitudes towards architecture are enshrined in law. These
conflicting views on architectural form highlight a further generational divide,
namely different interpretations of socialism.
Reflecting the desire to decisively break from the past due to the catastrophe of
the Third Reich, the older generation interpret socialism in terms of a doctrinaire
concept of anti-fascism. The younger generation adopt a more liberal and
modernist approach, meaning their understanding of socialism is
characteristically more pluralistic and flexible. They consequently allow multiple
ideas and interpretations to coexist, whereas the older generation have a
mechanistic approach, in which the Party represents the one truth. This
difference comes to the fore in another of the architects plans, this time for a
sculptural centrepiece. The team wanted to depict Familie in Stress, a critical
piece of modernist art open to multiple readings, whilst the authorities sought to
9
change it to Familie in Sozialismus, a monolithic piece of affirmative socialist
realism with an unambiguous message.
The controversy surrounding the artwork reflects the power and importance of
art. We should, however, not forget that architecture too is also an art form and
the ideological power of architecture is a key theme that runs throughout the
film. As Daniel is later reminded by his mentor:
Bauen ist Politik, Machterstellung, jedes Haus erzhlt von Verhltnisse,
ungewollt oder gewollt.
Various shots of buildings are
intercut with this statement
and we are specifically shown
the socialist Prachtstrae of
Karl-Marx-Allee (see-Fig.-2).
This composition of shots
depicting architecture is a
technique that the director
utilises in many other
instances throughout the film in order to provoke the viewer. In this instance the
audience is encouraged to think of the message the monumentalist boulevard
portrays. On the one hand Karl-Marx-Allee (formally being called Stalin-Allee)
represents the states close links to the Soviet Union and the grand vision the
founders had for the future of the country. On the other hand it also acts as a
reminder of the uprisings that took place on the exact same street in 1953.
The juxtaposition of two
architectural styles within a
single frame is another
instance where the technique
is used (see-Fig.-3). This not
only demonstrates the
interpretative complexity of
architecture, but also helps us
to understand the different
10
generational attitudes towards architecture. For the older generation, the
Plattenbau represents a departure from the past, a vast improvement on what
came before, particularly when bearing in mind their experiences of the
hardships of war. For the younger generation, who lack an understanding of the
past, having had no experience of fascism nor capitalism, the style is a socialist
clich that represents conformity and a lack of individuality. For them, the
Altbau represents individualism, not capitalism or fascism as it does for their
elders.
Kahane utilises the technique for one last time near the films climax where a
range of different architectural designs are shown whilst the FDJ song
Unsere Heimat plays in the background. Although the images show one idea of
Heimat (see-Fig.-4), the lyrics of the song convey another idea:
Unsere Heimat, das sind nicht nur die Stdte und Drfer,
unsere Heimat sind auch all die Bume im Wald
[!]
wir lieben die Heimat, die schne
und wir schtzen sie,
weil sie dem Volke gehrt,
weil sie unserem Volke gehrt
Kahane is inviting the viewer to
reflect on what Heimat
actually means and Heimat is
of great importance to GDR
identity. Blunk explains how the
concept of Heimat in the GDR
was not only an emotional one,
but a political one too, seen by
the SED as an important factor in the creation of a socialist society.
13
The
states constitution, for instance, claimed that der Boden der Deutschen
Demokratischen Republik gehrt zu ihren kostbarsten Naturreichtmern. Es
mu geschtzt und rationell genutzt werden,
14
but the viewer is left wondering
whether the state is living up to this declaration and protecting the Heimat.

13. See Harry Blunk, The Concept of Heimat-GDR in DEFA Feature Films, in DEFA: East German
Cinema, 1946-1992, eds. Sen Allan and John Sandford (New York: Berghahn Books, 1999), 204-205.
14. Artikel 15(1) of Die Verfassung, 69.
11
The constitution similarly states that Mann und Frau sind gleichberechtigt. [!]
Die Frderung der Frau [!] ist eine gesellschaftliche und Staatliche Aufgabe
15

Nevertheless, the state is shown to be failing to keep to this promise as well.
The position of women is shown to have changed very little since the time of
Unser kurzes Leben and men are shown to have similar patriarchal attitudes.
For example, Daniels boss questions a womans place in the workplace, noting
their tendency to become inconveniently pregnant. Even Daniel, a seemingly
progressive figure, misunderstands women. When he first hears of the
unhappiness of his wife, Wanda, he offers a basic, superficial solution of extra
theatre and cinema visits. Women are thus shown to be members of a
marginalised section of society and this ostracism allows them to have greater
critical distance and a greater understanding of how things really work. This
critical distance is evident in
Wandas sceptical response to
Daniels belief that change is
achievable. Whilst Allan
attributes the couples
eventual separation to the
well known screen clich of
the husband who unwittingly
sacrifices his private life and
family to his work,
16
Wandas unhappiness is apparent from very early on
(See Fig.-5). It is implied to a greater extent that the blame lies with patriarchal
society and the controlling state. Wanda explains:
Es geht nicht um Sex, es geht nicht um krperliche Sachen und Essen,
Schlafen, Trinken ! ist alles hier kein Problem ! es geht um das
Andere !
Das Andere here refers to the concept of leben. Wanda feels unfulfilled, as
she is unable to realise her potential in her career as a doctor due to the
budgetary constraints of an ailing socialist system. Furthermore, she is
dissatisfied as a result of the burden of having to do the housework whilst

