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Are there any examples of East German wifes informing on their husbands for Stasi?

Kattullus — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:50:11 -0800

In a critique of Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) Slavoj Žižek asserts that "in all known cases of a married couple where a spouse betrayed a partner, it was always a man who became an informant." Famously, Ulrich Mühe, star of Das Leben der Anderen, asserted that his ex-wife spied on him for Stasi, though both the ex-wife and her supposed Stasi superior denied this. Other than that case, are there any examples of East German wifes informing on their husbands for Stasi?

Looking for a comedy about the fall of East Germany

zhang.chuck — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:27:55 -0800

Looking for a specific movie about the fall of East Germany-- a comedy (?) where the main character's mother falls into a coma, and during the interim, the Berlin wall falls... I was in London last spring and I jumped into this movie halfway through (watching on a hotel telly)...and then fell asleep before the end. I ended up watching half of an hour of it, and I thought maybe somebody else has seen this movie.

Other clues: there may have been subtitles; it looked like it was filmed in the last decade (or two?).

What are some good books that take place in East Germany?

comfortinsound — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:36:57 -0800

Can anyone recommend good books (fiction or non-fiction) that take place in East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall?

Films about East Germany?

matkline — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:12:14 -0800

We've already had a thread that covers films made in East Germany, but I'm looking for films about East Germany, in the same vein as The Lives of Others and Goodbye Lenin. Recommendations?

East German Films

Etta Hollis — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 21:47:10 -0800

I need East German film recommendations. Not films about East Germany, but films MADE in East Germany. I'm looking for typical films that are not Old Shatterhand, Winnetou or Karl May related.

Bonus points for films NOT dubbed:) Director names are helpful too.

East Germany after the wall fell?

neuron — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 18:36:42 -0800

What was East Germany like immediately after the Wall fell? (Lives of Others spoiler alert) What did people in East Germany do in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall? (And does the fall of the wall equate with the fall of the GDR government?) Can you recommend a book (preferably nonfiction) on the subject? And what's it like there now--is it assimilated?

Near the end of The Lives of Others we see some Stasi bureaucrats using steam to open letters. One of them hears on the radio that the wall has fallen. They arise from their desks and calming walk out. Would they have come back to work?

What are these East German Commies saying, anyway?

jason's_planet — Mon, 07 May 2007 08:11:03 -0800

German-speakers: What are the Commies in these (very brief) clips from East Germany saying? Yesterday, I did a front page post on East Germany. My YouTube research uncovered quite a few clips that were amusing and interesting but not appropriate for the post itself. Two that caught my eye are listed below:

The first is a straightforward propaganda clip from (I assume) the Fifties. (:42)

The second is a Stasi surveillance video with an anti-Western speech inserted as a soundtrack. (:58)

If there are any German-speakers out there, could you please tell me what they are saying? I don’t need a word-by-word translation. Just the gist would be fine.

Many thanks in advance.