Fenomén ostalgie v českém a německém televizním seriálu
https://dx.doi.org/10.7160/KS.2025-01(24).02cs
DOI (EN):
https://dx.doi.org/10.7160/KS.2025-01(24).02en
Author: Kateřina Kočárková
Affiliation: Fakulta sociálních věd Univerzity Karlovy, Institut komunikačních studií a žurnalistiky, Smetanovo nábřeží 6, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic
Email: katerina.kocarkova@gmail.com
Language: Czech / English
Issue: 1/2025 (24)
Pages: 38–70 (CS); 71–105 (EN)
Keywords (CS): Kultura vzpomínání, kolektivní paměť, ostalgie, nostalgie, východní blok, paměť věcí, generace, televizní seriál, Vyprávěj, Svět pod hlavou, mediální studia
Keywords (EN): Culture of Remembrance, collective memory, ostalgia, nostalgia, Eastern Bloc, memory of things, generation, TV series, Wonderful Times, World under Head, media studies
Abstrakt / Abstract
CS: Ostalgie – nostalgická touha po aspektech života v bývalých socialistických režimech – prostupuje různé oblasti společenského a kulturního života, včetně módy, spotřebního zboží, hudby a populárních médií. Tato studie zkoumá ostalgii na kulturní úrovni, se zvláštním důrazem na současnou televizní tvorbu. Teoretický rámec vychází z konceptů kolektivní paměti a kultury vzpomínání, přičemž zvláštní pozornost je věnována materiálnímu rozměru paměti. Ostalgické narativy často akcentují každodenní předměty, které vyvolávají pocit časového vykořenění, kdy minulost lze zpřítomnit pouze prostřednictvím selektivního vzpomínání. Tento jev je nahlížen prizmatem pojmu „paměť věcí“, jak jej formuloval Jan Assmann a dále rozvinul Arjun Appadurai. Materiální artefakty z období socialismu zde fungují jako nositelé paměti, které jednotlivcům umožňují znovu navázat kontakt s osobními i kolektivními minulostmi. Analýza se zaměřuje na dva české seriály – Vyprávěj a Svět pod hlavou – a dvě německé produkce – Ku’damm a Deutschland 83 – a nabízí komparativní pohled na to, jak je ostalgie ztvárňována a zprostředkovávána prostřednictvím televizního vyprávění v postsocialistických kontextech.
EN: Ostalgia – a nostalgic longing for aspects of life in former socialist regimes – permeates various domains of social and cultural life, including fashion, consumer goods, music, and popular media. This study explores ostalgia on the cultural level, focusing in particular on contemporary television series. The theoretical framework draws on concepts of collective memory and the culture of remembrance, with special attention to the material dimension of memory. Ostalgic narratives frequently foreground everyday objects, evoking a sense of temporal dislocation wherein the past can only be accessed through selective remembrance. This phenomenon is discussed in relation to the notion of the ‚memory of things‘, as formulated by Jan Assmann and further developed by Arjun Appadurai. Material artefacts from the socialist era serve as vessels of memory, enabling individuals to retrieve personal and collective pasts. The analysis centres on two Czech series – Vyprávěj (Tell Me About It) and Svět pod hlavou (World Under the Head) – and two German productions – Ku’damm (Kurfürstendamm) and Deutschland 83 (Germany 83) – offering a comparative perspective on how ostalgia is represented and mediated through televised storytelling in post-socialist contexts.
Kateřina Kočárková
CS: Kateřina Kočárková je absolventkou oboru mediální studia na Fakultě sociálních věd Univerzity Karlovy, zároveň je absolventkou bakalářského oboru česko-německých studií na stejné fakultě. Odborně se zaměřuje na problematiku ostalgie v mediálním prostředí, kterou studuje prostřednictvím česko-německé seriálové produkce. Na toto téma obhájila rigorózní práci pod názvem Fenomén ostalgie a jeho projevy v českém a německém televizním seriálu a připravuje další odborné studie.
