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Curse of the Communist Mummy
A developer in Leipzig has
uncovered a one-bedroom apartment abandoned in the waning days
of East Germany:
A wall calendar showed August 1988, and the kitchen cupboard and drawers contained plastic crockery and aluminium cutlery along with communist-era food brands such as "Vita" Cola, "Marella" margarine, "Juwel" cigarettes and a bottle of "Kristall" vodka.
"When we opened the door we felt like Howard Carter when he found the grave of Tutankhamen," [Mark] Aretz told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.
"Everything was a mess but it was like a historic treasure trove, a portal into an age long gone."
Despite the calendar, the place seems to have been occupied well into 1989: It includes a search warrant dated May of that year. (That may explain why the occupant was absent.) The revolt against the Berlin Wall broke out in September.
For a slideshow of the apartment, go here.
Naga Sadow|1.30.09 @ 1:28PM|#
Dammit! Was the apartment walled off or just abandoned and never lived in again. I find that hard to believe. Bums tend to break into any type of dwelling if abandoned.
|1.30.09 @ 1:30PM|#
Wow. A communist-era apartment complete with search warrant and missing occupant.
Jesse Walker|1.30.09 @ 1:38PM|#
Obviously I was falling down on the job. This does scream out for a reference to Good Bye Lenin.
Michael P.|1.30.09 @ 1:39PM|#
Though I've seen a lot of bizarre Communist era accoutrements I cannot figure out why that cabinet drawer is upside down and has a big hole cut into the bottom.
Seward|1.30.09 @ 1:46PM|#
Jesse Walker,
What I found interesting in the movie and this article was the need
of the East German state to create consumer goods with what look
like trademark names. If I recall correctly from the movie the
goods even had labels which had designs on them, as opposed to
simple informational lettering. Why not call margarine, well,
margarine? I can think of a number of different reasons, but it
does make me smile to think of a communist state mimicking
capitalist advertising.
Naga Sadow|1.30.09 @ 1:47PM|#
For some reason, I begin thinking of Poe and his "The cask of Amontillado" when I look at that picture.
|1.30.09 @ 1:48PM|#
I'm hoping that someone will preserve all the artifacts and
re-create this as a museum exhibit.
Somewhat related, the Spy Museum in DC had some really exhibits on
the Stasi and life in the DDR last time I was there several years
ago.
Reinmoose|1.30.09 @ 1:50PM|#
Re: Seward at 1:46
I thought much the same thing. Why even bother naming the
cola?
At least they have free access to healthcare.
That never gets old.
They're also guaranteed a job! Is that such a horrible thing?
|1.30.09 @ 1:52PM|#
Jesse, Seward, for more anti-capitalism stuff, also starring Bruhl, check out The Edukators. It's an interesting look into some modern anti-capitalist thought.
bruce|1.30.09 @ 1:53PM|#
will the communist mummy liberate the implements of production into the hands of the proletariat and smash the plutocratic bourgeoisie? there's a movie script awaiting.
Seward|1.30.09 @ 1:54PM|#
Tonio,
There is also The Lives Of
Others. For as much as a lot of libertarians complain about
Europe, Europeans seem to make a lot more and a lot better movies
about the history of communism.
Seward|1.30.09 @ 1:55PM|#
Reinmoose,
I'd be curious to know if there were various brands of cola,
pickles, etc. in the DDR and if there was significant brand
loyalty.
|1.30.09 @ 1:58PM|#
I cannot figure out why that cabinet drawer is upside down
and has a big hole cut into the bottom.
If yesterday was any indication, I'd hazard a guess that someone
made it into a bong.
Naga Sadow|1.30.09 @ 2:03PM|#
SugarFree,
An entire cabinet drawer? Thats pretty damn impressive.
Thurgood Jenkins: The MacGyver smoker is a very handy guy to have
around, especially when it comes to reefer.
McGayver Friend: Hey, man, we're out of papers.
McGayver Smoker: All right. Then get me a toilet paper roll, a
corkscrew and some tin foil.