16. Sen Allan, 1989 and the Wende in East German Cinema: Peter Kahanes Die Architekten (1990),
Egon Gnthers Stein (1991) and Jrg Foths Letztes aus der Da Da eR (1990), German Monitor 50
(2000): 234.
12
simultaneously maintaining a career and bringing up a young daughter almost
singlehandedly. She sees leaving the GDR as the only way of turning her life
around. Stating her desire to leave Daniel and the country she explains: Ich bin
fnfunddreiig, habe die Hlfte meines Lebens hinter mir ... Was hab ich denn
erlebt?. Whilst Daniel sees this moment in time as his last chance to define his
identity, by contrast, Wanda sees it as her last chance to redefine hers. Female
identity is thus shown to be more fluid than the rigidity of male identity, the
possibility of and ability to change seen as opportune, not destructive.
Furthermore, despite being of the same generation as Daniel, Wanda does not
share his philosophy. The ideological divide is shown not to just differ between
generations, but also gender. It would then perhaps be easier to understand
this divide in terms of outlook: idealism versus pragmatism.
This loss of idealism is reflected in several of Daniels former classmates, who
have become pessimistic and isolated after having encountered similar
obstacles to Daniel. One of them has become a barman and refuses to even
acknowledge Daniel; another has moved to the countryside and refuses to
emerge from this newfound sanctuary. These people were brought up as
idealists, but were thereafter limited in their opportunities and potential. Hodgin
argues that for many East Germans, the only means by which to express their
dissatisfaction with the system was through inner exile or actual emigration
17

and in these sequences it is suggested that their isolation allows them greater
freedom from the bureaucratic aspects of urban life.
Daniel, on the other hand, is an idealist. At the start of the film, despite the
setbacks, he remains optimistic and believes his ambitions can still be realised.
He tells his wife that, although he can see problems in the GDR, nur durch das
Tun kann man etwas verndern [!] Es gibt nur Hoffnung auf Vernderung
wenn man sich engagiert. His prior failure was not due to a lack of faith in the
system, but rather a lack of opportunity caused by it. He truly believes that
change is possible, especially as he has finally been given an opportunity to
prove himself. He feels that he can facilitate change from within, a view in line
with the constitutions claim that jeder Brger [!] hat das Recht, das politische,

17. Nick Hodgin. Mapping Identity, in Screening the East: Heimat, Memory and Nostalgia in German Film
since 1989 (London: Berghahn Books, 2011), 32.
13
wirtschaftliche, soziale und kulturelle Leben [!] des sozialisten Staates
umfassend mitzugestalten.
18
Socialism is both the problem and the solution. As
Buzzelli argues, Kahane suggests that Daniel and his collective, if given the
chance, could have prevented the countrys demise through the defeat of
bureaucracy and the implementation of socialism with a human face.
19
The
teams designs are indeed reliant on the continued existence of the socialist
state; Daniel and his team only want to modify the state, not dismantle it.
Capitalism is not the answer, and this is demonstrated in Wandas, somewhat
negatively portrayed, Ausreise (see-Fig.-6). Her plan for self-emancipation and
self-fulfilment unavoidably hinges on the compliance of a male and she even
admits it may not be better
elsewhere, but she must at
least try. In her dilemma, as
Buzzelli notes, Kahane
suggests that the flaws
inherent in GDR society are
both particular (lack of variety)
but also universal (the limits of
patriarchy),
20
showing that the
issues that Wanda has are common in all societies, regardless the political
system.
Kahane pinpoints the states failings and (belatedly) sounds the alarm for
reform of a system that has lost its way. Just as when Daniel deviated from his
clear definition of identity, compromising his ideals, it is suggested that the state
too will collapse if it continues to deviate from its original socialist ideals,
especially those enshrined in its constitution. This call for reform is not too
shocking, as Wittlinger notes that initially key demands [in the protests of 1989]
were for far-reaching reforms of the existing structures rather than their
elimination.
21
The film can therefore be seen as falling into the third of

19. Suzan Buzzelli, Forgetting Die Architekten: Towards a New Approach to DEFA and Wende Film, in
Ossi Wessi, ed. Donald Backman et al (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008), 118.
20. Buzzelli, Forgetting Die Architekten, 115.
21. Wittlinger, The Quest for Inner Unity, 56.
14
Sabrows memory categories, the memory of progress (Fortschrittgedchtnis):
socialism as a (potentially) legitimate alternative to capitalism.
This message however, as others are in the film, is unfortunately diluted, due to
what Allan rightly describes as the belatedness of GDR cinema, arguing that
had it been released earlier, [the film] might have made a considerable
impact,
22
its message almost redundant due to the contemporary historical
situation. It is also perhaps due to these conditions, where production was
much less constrained than it normally would be, that the film suffers from
underdeveloped and incomplete ideas, which project mixed, contradictory
messages. For example, McGee argues that [Daniels] project failed because
of the limits of the system in which he lived,
23
but it is arguably also due to the
pessimistic nature of this systems society. Yet if these problems are universal,
the films message about idealism is further complicated. Daniels idealism is
largely portrayed as a positive force but it ends tragically in estrangement from
his family and an emotional breakdown. His downfall is caused by his inability to
adapt and to come to terms with change. Additionally, it is also suggested,
though perhaps rather contradictorily, that such a failure to adapt and such rigid
conformity to ideology are key causes of the Wende and of the characters
downfall.
An additional confusion arises through the use of Handels Messiah, which
suggests the GDR is in need of a saviour. This saviour appears to manifest
itself in the form of Daniel, as his appearances are often preceded by or contain
this piece of music. However, in the closing moments of the film we hear the
music for the final time whilst Daniel breaks down in defeat. We are reminded of
his messianic mission at the lowest ebb of his failure. This is a damning
judgement on the state, for this is his crucifixion, the coming Wende being his
chance for resurrection and the widespread adoption of his ideals,
auferstanden aus Ruinen. It is thus suggested that a new start in a new
system will be open to such idealism and Daniels resurrection. This message
stands in stark contrast to that of earlier sequences, as this new system is
presumably a capitalist one, due to the socialist one appearing unworkable.

22. Allan, 1989 and the Wende in East German Cinema, 235.
23. McGee, The End Phase of the GDR in Films by DEFA Nachwuchsregisseure, 325-6.
15
Nevertheless, as the filmmakers would discover, this new system was soon to
become a reality, but the ideals they wished to preserve would not rise from the
ruins.
II. The Quest for Normalisation: Coming to terms with the East
The Berlin Republic would continue on the same constitutional foundations that
the West had used for the past four decades, as it was considered to be a
largely stable and successful system. The Bonn Republics engagement in the
process of Vergangenheitsbewltigung was also seen as a successful aspect of
the FRG. Many during the Cold War saw the process as a quest for
normalisation, the desire to be seen as normal on the world stage. Wittlinger
notes that:
For Germany to be perceived as normal meant absolution from the
barbaric atrocities committed during the Third Reich and implied
regaining acceptance as a civilised nation in the international
community.
24