EN: Kateřina Kočárková holds a Master’s degree in Media Studies from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Czech-German Area Studies from the same institution. Her academic work centres on the phenomenon of Ostalgie in media discourse, with a particular focus on Czech-German television production. She defended her rigorous thesis entitled The Phenomenon of Ostalgie and its Manifestations in Czech and German Television Series, and is currently developing further scholarly studies in this field.
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Switch to: English version (HTML)Introduction
Originally a German phenomenon, Ostalgie is a complex, multilayered concept that straddles the domains of both historical consciousness and popular culture. It manifests across the full spectrum of human activity—from fashion and music, to consumer goods and their associated marketing strategies, to cultural production and the seemingly mundane terrain of personal memory. Ostalgic recollection frequently foregrounds material objects, as though the act of remembering were an attempt to salvage fragments of a time that can no longer be inhabited, except through memory itself.
This suggests a compelling connection between Ostalgie and what Jan Assmann[1] has termed the ‚memory of things‘ (Dinggedächtnis), a notion further elaborated by anthropologist Arjun Appadurai[2]. Through everyday objects from the socialist era, individuals retain traces of their former lives—mnemonic artefacts capable of evoking deeply embedded memories long after their original temporal context has passed.
The representation of the former socialist regime through the format of television drama brings together the two principal perspectives from which Ostalgie can be examined. According to Aleida Assmann[3], contemporary media—most notably television—have become the primary bearers of historical memory. They engage mass audiences in a non-confrontational manner, reaching millions who might otherwise have little interest in history without such televisual mediation.
Nevertheless, Ostalgie-inflected television series should not be mistaken for accurate historiography. Although inspired by real historical events, their narratives often ride the wave of positive nostalgia, reshaping and distorting past realities in favour of viewer appeal and commercial success.
This study explores the complexities of nostalgic remembrance through the lens of four television series: two Czech and two German. The Czech corpus comprises Vyprávěj (Tell Me a Story) and Svět pod hlavou (World Under One’s Head), both produced by Czech Television. Their German counterparts are Ku’damm (Dance Hall on the Main Street) and Deutschland 83 (Germany 83). These series were not selected arbitrarily; rather, they were chosen for their capacity to function as approximate Czech–German analogical pairs.
The study seeks to address the following research questions: In what ways does Ostalgie engage with the culture of remembrance and the reconstruction of collective memory? How is the socialist regime portrayed in the selected television series? What are the specific manifestations of Ostalgie in the Czech and German narratives, and through what aesthetic or narrative strategies does this nostalgia materialise on screen?
The empirical section of the research employs grounded theory methodology, selected for its applicability to the analysis of audiovisual formats. One of the key advantages of grounded theory lies in its openness: the researcher is not constrained by a pre-established theoretical framework, allowing patterns and interpretations to emerge inductively from the material itself.
1. How Ostalgic Television Series Shape Cultural Memory
Although a considerable and socially relevant segment of today’s population still regards the former regime as part of their lived historical experience, it is impossible to ignore that we are currently witnessing a gradual fading of direct memories of the crimes and catastrophes that marked the twentieth century. As the generation of eyewitnesses slowly passes away[4], the number of individuals with first-hand recollection continues to diminish. In response, it becomes imperative to care for, preserve, and transmit these memories in a manner that is both reflective and sensitive to future generations.
Although a significant and socially relevant portion of contemporary society continues to regard the former regime as part of their own lived historical experience[5], it is nonetheless evident that we are entering a period marked by the gradual erosion of direct memory of the grave crimes and catastrophes that defined the twentieth century. As the generation of eyewitnesses slowly disappears, the reservoir of first-hand experience is diminishing. In such circumstances, the memories that remain embedded within the social fabric must be carefully maintained, preserved, and transmitted with due sensitivity to future generations.
With living memory increasingly vulnerable to erasure and oblivion[6], it becomes essential to ensure the continued presence of these recollections in the public sphere through the culture of remembrance. When combined with new technologies and electronic media, this culture of memory generates powerful tools for engaging audiences—often playfully yet meaningfully—on a broad scale. Within the framework of this study, such a tool is represented by the television series, a medium that, by virtue of its wide accessibility and broad reach, engages a mass audience in ways few other forms can. As numerous scholars have observed, the preservation of memory in the modern age has become virtually inconceivable without media mediation[7].