McGayver Friend: We don't have a corkscrew.
McGayver Smoker: All right. Then get me an avocado, an ice pick and
my snorkel.
McGayver Smoker: [Friend looks at him funny] Trust me, bro. I've
made bongs with less. Hurry up!
|1.30.09 @ 2:08PM|#
I contend Communism would be workable if it was an entirely bong-based economy. [cough, cough]
Ska|1.30.09 @ 2:09PM|#
Reminds me of Fallout 3.
I could see it - the cramped, abandoned appartment with the crappy
furniture, a bottle of Nuka cola, Dandy Boy apples, Cram, Sugar
Bombs, and a bent tin can. The signs of uniformity at each
different location. Too bad there were no mirelurks.
|1.30.09 @ 2:09PM|#
NutraSweet, how do I know the color blue to you is the color blue to me? My hands are HUGE!
Marco|1.30.09 @ 2:09PM|#
Leipzig. That's my city! Perhaps it's the most liberty-minded city in the former Communist East of Germany. Therefor the Nickname is "City of Liberty". No surprise, that the peaceful freedom revolution at the end of the 80s took start there with a mass-demonstration of 70 000 people (with a total city population of 500K). The Communist dictatorship gathered ten-thousands of military, paramilitary and police forces with the advent of this protest. Documents have shown that the Communists were willing to have a "Chinese solution", that means to slaughter the protesters. But the number of protesting people was way to high for that.
Elemenope|1.30.09 @ 2:10PM|#
There is also The Lives Of Others. For as much as a lot of
libertarians complain about Europe, Europeans seem to make a lot
more and a lot better movies about the history of
communism.
It might have a little to do with them having had recent direct
experience with it. Here, it is an academic issue. There, people
know people who were affected.
kinnath|1.30.09 @ 2:11PM|#
For as much as a lot of libertarians complain about Europe,
Europeans seem to make a lot more and a lot better movies about the
history of communism.
Out of respect, perhaps.
That Son-of-a-Bitch Van Owen|1.30.09 @ 2:11PM|#
Even the original German article made the Good Bye Lenin!
reference:
"wie ihn das aus der Zeit gefallene Plattenbauappartement im
Filmhit "Goodbye Lenin" verströmte"
My German is very rusty so that stood out while I was trying to
understand any of the article.
Marco|1.30.09 @ 2:13PM|#
Seward,
yeah, The Lives of Others is a brilliant which spread conroversy
here in Germany as well as The Downfall. Both movies were made out
of an nonconformist perspective and it took a lotta courage for the
directors to make these movies. because their view on history isn't
the politically correct one.
|1.30.09 @ 2:14PM|#
Naga,
Except for the wine, I don't think the cupboard was as full in the
bricked-in wine cellar.
For the love of God, Montressor! For the love of God!
|1.30.09 @ 2:14PM|#
re: Fallout 3
It's a pain in the ass it get, but the MIRV (unique Fat Man) is
awesome. It fires 8 mini-nukes at once. And there is a gatling
laser that can be found at any point in the game lying a pool of
blood at the very bottom of the Deathclaw Sanctuary.
|1.30.09 @ 2:16PM|#
The Lives of Others is a brilliant which spread conroversy
here in Germany as well as The Downfall
Bruno Ganz was incredible in Der Untergang. Just amazing.
And I thought the high-water mark of Hitler impressions was John
Cleese's Mr. Hilter. Well, I was wrong.
|1.30.09 @ 2:17PM|#
Epi,
"Now look at the stars... They say the stars are just billions of
tons of hot gas... but I think they're just God's salt.. and God's
just waiting to eat us"
Marco|1.30.09 @ 2:18PM|#
"wie ihn das aus der Zeit gefallene Plattenbauappartement im
Filmhit "Goodbye Lenin" verströmte"
The author compares the "aura" of the apartment to the setting of
the "Goodbye Lenin" movie, a comedy movie about the end of
Communism.
alan|1.30.09 @ 2:19PM|#
Seward | January 30, 2009, 1:46pm | #
Jesse Walker,
What I found interesting in the movie and this article was the need
of the East German state to create consumer goods with what look
like trademark names. If I recall correctly from the movie the
goods even had labels which had designs on them, as opposed to
simple informational lettering. Why not call margarine, well,
margarine? I can think of a number of different reasons, but it
does make me smile to think of a communist state mimicking
capitalist advertising.