Welcoming the East into the fold endangered the sense of normality achieved
by the Bonn Republic, since the division of Germany had also come to be seen
as normal by the international community.
25
The assimilation of a population
unfamiliar with democracy meant the East would need to be re-educated or
normalised, in a similar way to how the West had to be after Nazism, or
Germany would lose its claim to normality.
In what many critics refer to as hegemonic Western discourse, the FRG was
subsequently cast as the moral victor, the GDR as a failed totalitarian
experiment. As Richardson points out, not just the political system but also the
entire culture of East Germany was dismissed wholesale as regressive and
anti-modern.
26
The then Justice Minister, Klaus Kinkel, even declared in 1991
that der DDR-Unrechtsstaat msse delegitimiert werden, and [erklrte] auch
die Alltagskultur des Landes zum real gelebten Verbrechen.
27
Whether or not

24. Ruth Wittlinger. Introduction: A Different Republic After All?, in German National Identity in the
Twenty-First Century: A Different Republic After All? (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), 5-6.
25. See Wittlinger, Introduction, 6.
26. Michael Richardson. A World of Objects: Consumer Culture in the Filmic Reconstructions of the GDR,
in The Collapse of the Conventional: German Film and its Politics at the Turn of the Twenty-First
Century, ed. Jaimey Fisher, et al. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2010), 218.
27. Thorsten Stecher, Sexy DDR, Die Weltwoche, 18 November, 1999, 49.
16
the GDR was an Unrechtsstaat is a highly contentious issue for it is a term that
implies a state lacking the rule of law, but it also suggests one systematically
perpetrating injustice, or even one founded on injustice
28
. The term also hints
at an equivalence to the Nazi regime, which, alongside the wholesale dismissal
of everyday life in the GDR, is problematic. As Mller explains:
[!] despite the supposed omnipresence of the Stasi, it never controlled
everyday life in the total way that many theories of totalitarianism seem
to suggest; those who lived in East Germany also frequently insist that
they had been able to lead perfectly normal lives outside politics, as
opposed to the image of a total politicization of society and even private
life.
29

Moreover, although many experienced relatively happy and fulfilling private
lives under the socialist regime, the West actively promoted the notion that the
only authentic East German experience is one predicated on an opposition to
the state.
30
The attempt to normalise and incorporate the former East led
many former GDR citizens to instead feel rather abnormal. Stripped of their
GDR identity, they had been turned into an exotic Other, symbolic of how
unification has been presented as a quasi-colonial subjugation of the East by
the West.
31

The process led the former citizens of the GDR to develop a new affection for
their old state. This fondness often centres on consumer goods of the planned
socialist economy, products that had often been in short supply and of
negligible quality compared to their Western counterparts. Just as citizens of the
former East had fetishised capitalist products during the Cold War, they were
now fetishising their own. For many in the West this fondness seemed illogical.
Richardson, however, describes this resurgence in popularity as signifying a
longing for a lost sense of identity, one that had been rooted both in these
objects and in the absence or lack of access to objects from the West.
32
It is a
phenomenon that came to be known as Ostalgie, nostalgia for the former East.

28. Jan-Werner Mller, Just Another Vergangenheitsbewltigung? The Process of Coming to Terms with
the East German Past Revisited. Oxford German Studies 38, no. 3 (2009): 335.
29. Mller, Just Another Vergangenheitsbewltigung?, 338.
30. Richardson, A World of Objects, 218.
31. Paul Cooke, Postcolonial Studies, Colonization and East Germany, in Representing East Germany
since Unification: From Colonization to Nostalgia (Oxford: Berg, 2005), 2.
32. Richardson, A World of Objects, 219.
17
Ostalgie is highly controversial and has been criticised for it seemingly forgets
the perpetrators. It is therefore seen by some as a dangerous form of selective
amnesia that sees the East German state through rose-tinted spectacles,
ignoring the problems of life there and idealizing it.
33
Such criticism, however,
forgets the situation on the other side of the former divide. It is not only former
East Germans, but also former West Germans, who look fondly upon and
sentimentalise the past, with a Westalgie (a nostalgia for the Bonn Republic)
also having emerged.
34
Nevertheless, the controversy surrounding Ostalgie
adds yet another facet to the memory contests, and, to gain a greater
understanding of it, it is important to clearly define what nostalgia is. For Boym:
Nostalgia [!] is a longing for a home that no longer exists or has never
existed. Nostalgia is a sentiment of loss and displacement, but it is also a
romance with ones own fantasy.
35

This sentiment of loss and displacement creates an emotional distance from
reality, for, as Caruth explains, we are always separated from historical
experience by the repression inherent in trauma.
36
This repression belatedly
manifests itself as nostalgia. Boym, however, also distinguishes between a
restorative and a reflective form of nostalgia. This distinction is particularly
important when it comes to the concept of Ostalgie, for, whilst it certainly shows
an appreciation for the past, it is [not] an attempt either to relive the past or to
restore it [!, for] no one seriously seeks to reinstate the GDR.
37
The focus
instead shifts from the crimes of the SED to the relative stability and comfort the
system provided. Ostalgie is consequently not a regressive form of nostalgia
seeking the restoration of the past. Instead, Ostalgie can be seen as being
largely a reflective form of nostalgia a critical commentary on what is missing
in the present, which itself highlights another function of memory.
Arnold-de Simine and Radstone note that memory, in whichever form, is not an
open window onto the past; rather our vision of the past is constantly adapted to