Concepts such as collective memory, the culture of remembrance, and intergenerational memory transmission are all factors that influence not only the narrative construction of television drama, but also the ways in which these productions are interpreted and decoded by their viewers. The transfer of memory across generations is particularly crucial in shaping understandings of the former regime—a process that often fluctuates between collective and individual memory. This transmission is inherently subjective, rendering Ostalgie a deeply layered and multifaceted phenomenon.
As Juliane Ziegengeist has argued, the discourse surrounding this selective remembrance of the past remains ambiguous. On the one hand, the lived realities of former regimes are censored and demonised—especially within the realm of political reflection. On the other, these same realities have acquired a certain cult status within the cultural sphere, a status which has become firmly anchored under the label of Ostalgie[8].
1.1. Objects as Nostalgic Elements in Television Series
Ostalgie, when conveyed through television series, engages profoundly with memory and the evocative nature of material objects. It is through props, period-specific clothing, and thematically reconstructed settings that the viewer is prompted to recall the past. Objects play a pivotal role in the act of remembering: they assist not only in retrieving buried memories, but also in sustaining everyday nostalgia—serving either to momentarily reawaken the past or to allow the remembering individual to carry their history with them continuously.
The memory embedded in material objects is explored in detail by German cultural theorist Jan Assmann, particularly in his work Cultural Memory (Kultur und Gedächtnis)[9]. From the everyday and familiar items of daily life—such as beds, chairs, food, toiletries, clothing, and tools—to broader structures like houses, villages and cities, roads, vehicles, and ships, human beings are constantly surrounded by things into which they project imagination, comfort, aesthetic sensibility, and, in a certain sense, their very selves.
Through the process of embedding memory in specific objects, individuals are able to retain a tangible connection to their past. The world of things in which people move is marked by a temporal index: not only anchored in the present, but also layered with references to different strata of the past. Objects become repositories of impressions, emotions, and recollections, capable of reactivating vivid memory even after many years have passed[10].
American anthropologist Arjun Appadurai, alongside Jan Assmann, has also examined the social and cultural dimensions of objects. In his seminal 1986 work The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective, Appadurai challenges conventional understandings of commodities as solely economic entities. He argues that commodities are not passive items of exchange, but rather active participants in social relations, cultural practices, and systems of meaning, contingent upon specific sociocultural contexts[11].
In his work La Mémoire Collective (Collective Memory), Maurice Halbwachs explores why individuals tend to gravitate towards objects. Amid the flux of everyday life, it is the stillness of things that provides a sense of order and calm. Objects lend stability and permanence to space. Each item we encounter regularly helps construct an environment of familiarity—a silent community that accompanies us and offers a navigable structure of meaning. Even if an individual no longer belongs to a particular social group, contact with its associated material culture can reactivate a sense of identification with that group[12].
The memory of things plays a central role in Ostalgie-inflected film and television representations. For many former East German and Czechoslovak citizens, the commodities and consumer goods they lived with for decades generate what might be termed a “reunion effect” when re-encountered on screen[13]. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain in 1989, numerous iconic products disappeared from shelves virtually overnight. Yet many of the everyday household items associated with the socialist era remained in private use. Their reappearance in cinematic or televisual contexts frequently acts as a mnemonic trigger, bringing the past vividly to mind.
In the immediate aftermath of regime change, many East German consumer products entered what Appadurai might describe as a new phase in their “careers”[14]. These formerly ubiquitous items were pushed aside—into storage rooms, the backs of wardrobes, or, in some cases, landfill sites. The symbolic devaluation of East German goods formed part of a broader effort to discredit and disassemble the legacy of the GDR. A paradigmatic example is the Trabant car, once a source of pride for socialist workers. In line with Appadurai’s observation that the value of things shifts according to context, the Trabant, once imbued with positive meaning, was redefined in the post-socialist capitalist setting as a symbol of inefficiency, backwardness, and inferiority[15].
