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East Germany

kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
edited June 2007 in Everything Else
I would like to know what you guys think of East Germany (former GDR), since I've heard from friends in the US that some people there think we don't have electricity ?! So I would be curious to know what you guys think.

Comments

  • RymRym
    I don't know about most Americans, but we at least are fairly cognizant of the fact that the cold war ended quite some time ago. ^_~   I haven't distinguished East and West Germany from simply "Germany" since I battled the evil Easterners in Super Dodgeball as a child.
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    I haven't distinguished East and West Germany from simply "Germany"

    Thats good to hear ;)
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    When I was stationed in Germany I made a few trips to Berlin.

    1) What's up with the concrete roads?
    2) What's up with the 'disposable' cars I saw along those roads?

    I dated a girl from East Germany and a Russian girl while over there and both were nice. The East German girl was a bit more likely to be interested in government hand-outs though.
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    1) Concrete roads are still from Hitler who build them to have a quick way to get from east to west.
    2) The disposable cars (Trabant/Trabis) are basically gone ;)
  • AprecheApreche
    Concrete roads are actually awesome. They last for fucking ever. Asphalt roads we have in the US suck. They need constant maintenance. Meanwhile, roads made with Roman concrete are still just fine.

    As for Germany, I also don't have any separation in my mind between East and West Germany. It's all Germany to me. I also have a strong cognitive dissonance between Nazi Germany and current Germany. It's as if they are two separate countries in my mind.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    You misunderstand. The roads I'm talking about are made from square concrette slabs.

    You know that sound you hear when you travel on a bridge and hit that gap every 30 feet? That is what it sounds like driving on those roads.
  • AprecheApreche
    You misunderstand. The roads I'm talking about are made from square concrette slabs.

    You know that sound you hear when you travel on a bridge and hit that gap every 30 feet? That is what it sounds like driving on those roads.
    That can be rather annoying, but the road is over 50 years old and it still works. Damn impressive.
  • AndrewAndrew
    Autobahn FTW
  • KilarneyKilarney
    edited June 2007
    Concrete roads are pretty amazing. There is a stretch I know of that has to be 30 years old, and it's still in decent shape.

    As for East Germany... My one concern is the amount of environmental pollution. I suspect that West Germany had more environmental safeguards than the east had. Who knows how many toxic substances are leeching into the ground and/or water.
    Post edited by Kilarney on
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    The other way around. East Germany didn't have bad safeguards.
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    Don't take it personally, a fair proportion of Americans are idiots.
  • KilarneyKilarney
    Don't take it personally, a fair proportion of Americans are idiots.
    I hope your not referring to me. There is ample evidence that the eastern block countries lagged behind the west in containing pollution.
    See:
    1989 Article.
    Or:
    1993 Article.
    This article says that East Germany spent 0.7% of its national income on pollution controls, whereas the west spent 1.07%.

    You get the idea...
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    Just because they spent less money does not mean they had more problems.

    I spend no money on pimple creams, does that mean I have a face full of zits?
  • KilarneyKilarney
    edited June 2007
    Is this article calling the Eastern Block "one of the filthiest areas of Europe" enough?

    How about this article that has the following language: " Since the reunification of Germany, the catastrophic extent of East Germany's environmental degradation has been gradually emerging."

    This article shows how the agricultural methods used in the east caused much more pollution than those used in the west.

    Or this article that states that air pollution was much higher in the east prior to reunification. (and attributes the cause to industry and domestic sources.)

    I don't claim to be an expert, I just have some concerns (see my original comment) - and I certainly hope tuttle88 wasn't referring to me as an idiot.
    Post edited by Kilarney on
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    I'm not calling into question whether East Germany is more or less polluted than other areas of the world. I'm calling into question your assertion that they ARE more polluted BECAUSE they spend less money on pollution controls.
  • KilarneyKilarney
    I'm not calling into question whether East Germany is more or less polluted than other areas of the world. I'm calling into question your assertion that they ARE more polluted BECAUSE they spend less money on pollution controls.
    I never said that. I just linked the article and mentioned the statistics therein. I suspect that it is a contributing factor, however.
  • KilarneyKilarney
    To get this back on track...

    Kiwi_bird, what sources do you have that show that East Germany had better environmental safeguards than the west prior to reunification?
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    Well ok, when I think about it I guess the GDR didn't have a real good safe guard. But I wouldn't go so far as saying that places in West Germany like Stuttgart are less poluteed and were less poluteed than places in the GDR.

    As for now, "East Germany's" rivers are cleaner, that I still know from biology class ;)

    As a side note to the concrete roads, in my home town (which has 500 000 people living in it) I would say 80% of streets are concrete roads, 10% are concrete roads covered with asphalt (the worst!) and the other 10 are just plain old asphalt roads.
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