33. Paul Cooke, Productive Hybridity: Nostalgia and the GDR on Film, in Representing East Germany
since Unification: From Colonization to Nostalgia (Oxford: Berg, 2005), 104.
34. See Wittlinger, The Quest for Inner Unity, 66.
35. Svetlana Boym, Introduction: Taboo on Nostalgia?, in The Future of Nostalgia (New York: Basic
Books, 2001), xiii.
36. Cathy Caruth, as quoted by Anne Fuchs and Mary Cosgrove in Introduction: Germanys Memory
Contests and the Management of the Past, in German Memory Contests: The Quest for Identity in
Literature, Film, and Discourse since 1990, ed. Anne Fuchs, et al. (Rochester: Camden House, 2006),
11.
37. Hodgin, Mapping Identity, 32.
18
our needs in the present.
38
Ostalgie was thus the need for the former East
Germans to reclaim an identity that had been lost.
III. Memories of Settlement: Sonnenallee (1999)
The lost GDR identity is reclaimed in Leander Haumanns Sonnenallee.
Haumann directly engages in the memory debates surrounding the GDR and
Ostalgie, highlighting the differences inherent in public and private history,
raising the question of the validity of these different histories and memories.
Furthermore, Haumann attempts to normalise life in the East, demonstrating
that a sense of normality could be achieved in the GDR and that East Germans
are not an exotic Other. The film consequently falls into the second of Sabrows
memory categories the memory of settlement (Arrangementgedchtnis).
The memory of dictatorship is largely absent in the film, and this, alongside the
films use of comedy, was problematic for many critics. Sonnenallee was
opened up to accusations that it was trivialising the nature of the SED
dictatorship and a lawsuit was even filed against the filmmakers by an
organisation for victims of political violence, Help e.V., who saw the film as an
insult to those who had suffered under the regime.
39
This organisation,
however, failed to realise the complexity of the comedy utilised by Haumann.
Comedy is reliant on an accurate observation of life and requires a delicate
balance of intellect and emotional detachment. Humour, however, is not as
universal as other aspects of human emotion, such as empathy, and people
can find different things funny for various reasons, which is something that is
later made clear in Sonnenallee. Nevertheless, comedy has great potential to
provide a critical commentary of events, both past and present. Brecht
theorised about the critical potential of comedy. As Wright suggests:
For Brecht the comic is a historically bound phenomenon, something that
can be used for immediate political purposes [! Brecht] finds the source

38. Silke Arnold-de Simine and Susannah Radstone. The GDR and the Memory Debate, in
Remembering and Rethinking the GDR: Multiple Perspectives and Plural Authenticities, ed. Anna
Saunders, et al. (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), 19.
39. See Paul Cooke, Performing Ostalgie: Leander Hausmanns Sonnenallee, German Life and Letters
56, no. 2 (2003): 157.
19
of comedy to be in the nature of society rather than in the nature of the
individual.
40

If we take this theory as a basis of our understanding of comedy, Haumann
targets a society stuck with an outworn set of beliefs long after history has
moved on,
41
and attempts, in the Brechtian mode, to challenge and change
these views. The film is therefore not only a critique of the past but also of the
present. The audience is made aware of this through the use of various
Brechtian distancing devices.
Firstly, the films relationship with the present is established through the
protagonists opening voiceover and his interactions with the Westerners. Micha
tells the audience, with whom he is in apparent dialogue, Ich lebe in der DDR
ansonsten hab ich keine Probleme. This statement shows he is aware of
prevalent (contemporary and current) Western preconceptions of life in the
GDR. We are then made aware of what these preconceptions entail through
Michas interaction with the tourists that congregate on viewing platforms in the
West. Micha tells us that die Westler haben Hochstnde gebaut um uns zu
demtigen, meaning that the inhabitants of Sonnenallee, in the manner of a
play-within-a-play, are not only observed by us, but also by the West. From
here the Westerners observe the citizens of the GDR as Others, as if they are
zoo animals (Fttern verboten!) entrapped in an enclosure bounded by the
Berlin Wall. They call the inhabitants Ossi, a term that only came into common
use after unification, thus placing the film into a post-Wende context.
42

Secondly, the film as a representation (or distortion) of memory is indicated
through the use of voiceover. Micha, in his closing, fairy-tale-like narration,
declares: Es war einmal ein Land und ich hab dort gelebt. This statement
suggests finality and retrospection, the relegation of the GDR into memory. This
memory is distorted, for the Wall is shown to (anachronistically) fall after the
inhabitants of Sonnenallee storm it in an impromptu flash mob (see-Fig.-7).
Further anachronisms and artificiality are present in the films setting. As
Haumann explains, wenn man genauer hinguckt, wird man sehen, da der

40. Elizabeth Wright, Theory in Praxis: Comedy as Discourse, in Postmodern Brecht: A Re-Presentation
(London: Routledge, 1989), 49-50.
41. Wright, Theory in Praxis, 50.
42. See Cooke, Productive Hybridity, 112.
20
Film vollkommen unrealistisch
ist. Das Dekor, die Strae
das sieht alles gebaut aus.
43

This artificiality reminds the
audience that they are
watching something
constructed, and, like all things
that are constructed, capable
of being changed.
Finally, as Haumann constantly breaks the fourth wall, such as in the
aforementioned voiceovers and characters often looking knowingly at the
camera, the audience is constantly reminded of the medium. This awareness
reduces the audiences ability to be completely immersed in the action, limiting
empathy and expanding the possibility for critical engagement. By contrast, in
Die Architekten we do empathise, but, by allowing this, critical distance is
lessened. Die Architektens weakness is thus its overly melodramatic nature,
where suffering is reduced to entertainment. We are shown what happens but
the audience does not necessarily have to critically engage to understand why it
happens. Sonnenallee depicts a very different GDR to the one in Kahanes film,
and indeed many that followed in the intervening years post-unification.
Haumann also portrays a culture in the GDR that, although different to the
West, is not so different as official history would have you believe. The film
depicts a Jugendkultur typical of the 1970s anywhere in the Western world.
Micha and his friends share similar interests, dreams and problems as their
Western counterparts. They are fans of Western rock music for example and
listen to many of the same records as those in the West, despite them being
strictly verboten. Micha also dreams of becoming a popstar, einer der was
bewegt, a statement which is followed by an obwohl and a poignant pause.
Some would expect him to go on to say his dreams are hampered by the
system, but he instead worries about how many popstars have suffered early
deaths. Michas portrayal is an attempt to normalise life in the East, since he

43. Sandra Maischberger, Sonnenallee - Eine Mauerkomdie: Interview mit Leander Haussmann und
Thomas Brussig, in Sonnenallee: Das Buch zum Farbfilm, ed. Leander Haussmann (Berlin: Quadriga
Verlag, 1999), 12.
21
and his friends, far from stereotypical conformist and indoctrinated followers of
the Party, are shown to be normal adolescent boys. As Cooke explains, the
film translates the experience of East Germans into a cultural language that
West Germans will understand, thereby normalising this experience.
44