This discussion necessarily intersects with questions of generation and intergenerational transmission of memory. Socialist-era objects are unique in their defining characteristic: they were often difficult to obtain, and when available, were typically highly standardised—or at least visually similar. This scarcity imparted a heightened emotional value to material possessions. Nostalgic significance increases further when the object is considered rare or exceptional—for example, a pair of denim jeans. Scarcity and restricted access clearly intensified emotional attachment to material goods.
Moreover, such objects are frequently linked to periods in the rememberer’s life that are coloured by positive affect—childhood, adolescence, or other formative stages. When memories are passed on intergenerationally, it is crucial for younger recipients to grasp that the distinctiveness of the former regime—and its material conditions—is the reason these objects are granted such affective weight. At the same time, those who experienced socialism must recognise that today’s younger generation was born into a radically different socio-economic system—one defined by abundance, surplus, and mass availability.
1.2. Intergenerational Transmission of Memory
Within the context of collective remembrance, such as Ostalgie, the primary locus for memory transmission is the family. It is the older generations—those who personally experienced life in the former GDR or communist Czechoslovakia—who now pass their memories, experiences, and stories on to younger family members. These recollections, whether positive or negative, shape how Ostalgie is perceived and understood.
This communicative rendering of the past no longer involves merely recounting experiences, as it may once have done; rather, it has become a shared practice through which the family defines itself as a group bound by a specific history—one in which its individual members participate, and which, in their perception, remains unaltered over time[16].
Such shared acts of remembering within families are rarely comprehensive or linear. Rather than constituting a clearly demarcated sequence of events, this form of memory transmission tends to consist of a selective recall of isolated episodes that happen to be narrated[17]. According to the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur, these fragmented memories are arranged by the storyteller in such a way as to form a coherent narrative that makes sense to all parties involved.
As Mayer notes, this process often involves “a set of values transmitted from one generation to the next, which may not necessarily correspond to historical reality”[18]. Ostalgie, therefore, does not always faithfully represent the complexities of the historical past. Ultimately, there is no single, unified narrative—rather, there are “as many versions of the story as there are speakers and listeners present”[19].
Generations that did not live through the GDR or Czechoslovakia may consequently form distorted understandings of the past. A further distorting factor is that older generations often remember their youth—thus their memories may be idealised or coloured by nostalgia for the „good old days“[20].
Ostalgie is not merely a longing for the past, but also an emotional attachment to a particular way of life. Family memory, in this context, provides what has been described as “coherence and identity within an intimate mnemonic community”[21]. It plays a critical role in shaping emotional bonds and influencing a sense of identity rooted in East German or communist Czechoslovak heritage and familial history.
In both the German and Czech contexts, there remains a significant number of individuals who recall life under the former regime. For many, the communist era coincides with childhood, adolescence, or other formative life events—factors that frequently lend themselves to positively inflected recollections[22].
The intergenerational links between Ostalgie and familial memory thus offer vital insights into how collective memory is constructed within families, and how it influences the interpretation of a major historical period: namely, the lived experience of the Eastern Bloc.
1.3. Remembering the Past in Spatial Context
The primary referential space to which the mind turns when attempting to retrieve a specific category of memories is often the space we inhabit. This is largely due to the ease with which such spaces can be mentally reconstructed under nearly any conditions. However, in the case of (N)Ostalgic memory, this spatial recollection may be complicated by the loss of critical distance, obscured by emotional attachment[23].
This phenomenon is discussed by cultural theorist Svetlana Boym in her book The Future of Nostalgia, where she warns of the dangers of nostalgia as a substitution of actual sites of memory with imagined, idealised spaces[24].
The conceptualisation of collective memory and space as articulated by Maurice Halbwachs and French historian Pierre Nora is highly applicable to Ostalgic recollection, especially with regard to spaces that were once clearly demarcated by state borders. In the case of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), this referred to a territory carved out within the Soviet-occupied zone—so-called East Germany—which constituted a well-defined spatial framework for approximately 16 million individuals. With the collapse of communism, this delineated state, through which identity had been negotiated for over forty years, vanished virtually overnight.
