East Germany

:For the historical eastern German provinces, see Historical Eastern Germany

Culture

Main article: Culture of the German Democratic Republic

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GDR mainstream

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Rock bands were expected to sing in German only. This seemed a logical constraint by Party leaders but it was somewhat unpopular amongst young people. Another problem for the authorities was having to check song texts very carefully for anti-socialist tendencies. The band Renft, for example, was prone to political misbehaviour, which eventually led to its breakdown.

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The Puhdys and Karat were popular mainstream bands, managing to hint at anti-socialist thoughts in their lyrics without being explicit. Like most mainstream acts, they appeared in popular youth magazines such as Neues Leben and Magazin.

Related Topics:
Puhdys - Karat

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Influences from the West were heard everywhere, because TV and radio that came from the Klassenfeind (enemy of the working class) could be received in many parts of the East, too (a notorious exception being Dresden, with its geographically disadvantageous position in the Elbe valley, giving it the nickname of ?Valley of the Clueless?). The Western influence led to the formation of more "underground" groups with a decisively western-oriented sound. A few of these bands were Die Skeptiker, as well as Feeling B.

Related Topics:
Dresden - Elbe - Die Skeptiker - Feeling B

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Bach

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On a more traditional level, the East German government celebrated the fact that Johann Sebastian Bach was born in East German territory, and spent a great deal of money converting his house in Eisenach into a museum of his life, which, among other things, included more than 300 instruments from Bach's life. In 1980 this museum was receiving more than 70,000 visitors annually.

Related Topics:
Johann Sebastian Bach - Eisenach

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In Leipzig, an enormous archive with recordings of all of Bach's music was compiled, along with many historical documents and letters both to and from him.

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Every other year, school children from across East Germany gathered for a Bach competition held in East Berlin. Every four years an international Bach competition for keyboard and strings was held.

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