The East German experience is also devoid of the atmosphere of fear so
prevalent in Western discourse, with characters aware of the state apparatus
and willing to criticise it openly. This criticism is highly visible in the sequence
with the Multifunktionstisch (see-Fig.-8). The MuFuTi is just one piece of
ostalgic product placement that Haumann inserts into the film. The viewers
attention is drawn to the object in this instance by the repetition of the products
full name (Du sollst den Multifunktionstisch herrichten!; Ist das ein MuFuTi?).
For a former citizen of the GDR it is a nostalgic reminder of an everyday item
they probably would have owned. Our attention however is not only drawn to
what is now a museum
artefact but to the inadequacy
of consumer goods in the
GDR, with Michas father
struggling to set it up, referring
to it as a Schei-Ostding.
Despite the screenwriters
assertion Sonnenallee soll ein
Film werden, bei dem die Westler neidisch werden, da sie nicht im Osten
leben durften,
45
the film does not depict the past affectionately, but critically
engages with it.
The MuFuTi sequence additionally highlights the comic duality of the film with
Haumann creating a complex and multi-layered comedy, jokes having different
meanings for different audiences. He noted that there was einen Unterschied
zwischen West- und Ost-Zuschauern die lachten an unterschiedlichen
Stellen.
46
A prime example of this is the sequence with the familys West
German uncle, who smuggles various products into the country for his relatives.
On a basic level, this sequence is amusing due to the physical comedy of a

44. Cooke, Performing Ostalgie,156.
45. Maischberger, Interview mit Leander Haussmann und Thomas Brussig, 22.
22
male wearing tights and the fact this contraband is perfectly legal. On a more
critical, analytical level, the sequence demonstrates the fact many products
were in short supply in the GDR, whilst, in a post-Wende context, it additionally
highlights the arrogance of Westerners. As Allan notes, Heinz and the tourists
on the viewing platforms remain trapped within their clichd vision of life in East
Berlin, [but] Sonnenallee offers the viewer a glimpse of an altogether different
reality.
47

The films artificiality reflects the character of human memory, for memory, as
already established, is often not an accurate recollection of events. As the
screenwriter, Thomas Brussig, notes, Erinnern ist doch das Gegenteil von
Merken, and das, was nicht so schn war, vergit man.
48
This declaration
can be seen as an explanation for the films apparent lack of attention to the
human rights abuses of the regime, the only visual reminders of such being the
Wall and the border guards, which, far from being a menacing threat, are
ridiculed and play a peripheral role. We are, however, reminded of the absurdity
of the inner-German border
when Michas friend, Wuschel,
is shot. Haumann had
originally intended for the
character to be killed by the
border guards but Brussig was
of the opinion that nicht
Wuschel mu erschossen
werden, sondern seine Platte
das ist eigentlich schlimmer
49
and this change has profound consequences.
Firstly, Wuschels reaction to his record being destroyed (see-Fig.-9) stresses
the importance the youth placed on rock culture. It is a theme of cultural
universality that runs throughout the film, which not only highlights the systemic
differences but also similarities. Secondly, it also highlights that consumerist
fetishisation is nothing new. The fetishisation is also not just limited to the East,
as is evident in the sequence where the Dresdeners are transfixed by a

47. San Allan, Ostalgie, Fantasy and the Normalization of East-West Relations in Post-Unification
Comedy, in German Cinema Since Unification, ed. David Clarke (London: Continuum, 2006) 113-114.
23
Western television game show, with endless products making their way down a
conveyor belt. In such unrealistic sequences we are again reminded that we are
watching constructed private history rather than official history of documentary.
Nevertheless, both approaches are criticised in the films closing moments.
The final sequence sees the
colour removed from the
picture, changing to black and
white. Such footage is often
used in documentary films, the
lack of colour creating an
understanding of temporal
distance, of Vergangenheit
(see-Fig.-10). The happy,
colourful environment is instantly transformed into a bleak one, not dissimilar
from the one depicted in Die Architekten. The environment had lacked the
oppressive nature of that found in Kahanes film due to the characters inhabiting
this space and the way they behaved. In another sequence Sabrina remarks
that alles ist grau hier, echoing the words of Western discourse. Whilst the
buildings may be grey, the people certainly are not. It is thus suggested when
these people and their memories are removed, so is the colour, the vibrancy,
and therefore that perspective of the past. This notion is underscored through
the use of Nina Hagens Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen. While it is a highly
ambivalent text, open to multiple interpretations, if we take its lyrics literally, we
are reminded of the power of colour: Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen, mein
Michael, Nun glaubt uns kein Mensch wie schn's hier war. Nijdam explains
that what began as blau und wei und grn loses meaning and becomes
nicht mehr wahr in the black and white records of official history.
50
The
manipulative potential of film footage is also demonstrated in the sequence
where Micha and Mario run after a Western tourist bus pretending to be
starving, the picture similarly changing to black and white. The sequence not
only highlights the deceptive nature of film, but also continues to ridicule the

50. Elizabeth Nijdam, Rock statt Marx: Rock and Roll Narratives in Leander Haumanns Sonnenallee.
German as a Foreign Language No. 3 (2010): 130.
24
Western discourse. We are reminded to constantly analyse what we see, not to
take things at face value, or more simply, not to believe what we see.
The audience is also reminded not to believe what they read. The dialectic of
private and public history is further explored in Michas attempts to win the
affections of Miriam, wherein he attempts to portray himself as a rebellious
non-conformist to gain her attention. In his effort, he rewrites his past in falsified
diaries (see-Fig.-11). Echoing
the hegemonic discourse of
the West, his recollections, as
Schutte explains, are exactly
what a Western audience
would have expected to find in
the diaries of someone who
had lived under the never
ending oppression of the GDR as life in the GDR was referred to in several
documentary films.
51
It simultaneously ridicules this discourse when bearing in
mind the happy experiences Micha had prior to this rewriting of the past. The
audience is reminded of the realities for some citizens of the GDR, but also of
the absurdity in assuming everyone had the same experiences. As Allan
explains, the film reminds us (humorously) of the way in which memory and the
construction of personal and political histories are conditioned by the needs and
the desires of the present.
52
Micha needed to redefine his past and identity to
achieve his desire, and in doing so the audience gains an understanding of the
nature of identity.
The film portrays identity as being fluid and changeable, adaptable to present
needs. The youths conception of identity is based heavily in their appreciation
of rock music and, as we have seen with Micha, we are introduced to the
concept of identity as performance. This is evident in Mario, who performs the
role of a non-conformist drop out with radical ideas, similarly in an attempt to
gain the affections of Sabrina. At the films climax Mario and Sabrina get
married, despite asserting that they would do the contrary, due to the fact she