In this context, Ostalgie functions as a compensatory mechanism for former East German citizens, who experienced varying degrees of identity loss. This loss was triggered by the transition to a market economy, the imposition of the legal and institutional framework of the Federal Republic, and the wider process of German reunification. According to Halbwachs, memory is anchored in the stability of space—a condition which, in the case of the GDR, ceased to exist, given the “complete disappearance of an entire country”[25].
Despite the loss of territoriality specific to such a large social group, Halbwachs suggests that space retains the imprint of the group, just as the group bears the imprint of the space. When spatial permanence is no longer viable, what remains is at least the permanence of the group’s attitude towards that space[26]. In this way, memory can endure even when geography does not.
1.4. Contextualising Czech and German Ostalgie: Similarities and Differences
Halbwachs’s assertion that space bears the imprint of a social group offers a compelling metaphor for understanding how individuals respond to the transformation or loss of their distinct spatial environment. In the former GDR, this “imprint” remains visible in cultural heritage, architectural landmarks, and even daily practices that have persisted beyond reunification. In the former Czechoslovakia, a comparable imprint can be traced in urban planning, architecture, and the ongoing narrative surrounding the socialist past—despite the uninterrupted physical continuity of the national territory.
The two nations approach Ostalgie differently, for several foundational reasons. First among these are divergent experiences of the communist regime. In Czechoslovakia, the totalitarian regime was established following the Communist Party’s seizure of power in 1948, and throughout its existence, it was widely regarded as a Soviet-backed dictatorship. This perception culminated in mass dissent during events such as the Prague Spring in 1968 and the subsequent invasion by Warsaw Pact troops, which left lasting trauma and intensified public opposition to the regime[27].
In contrast, the German Democratic Republic constituted a clearly demarcated territorial entity within the Soviet occupation zone—East Germany—which for approximately 16 million citizens provided a defined spatial framework through which identity was constructed. With the fall of the regime, this geopolitical space vanished almost overnight. For many former East Germans, Ostalgie serves as a means of compensating for the resulting loss of identity, closely tied to the transition to a market economy, the imposition of the Federal Republic’s legal framework, and the entire process of German reunification[28].
Unlike Berlin, Prague was never physically divided by a wall separating two ideologically opposed worlds. The relatively peaceful nature of the Velvet Revolution in 1989, as well as the subsequent transition to democracy, represents another key divergence in how the two nations process and narrate their pasts.
The Czech transformation was rapid and largely non-violent. It brought not only political liberalisation but also abrupt economic restructuring. The shift to a market-based system—although necessary—was accompanied by social hardship and uncertainty, prompting certain segments of society to idealise the perceived economic stability of the pre-1989 era. By contrast, German reunification entailed the immediate integration of East Germany into the institutional, legal, and economic structures of West Germany. For many East Germans, this process felt abrupt and alienating, resulting in a loss of identity and disappointment, especially amid rising unemployment and social insecurity[29].
Another key difference lies in the formation of cultural and social memory. In post-communist Czechoslovakia, public reckoning with the past focused intensely on the victims of the regime and the repressive apparatus, such as the State Security Service (StB). In Czech society, speaking favourably about the socialist period is often frowned upon, as it may be seen as an insult to the regime’s victims or as political sympathising[30]. As a result, Czech Ostalgie tends to assume a more playful form, often centred on consumer goods and popular entertainment rather than political identity.
In Germany, Ostalgie is also connected to everyday items—such as the Trabant car or Vita-Cola—but it is more explicitly associated with a sense of lost identity and the security that many felt under socialism. Here, Ostalgie often highlights the distinctive identity of East Germans within the broader unified German context.