Reminds me of the old debates between Mises and socialist when it
became a commonly held position that the free market could be
mimicked by giving the bureaucrats autonomy to run things and make
market like decisions. To which, Mises replied, 'Entrepreneurs are
not middle managers for whom there is minimal risk involved.'
Marco|1.30.09 @ 2:20PM|#
Episiarch,
ja, a lotta people who watched the movie the first time had the
same thoughts as I had: "Was this a documentary?"
Seward|1.30.09 @ 2:21PM|#
Marco,
There is also a great German movie about a fellow who helped people
escape from the DDR by building a man-sized tunnel under the Berlin
Wall. Appropriately named Der Tunnel. And of
course The Nasty Girl.
alan|1.30.09 @ 2:21PM|#
'Entrepreneurs are not middle managers for whom there is
minimal risk involved.'
Well, there is risk, to life and limb, perhaps, depending on who is
boss at the time, but not the sort of risk conducive to market
based decision making.
|1.30.09 @ 2:22PM|#
NutraSweet, I can't believe you are quoting Jennifer Love Hewitt romantic comedies. What next, quotes from The Gilmore Girls?
Seward|1.30.09 @ 2:24PM|#
alan,
Well, also, bureaucrats simply lack the knowledge carry those
transactions forward efficiently. There was a Soviet economist in
the 1960s who argued that the Soviet system was not sustainable
because according to his predictions it was going to take the
entire Soviet population in the near future to "plan" the economy,
and there would be no one left to execute the plan.
Marco|1.30.09 @ 2:26PM|#
Seward,
another great movie about the GDR is the tv film "Wir sind das
Volk" ("we are the people" - the most popular slogan from the 1989
revolution)
http://www.sat1.de/filme_serien/wirsinddasvolk/
Ska|1.30.09 @ 2:26PM|#
It's a pain in the ass it get, but the MIRV (unique Fat Man)
is awesome. It fires 8 mini-nukes at once.
I have a nicely repaired gatling laser (but I also have Falkes
running around with me), but yeah, I have to explore to find that
armory (or is it the national guard?) so I can get the Fat
Man.
I haven't played FO3 in a few months, but I'll pick it up again.
Sort of like Oblivion - I took a year off, picked it up again and
didn't stop playing for a month.
Besides, I've been playing CoD4 a lot and I'll be pissed that I
can't headshot a mutant from 100 yds with an unscoped LMG.
|1.30.09 @ 2:29PM|#
My third time through my insomnia and OCD compelled me to gather all the unique weapons, armor, and bobbleheads. I still now to get the evil achievements.
Lesbian Until Graduation|1.30.09 @ 2:30PM|#
I saw Vita Cola sold a couple of days ago at a Halal food specialty store in Florida.
|1.30.09 @ 2:37PM|#
Just because you are dead inside is no reason for the rest
of us not to live.
If you want to call that living.
Ska|1.30.09 @ 2:37PM|#
This is my second play through - I have most of the unique
weapons, and I plan to get all the bobbleheads and really check out
EVERY damn spot before I beat the last mission. I'll probably make
an evil character after that, but by then the level 30 DLC will be
out.
So many good games, so little time to play them.
|1.30.09 @ 2:48PM|#
So, how good is Fallout 3? I liked Oblivion quite a bit. My last serious gaming dive was into Mass Effect, which was enjoyable, but it didn't take me six months like Oblivion.
BakedPenguin|1.30.09 @ 2:51PM|#
I'd be curious to know if there were various brands of cola,
pickles, etc. in the DDR and if there was significant brand
loyalty.