51. Barend Schutte, The Portrayal of the GDR in Post-1990 German Feature Films, German as a Foreign
Language no. 2 (2005): 14.
52. Allan, Ostalgie, Fantasy and the Normalization of East-West, 115.
25
has become pregnant. It is also suggested that Mario has signed up to be an
informant at the Stasi as he cannot get work elsewhere due to his file. Their
performance has ended and circumstances require them to perform a new role.
The performativity of identity plays a dual role and stands in contrast to the
essentialist view of identity as portrayed in Die Architekten. It acts
simultaneously as an apologia, offering an explanation for the widespread
conformity as exhibited by the older generations in the film, and as an advocate
for the adoption of a new identity in a post-Wende context. Haumann makes it
explicit that the past is not divorced from this new identity, as it is shown to have
a major role in the formation of identity. It is not only suggested that the past
cannot be erased but also that one cannot be constrained by it.
Sonnenallee suggests that even a nostalgic understanding of the past can help
us to understand and criticise the present. Haumann may be critical of this
nostalgia but he is also understanding of it. Nostalgia is a phenomenon in every
society and Haumann attempts to legitimise nostalgia for the East, a nostalgia
that has similarly been cast as an Other by the West through the divisive
nomenclature. If the West can be nostalgic why can the East not be too? As
Brussig explains: Meine Kindheit hat in der DDR stattgefunden. [!] Aber ich
erinnere mich trotzdem gerne an die Kindheit
53
childhood is something
everyone experiences and something that almost everybody looks back upon
fondly. Cooke explains that Ostalgie, especially in Sonnenallee, should not be
looked upon as some form of revisionism, but rather as an aspect of memory
that allows people to make peace with the past, by allowing the soft veil of
nostalgia to fall over every painful experience.
54
It is human nature to look back
on the past and to indulge in a process of self-censoring, omitting the bad parts.
It becomes clear in Sonnenallee that such omission defines public history and
identity and that private history cannot be forgotten to fit a single
historiographical narrative.
The collision of several historiographical narratives is evident in Dani Levys
Alles auf Zucker!, wherein the notion of performativity and the influence the past
has upon identity continue to be explored.

54. Cooke, Productive Hybridity, 118.
26
IV. Memory Contests: Alles auf Zucker! (2004)
Alles auf Zucker! shows how film-makers now feel empowered to tackle taboo
subjects,
55
Lamb argues, with the film attempting to tackle several explosive
topics in contemporary Germany: the countrys Nazi past, its divided past, and
its divided present. He goes on to argue that as a contribution to reassessment
of two key aspects of Germanys recent past (anti-Semitism and the GDR) Alles
auf Zucker! has had a major impact,
56
since, despite not depicting the GDR
past, the film explores the effects of the memory of the former state upon the
present. The film therefore straddles various memory discourses of the GDR,
thus indicating the diversity of memory.
The consequences of the past are alluded to when a mother addresses her
sons from beyond the grave in her Last Will and Testament, wherein she states
that seit ber 40 Jahren seid ihr beide in einem wortlosen Streit. These words
resonate on a much larger scale; the brothers estrangement and faltering
reconciliation stands as a metaphor for the incomplete project of inner unity
between East and West. The country and its people are struggling to find each
other again, in a similar manner to this family, after decades of separation.
The brothers are encouraged to reconcile their differences by the prospect of
receiving an inheritance, but due to the strict religious conditions that come with
it, a farce ensues. As Levy himself confirms, ein Teil der Komik entsteht ja
gerade durch die Unmglichkeit, die strengen jdischen Gesetze einhalten zu
knnen.
57
These laws are not a source of ridicule, but serve as a comical
didactic device, the viewer learning about an aspect of Jewish tradition, the
Shiva, that they would otherwise not know about. The director, who identifies as
Jewish, takes pride in the fact dass wir deutschen Juden zusehen knnen,
ohne dass im Hintergrund immer der Holocaust wie ein Schatten an der Wand
aufleuchtet.
58
Levy will das Judentum aus der Versenkung holen und aus der

55. Stephen Lamb, Re-presenting the German Past in 2005: Cultures Contribution in the New Berlin
Republic. A Personal Account, Debatte 13, no. 3 (2005): 274.
56. Lamb, Re-presenting the German Past in 2005, 275.
57. Thomas Eckbert and Joachim Huber, Kann man mit Juden Quote machen? - Zucker: Der Regisseur
Dani Levy ber die Probleme und die Freuden einer jdischen Familienkomdie, Tagesspiegel, March
26, 2004, accessed February 1, 2014, http://www.tagesspiegel.de/medien/kann-man-mit-juden-quote-
machen/502562.html.
58. Eckbert and Huber, Kann man mit Juden Quote machen?.
27
Opferrolle befreien.
59
This family have little connection to the Holocaust; their
shadow is instead the consequences of the division and subsequent unification
of Germany. By moving the historical burden of these Jewish characters from
one part of Germanys troubled history to another, the director is challenging
convention, and with it the viewers preconceived ideas on Jewish culture and
identity.
The director debunks the idea of an all-encompassing stereotype, for in Jaecki,
who grew up in the GDR, and his brother, Samuel, who was raised in the FRG,
we have two Jews who could not be more different from one another. Jaecki
turned his back on his Jewish faith and secularised after the rest of his family
moved to the West. His brother, Samuel, on the other hand, is an Orthodox
Jew. This difference, explains Allan, [is] a reflection of the multifaceted
character of Jewish identity which, of course, is not solely a matter of religious
faith, but involves questions of nationality, ethnicity and culture as well.
60
The
characters Jewishness however is just another aspect of their identities, as
Levy explains:
Der Begriff Jdische Komdie ist hier nur ein Label. Im Prinzip ist Alles auf
Zucker! eine Familiengeschichte ber ganz normale Menschen in einer
bestimmten grotesken, aber gleichzeitig auch sehr authentischen Situation.
61

The authentic situation of having to abide by Jewish religious law naturally
causes problems for Jaeckis
secular family. Marlene,
Jaeckis wife, comically
attempts to transform her
husband and children into a
Jewish family in the space of a
day (see-Fig.-12). The
performativity of identity is
highlighted here, for, as the