Media and popular culture play a crucial role in this process. Television series and films from the communist era, such as Nemocnice na kraji města (Hospital at the End of the City) or 30 případů majora Zemana (Thirty Cases of Major Zeman), remain popular despite their controversial legacy. In the Czech context, however, this popularity is primarily fuelled by nostalgic recollection of everyday life, rather than by political commentary. In contrast, German films and series—such as Good Bye Lenin!, Weissensee, or Sonnenallee—explicitly explore themes of identity, loss, and the negotiation of historical memory.
The portrayal of the former regime through popular culture presents a challenge in terms of historical accuracy and relevance. Film critic Martin Franc argues that films with (N)Ostalgic elements may offer vivid depictions of the past, but they often romanticise or trivialise historical reality. While Ostalgie is generally understood as the resurfacing of positive memories from the socialist era, Franc cautions that many films present an overly idealised version of the regime, omitting the hardships of daily life. He calls for a more balanced and nuanced approach—one that acknowledges both the positive and negative aspects of the past. Franc cites Czech director Jan Hřebejk’s films Pelíšky and Pupendo as examples of works that fail to reflect historical reality. Nonetheless, this criticism does not deny the personal and cultural significance that Ostalgie may hold for individuals who lived through those times.
In terms of chronology, Ostalgie in Germany began gaining momentum as early as the mid-1990s. This was catalysed by films, themed events such as DDR-parties and Ossi-discos, and the revival of iconic East German brands (e.g. Spreewald pickles, Röstfein and Rondo coffee, sweets such as Nudossi, Bambina and Schlager-Süßtafel chocolates, and F6 cigarettes). In the Czech Republic, the rise of Ostalgie was more pronounced after the year 2000, when it became more socially accepted. Contributing to this were retro-themed television programmes like Vyprávěj (Tell Me a Story), films such as Pelíšky (Cosy Dens), and the reintroduction of well-known socialist-era brands.
Among the Czech products that saw a nostalgic revival are Kofola (cola), Pedro chewing gum, Májka pâté, Tatranky wafers, Pribináček dessert (popularised by the fairy-tale film Ať žijí duchové!), Merkur construction sets, and Igráček toy figurines. Unlike the East German context, the return of these brands in post-revolutionary Czechia was less abrupt. In many cases, production was only temporarily interrupted and resumed following privatisation. As a result, many Czech products never fully disappeared, in contrast to numerous East German brands that ceased to exist altogether[31].
2. Methodology
The analytical component of this study adopts the approach of grounded theory, as developed by Anselm Strauss and Juliet Corbin in the 1990s. This methodology was selected for several key reasons. Grounded theory is a versatile research method that lends itself particularly well to diverse subject areas and contexts within the social sciences, including media studies and the analysis of audiovisual formats such as film and, in the case of this project, television series[32].
Once specific research aims related to the selected series were identified, data collection began, encompassing a wide array of materials associated with the topic. In the context of television series, this included viewing individual episodes, analysing critical reviews, and gathering relevant scholarly literature. From a methodological perspective, this project could also be classified as a case study.
Grounded theory proved especially suitable for analysing the selected series due to one of its core strengths: the iterative process of coding recurring data points. A particularly significant phase of the methodology is axial coding, which enables the emergence of conceptual categories and subcategories. This process allows for the identification of parallels and contrasts across the different series under investigation.
Through open and axial coding, and the subsequent grouping of emergent concepts, the analysis led to the identification of five central categories: Essentials of Daily Life, Culture and Entertainment, The Rhythm of Everyday Life, Political and Ideological Representation, and Nostalgia as a Narrative Device. During the methodological process, I also encountered a number of additional features—such as period-specific costumes—that could, through the lens of grounded theory, have formed new and distinct categories. The deliberate selection of clothing by the creators of the series clearly serves to anchor the viewer in the socialist era. However, a detailed analysis of this element was intentionally omitted. Compared to other thematic layers present in the series, this aspect seemed relatively descriptive and less analytically compelling.
Given the Czech academic context in which this text was written, greater emphasis has been placed on the Czech series relative to the German ones. This imbalance, however, emerges only at the level of interpretation—not during the initial phases of the methodological process, such as note-taking, open coding, or axial categorisation.