Tangentally related, I know in The Russians, Hedrick Smith
relates how Russians would look for any goods made in Eastern
Europe. They would buy them - without ever having seen them before
- over any similar Russian goods.
It is interesting that Communists didn't introduce generic
groceries, but I guess that's one more innovation that was left
for capitalism.
Ska|1.30.09 @ 2:51PM|#
I really want to know how they're adding 10 levels, because as
it stands I have 100 in all the weapons classes (except melee),
science, repair, and lockpick. Medicine and speech are both in the
70s/80s. The only attributes I have shitty stats in are barter,
unarmed, and melee. I pretty much have 95% hit in VATS always, and
with Grim Sprint never run out of VATS. So, I crit every time and
can use VATS at will, plus have Fawkes laying down gatling laser
support fire.
Level 30 monsters need to be some hell spawn bad ass mothers.
ich weiss nicht|1.30.09 @ 2:52PM|#
My guess is that the drawer is a cutting board, and that the hole is for putting a bowl in, or maybe a trashcan underneath.
Ska|1.30.09 @ 2:53PM|#
Fallout 3 is pretty fucking outstanding. If you liked Oblivion, and are into a sci-fi themed, more mature version of it, you will totally dig it.
|1.30.09 @ 2:54PM|#
PL,
Fallout is based on the Oblivion engine, but it fixes some of the
quirks of OB. Gameplay is exactly the same except for VATS.
Which is a bit hard to explain so I'll let the link handle it. You
buy and sell things, you have a house, the gear degrades and you
repair it, etc. The leveling is handled better as well. You gain
experience points, and they give you points to distribute to your
skills.
|1.30.09 @ 2:57PM|#
Ska,
New enemies and perks. Broken Steel. That
page also links to the two other expansions.
Ska|1.30.09 @ 3:03PM|#
Damn surf control, I'll actually have to wait until I get home
to check that link out. ;)
I'd like to see the next Elder Scrolls handle leveling better. I
hate that you have to game Oblivion's skill system.
|1.30.09 @ 3:16PM|#
Seward: Thanks.
Have only played a couple of hours of FO3, but it rocks. The
Oblivion engine is pretty good, but the Morrowind universe sucked
on many levels (PI).
|1.30.09 @ 5:18PM|#
So, how good is Fallout 3? I liked Oblivion quite a
bit.
I also found it awesome.
If you liked Oblivion and/or liked Fallouts 1 and 2 and/or like
sci-fi themed games, you will love Fallout 3.
I hate that you have to game Oblivion's skill
system.
Actually, FO3s skill system is pretty similar to the first 2
Fallouts.
Geotpf|1.30.09 @ 5:51PM|#
Naga Sadow | January 30, 2009, 1:28pm | #
Dammit! Was the apartment walled off or just abandoned and never
lived in again. I find that hard to believe. Bums tend to break
into any type of dwelling if abandoned.
Looks like it was just locked up, abandoned, and forgotten about,
although other apartments in the building remained occupied. It
probably was not on the ground floor and opened into an interior
hallway. That is, image a twenty story apartment building. If a
single apartment on the 15th floor was locked up permanently, would
anybody notice, other than the landlord wanting to rent it out to
another tenant, assuming there was no smell (no dead body) and no
busted pipes or the like? Of course, during the fall of communism,
records of who should be paying rent to whom were a bit confused.
(I bet there's plenty of people who basically haven't paid rent
since then.)
|1.30.09 @ 5:56PM|#
What would be awesome is if they could track down whoever used to live in that apartment and find out what happened to him.
|1.30.09 @ 6:07PM|#
Der Untergang (Downfall) is (IMO) one of the greatest films of the last decade. And by that I mean, it is THE definitive film on Hitler and the last days of the Nazi regime. It's up there with Judgement at Nuremburg, and All Quiet on the Western Front.
|2.2.09 @ 11:50PM|#
Michael P. - the cabinet drawer has a hole where you would put
your washing basin to wash dishes, you then take it to the toilet
to empty when finished.
My wife is Czech and she remembers her Grandparents kitchen was
very similar.
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