59. Eckbert and Huber, Kann man mit Juden Quote machen?.
60. Sen Allan, Seit der Wende hat der Mann nur Pech gehabt. Jetzt soll er auch noch Jude sein:
Theatricality, Memory and Identity in Dani Levy's Alles auf Zucker! (2004), Debatte: Journal of
Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe 15, no. 1 (2007): 28.
61. Interview mit Dani Levy: Alles auf Zucker, DigitalVD, accessed February 1, 2014,
http://www.digitalvd.de/interviews/Dani-Levy-Alles-auf-Zucker.html.
28
cashier says to Marlene in the Jewish shop, es ist nie zu spt Jdisch zu
werden. It is also suggested, however, that these identities can only be
successfully played out if one truly believes in the ideas behind them, for as
Golda remarks to her husband, Samuel, die Familie von deinem Bruder ist so
koscher wie ein Schweinekotelett. The attempt to transform themselves into a
non-secular Jewish family is analogous with many East Germans experiences
of the Wende, having to adapt to a new society and adopt a new identity in a
relatively short space of time.
With the characters of Marlene and Jaecki we have two East Germans who
have adapted to varying degrees of success. Marlene has successfully
transitioned, adapting from life in the socialist GDR to life in the capitalist
reunified Germany. She has a secure job and is quite prepared to go it alone if
Jaecki does not change his ways. The position of women always requires them
to adapt, with change being advantageous, one step closer to realising gender
equality. They are aware of what needs to be done, as shown in the warnings
the two wives give to their respective husbands, urging them to abide by the
rules of the Shiva. Golda says: Ich sage nur neue Markt, and Marlene: Ich
sage nur Scheidung. Both statements metaphorically allude to the differing
approaches to unification, with the West seeing it as a new market, whilst the
East are cautious and afraid of isolation. Marlene is additionally shown to be
very open-minded, at ease with the sexuality of her daughter, Jana, and the
prospect that her son, Thomas, may also be gay. Marlene, however, is unable
to realise that he is just simply different, for Thomas merely fails to conform to
gender stereotypes. His mothers assumption highlights how people approach
identity, categorising people rigidly by stereotypes.
Jaecki, on the other hand, embraces stereotypes and for that reason finds
change both threatening and a struggle. He conforms to the stereotype of the
ostalgic Ossi, even referring to himself as der typische Wende-Verlierer, and
personifies the process of post-unification adjustment, having been very
successful in the socialist state, but now struggling to find his way in the new
capitalist world. Failing to understand her husbands predicament, Marlene tells
him: Ich wute nicht, da du sie so sehr vermisst, unsere alte DDR. This
statement reveals that Marlene still feels that the GDR belongs to her, but, in
29
contrast to Jaecki, it instead merely forms part of who she is rather than defining
who she is. Jaecki, on the other hand, does not simply miss his past he
refuses to acknowledge it no longer exists. As if suffering from post-traumatic
stress, he chooses to ignore the GDRs demise, as for him, the GDR continues
to exist in the surroundings and the people of contemporary Germany. Despite
the film being set in a now-reunified Berlin, events almost completely take place
in the former Eastern part of the city. Jaecki also frequents the Club der Mitte,
which he describes as ein Club fr einsame Herzen. Ostalgiker vor allem, a
statement which conveys how he is still mourning for the loss of the GDR. The
Club is run by Linda, who, due to being played by Renate Krner of Solo
Sunny (1980) fame (see-Fig.-13), is an ostalgic relic herself. The film opens up
another layer of Ostalgie, that
of GDR stardom, for in Jaecki
too we have another well-
known East German actor.
Henry Hbschen (who also
starred in Sonnenallee as
Michas father), [is] a figure on
whom a variety of ostalgic
memories and fantasies can
be projected.
62
Many former
East Germans would easily be able to identify with him and his characters
predicament. The character embodies the question of what it means to be East
German in a world where the GDR no longer exists.
When living in the GDR, Jaecki shed his Jewish identity, embracing life in the
socialist GDR and adopting a new identity accordingly. This identity, however,
has been undermined by the collapse of the socialist state. Nevertheless,
Jaecki has seemingly forgotten that identity is fluid, for he managed to adapt
before, but after the fall of the Wall he is still attempting to perform this
outmoded identity. His urgent need for money to cover his debts slowly reminds
him of his ability to perform. A prime example of this is when he is disqualified
from the billiard tournament and attempts to play the victim. Machst du das

62. Allan, Theatricality, Memory and Identity in Dany Levys Alles auf Zucker, 34.
30
nicht, weil ich Jude bin, oder?!
he asks, before resorting to
begging, saying Bitte [!] Ich
habe meine Familie verloren,
erst im Holocaust!. His
Jewish identity only matters to
him when he wants it to and is
only performed when it
appears to be advantageous. The sequence highlights the artificiality and
flexibility of identity, that it is something that is indeed performed, not
predetermined. It is an idea made clear from the opening of the film, where
Jaecki, in his narrative voiceover, explains: Dat bin ick, ne, dat war ick
(see-Fig.-14).
The use of the opening voiceover is yet another use of a quasi-Brechtian
Verfremdung of the kind we saw in Sonnenallee. The viewer is informed from
the opening few minutes that things seemingly do not end well for the character
and is encouraged to try and understand why through the course of the film. On
the comic nature of the film, Levy commented that Komdie ist Realitt 20
Prozent schneller,
63
a notion demonstrated in the narratives quick pacing and
the cameras fast, jerky movement. Within this reality, however, the director also
allows for the viewers to identify with the characters. Levy argues:
Humor ist immer dann am schnsten und berhrendsten, wenn er aus
einer Not und damit aus einer Situation heraus entsteht, in der man ein
starkes Mitgefhl mit jemandem hat. Humor ist das wahrscheinlich
schnste und legitimste berlebensmittel.
64

The statement validates not only Levys use of comedy, but Haumanns too.
Their comedies are not trivialising delicate issues, but instead highlighting their
delicacy, humour allowing the topics to be broached without causing too much
pain. Interestingly, it is only when the two brothers are both afflicted by pain and
illness that the real process of reconciliation begins. In hospital, Samuel
remarks to Jaecki that Sozialismus war dir wichtiger als deine Familie, to
which Jaecki responds: Lass die Politik mal weg. Prior to this point the two

