Ostpaket, located across Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse from the train station in the Berlin-Carré shopping center, sells a combination of popular GDR brands that withstood the economic transition and are still for sale today, as well as items that were produced in such excess under the planned economy that they remain as leftovers, even after nearly two-and-a-half decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Here, among other tasty treats, you can pick up a jar of the famous Spreewald pickles, perhaps best enjoyed before boarding your next plane. For your loved ones back home, try the multi-colored chicken-shaped hard-boiled egg holders, spiced soaps, fine textiles such as handkerchiefs, or traditional wooden toys – all still produced in Germany’s “new states.” Unlike the rest of the tourist-oriented stores cluttering the street, you can be certain that every souvenir from Ostpaket was really made in Germany.

Ostpaket is located on the second floor (German: 1.OG.) of the Berlin-Carré shopping center, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 13, in the rear above Kaiser’s. Open for your shopping pleasure Monday-Friday, 9-19, Saturday 9-18.

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Some look back now and have misgivings about how events unfolded. Many commentators suggest that East Germany disappeared too quickly and that the life experiences of an entire generation were dismissed as worthless.

Dismantling the Berlin Wall

Another memorial along the Berlin Wall Trail

History is made up of individuals and not merely the schemes of governments. And August 31, 1990 was a day of personal tragedy in the community in which we live on the outskirts of Berlin. The Wall has now long gone, but in summer 1990 local kids were busy chipping away at the structure. Where once the Wall stood, now there is a beautiful cycle route that tracks round the outer edges of Berlin. Susan Buzzelli highlighted the merits of that bike path in a posting earlier this month here on EuroCheapo.

A tragic accident

On August 31, 1990, 14-year-old Christoph-Manuel Bramböck from Lichterfelde (Berlin) became the victim of a terrible accident. He was chipping away at the bottom of the Wall, keen to get some fragments of the fast disappearing structure. He did not notice that his efforts had loosened a slab of concrete higher up the Wall. The block crashed down on Christoph-Manuel’s head, killing him instantly. He was the last victim of the Berlin Wall.

The Berlin Wall trail

The Berlin Mauerweg cycle route has many memorials along its route, recalling episodes connected with the Wall that for almost three decades divided Berlin. Among them is the memorial to Christoph-Manuel. who would have celebrated his 35th birthday this October. The Berlin Wall trail is an engaging tour of Cold War history and a reminder of the human dimension of international politics.

The post Berlin: Remembering the Berlin Wall appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Mayday across Europe

This year more than 140,000 well-behaved protesters marched in the streets of Istanbul, while over a million marched in Russian cities. While many protesters highlighted grievances over wages and working conditions, traditional Communists were out in force too, reminding the world that peace and socialism still deserve a place in the global agenda.

Mayday in Berlin

Our home city of Berlin has a fine history of Mayday protests on both sides of the old Wall. Participants represent the full gamut of the political spectrum—and many are of no fixed political opinions but merely enjoy the opportunity to taunt the police, burn a few cars and drink copious quantities of alcohol.

Rose-tinted views

“But it is not like the old days,” said one of our neighbors, recalling the mighty Mayday parades in Berlin of yesteryear. “Then the streets of Berlin’s central district were full of the party faithful, and I was proud to be there.”

Scratch the surface of Berlin life, and you’ll still run across outbreaks of nostalgia for the good old days of the German Democratic Republic. A time when life was altogether simpler. For many older Berliners who grew up in East Germany, the new order is associated with uncertainty in the labor market, consumerism and rising prices, and many look back with evident affection on some aspects of life in East Germany. Not all of course, and films like Das Leben der Anderen (“The Lives of Others”) act as a sharp reminder that life wasn’t always quite so rosy in East Germany.

The German word for this phenomenon—”Ostalgie” (“EASTalgia”)—nicely captures this peculiarly eastern fad, in which some folk look back wistfully on their lives in a country that had fabulous gherkins, no bananas, some of the most ghastly wallpaper in the world and lots of engagingly old-fashioned trains. Berlin even has a hotel that picks up the EASTalgia theme. Perhaps East Germany just disappeared too quickly for its citizens to mourn its passing.

Susanne and Nicky run a Berlin-based editorial bureau that supplies text and images to media across Europe. Together they edit hidden europe magazine. You can read more of their writing in their regular e-brief and in the Notes section on their website.

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