63. Katharina Dockhorn, Alles auf Zucker!/Aber bitte mit Tempo!. EPD Film 12, no. 1 (2005): 37.
64. Interview mit Dani Levy: Alles auf Zucker.
31
men had continued to argue in Cold War ideological terms whilst discussing the
past. As Bhler points out, Samuel und Jaeckie [lassen sich] als Prototypen
der unterschiedlichen Entwicklungen in Ost- und Westdeutschland sehen
65
and
the two men additionally symbolise the different memory discourses of the GDR
in contemporary Germany. Samuel remembers the GDR as a totalitarian
dictatorship (Diktaturgedchtnis) whereas Jaecki remembers it fondly as
somewhere he was able to make a good living (Arrangementgedchtnis).
It is, however, important to
note that Alles auf Zucker! fails
to give legitimacy to any of the
discourses. The film instead
argues for a third way:
discussion. It becomes clear
that a financial incentive is not
necessary for the brothers to
reconcile, but rather a deeper
understanding of one and others pasts. In a similar way to how Marlene failed
to understand Jewish life by reading a book called Wie Juden leben (see-Fig.-
15), it is suggested that similar failure will come to those who attempt to
understand the East through what they read.
For the German identity-rift to heal, Levy suggests that preconceived ideas
need to be cast aside and actual experiences need to be shared and actually
discussed. The brothers, for example, had failed to see their similarities and
used the past as a barrier to reconciliation. Samuel failed to understand his
brothers life in the GDR whilst Jaecki similarly misconstrued his brothers
orthodoxy. Additionally, whilst Jaecki may gamble at the billiard table, Samuel
similarly takes risks, but in the property market instead. Although Jaecki needed
to adapt to the changes brought by the Wende, so did Samuel. The film
proposes that in order to heal the wounds of the Wende, effort has to manifest
itself on both sides of the former divide. The approach is given validity by the
films climax, where the family is shown to be in regular contact and
successfully transitioned. As Bhler explains, was Levy hier vorschlgt, ist

65. Philipp Bhler, Filmheft: Alles auf Zucker (Bonn: Bundeszentrale fr politische Bildung, 2004), 9.
32
nicht weniger als ein allgemein gltiges Toleranzmodell fr weltliche und
religise Juden, fr Juden und Nichtjuden, fr Menschen in Ost und West.
66

The past should also not define identity nor should it be forgotten it should
instead influence our identity, allowing us to adapt and change to suit current
circumstances.
Conclusion
Feeling that her identity is being threatened, a former citizen of the GDR
passionately proclaims in a 2012 documentary that die DDR wird immer
reduziert auf Mauertote, Bedrckung, keine Reisefreiheit
67
. Whilst this may
have been true at some point in time, this dissertation has shown how the
German historical consciousness has developed over the space of some fifteen
years. As Leeder notes, and as the three films have proven, the post-war
consensus informed by large-scale public memory discourses has increasingly
been challenged by the more agitated legacy emerging from the realm of
personal memory.
68
This realm of memory itself is divided amongst three
distinct but converging memory discourses: memory of dictatorship, memory of
progress, and memory of settlement.
69

Die Architekten portrays aspects of the Fortschrittgedchtnis, the idea of
socialism as a legitimate alternative to capitalism, whilst the ostalgic
Sonnenallee portrays the memory of a normal life within the GDR, the
Arrangementgedchtnis. Alles auf Zucker!, on the other hand, highlights the
diversity amongst (former) East and West Germans alike when it comes to
remembering the GDR and is an accumulation of all three memory strands.
Whilst no film tackles Dikataturgedchtnis head on, it is a strand that has
proven popular for the increasingly globalising German film industry, with films
such as Florian Henckel von Donnersmarcks Das Leben der Anderen (2006)
and Christian Petzolds Barbara (2012) finding international success. Such films
not only highlight the diversity of memory, they additionally underline the great
interest in German history both nationally and internationally.

66. Bhler, Filmheft, 10.
67. Jan N. Lorenzen, dir., Meine Heimat: DDR!, (2012).
68. Karen Leeder, Introduction. Oxford German Studies 38, no. 3 (2009): 238.
69. As established by Sabrow in Die DDR erinnern, 18-20.
33
German history is not only of worldwide interest but also of great importance for
an understanding of contemporary German nationality, as it constitutes an
integral part of Germany identity. Just as the Second World War (to varying
degrees) influenced identity in the divided Germany, the legacy of that division
and the Wende influence it today. Furthermore, whilst Ostalgie has been seen
by some as a dangerous revisionism, as the films have shown, it is not as
destabilising as first thought. Zelle noted as early as 1997 that Eastern
identifications are non-ideological in nature and that ideas running counter to
the organisational principles of the united Germany hardly play a role in
accounting for Eastern identifications.
70
Different memory discourses appear to
prove no threat to the political stability of the state, nor to Germanys normality
its role on the world stage ever increasing in prominence and influence. It
would be more sensible to understand the emotional and psychological
attachment to the GDR as yet another facet to varying regional identity within
Germany, present even amongst the Alten Bundeslnder.
The films analysed in this dissertation, however, have certainly made clear that
identity is not a fixed concept, that it is rather a volatile, fluid and constantly
changing notion. Issues of identity are complex and often affected (either
positively or negatively) by the passing of time. Janas partner, Irene, in
Alles auf Zucker! conveys a sense of this when she says:
Es gibt Dinge, die dauern so lange, weil sie so schwierig sind. Und es
gibt Dinge, die werden so schwierig, weil sie so lange dauern.
The economic and sociological disparities between former East and West
Germany may persist for years to come, but once parity is achieved, and the
older generations have passed on, the issues of the Wende will surely pass on
too, into the realm of memory and the distant past.

70. Carsten Zelle, Ostalgie? National and Regional Identifications in Germany after Unification
(Birmingham: Institute for German Studies, 1997), 36-37.
34
Filmography

Alles auf Zucker!. Directed by Dani Levy. Germany, 2004.
Die Architekten. Directed by Peter Kahane. GDR, 1990.
Barbara. Directed by Christian Petzold. Germany, 2012.
Das Leben der Anderen. Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.
Germany, 2006.
Meine Heimat: DDR!. Directed by Jan N. Lorenzen. Germany, 2012.
Solo Sunny. Directed by Konrad Wolf and Wolfgang Kohlhaase. GDR, 1980.
Sonnenallee. Directed by Leander Haumann. Germany, 1999.
Spur der Steine. Directed by Frank Beyer. GDR, 1966.
Unser kurzes Leben. Directed by Lothar Warneke. GDR, 1980.

35
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