3. Representations of Ostalgie in Czech and German Television Series
The phenomenon of Ostalgie and its televisual portrayal is examined through a comparative analysis of two Czech and two German television series, all produced between 2009 and 2021. The Czech representatives were selected from Czech Television productions: the first is Vyprávěj (Tell Me a Story), directed by Biser Arichtev and Johanna Steiger-Antošová; the second is the more recent Svět pod hlavou (Under the Surface), directed by Marek Najbrt and Radim Špaček.
Vyprávěj serves as a paradigmatic example for analysing Ostalgie, having been deliberately produced as a nostalgic reflection on life under the former regime. The selection of series was not random; rather, it was carefully designed to create approximate Czech-German analogues. While other Czech examples might include the five-part retro series Volha or HBO’s six-part political thriller Bez vědomí (The Sleepers, 2019), Svět pod hlavou proved to be the most appropriate counterpart for subsequent comparison with a selected German series.
Paired with Vyprávěj is the German nine-part series Ku’damm (Ku’damm – Dance School on the Grand Boulevard), directed by Sven Bohse. In both productions, the central narrative emphasis lies on the life of a family and the everyday struggles of its members—rather than on political processes or major historical events, which are relegated to the narrative background. These “great histories” are woven into the private worlds of the Dvořák family in Vyprávěj and the Schöllack family in Ku’damm.
The principal intention behind both series is not to analyse or assess historical events—although these are critical to the characters‘ development—but rather to offer a vivid, emotionally grounded depiction of the era and the feelings of individuals within specific moments. For the psychological drama Svět pod hlavou, a genre-appropriate German counterpart was selected: Deutschland 83, a Cold War spy thriller directed by Edward Berger.
Both Svět pod hlavou and Deutschland 83 are set in the 1980s and centre on protagonists undergoing profound personal transformation. In the former, a contemporary Czech police officer finds himself transported into the past, ultimately becoming a member of the notorious State Security service through a temporal loop. In the latter, an ordinary East German border guard is abruptly assigned the role of undercover agent within the upper echelons of the West German military command.
3.1. Material Essentials of Everyday Life
Contrary to the widespread belief that „everything was abundant“ under the former socialist regime, the reality was that chronic shortages of consumer goods significantly shaped daily life. This limited availability is thematised in the opening episode of Svět pod hlavou (Under the Surface), where members of the State Security (StB) are shown munching on an oversized jar of pickled gherkins while watching television. While the scene may initially appear humorous to viewers—and indeed to the series‘ protagonist, Filip Marvan, who finds himself suddenly transported back to the 1980s—the moment carries several layers of contextual meaning. It reflects both the socio-economic conditions of the time and the cultural realities of daily life.
The pickled gherkins, preserved in a large glass jar, symbolise the restricted food supply compared to capitalist countries, where a variety of snack foods was more readily available for consumption during leisure activities such as television viewing. Beyond representing a socio-economic reality, the scene also functions as a cultural symbol, showcasing the way individuals adapted creatively to scarcity: they made the most of whatever commodities were available. Pickled cucumbers also feature prominently in the fifteenth episode of Vyprávěj (Tell Me a Story), where the entire family spends an afternoon preserving them together. In both series, pickled gherkins come to symbolise resourcefulness and resilience in an era of limited consumer choice. They also highlight the disconnect between state propaganda that claimed “nothing was missing” and the everyday experiences of ordinary citizens. For viewers who lived through this era, such scenes can evoke memories of shared family rituals and a sense of togetherness, reinforcing a nostalgic idealisation of the past that often masks the discomforts of the time.
Scarcity is likewise addressed in Ku’damm (Dance School on the Grand Boulevard), when Monika, one of the lead characters, crosses to the East to visit her father. “They almost didn’t let me through with my suitcase—they thought I was smuggling women’s tights or coffee […]” she remarks. Her tone is ironic, as coffee and tights are for her everyday items, but she fails to realise that these goods were rare and often rationed in the Eastern Bloc[33].
In Deutschland 83, the German political thriller, a conversation between two female characters reveals the lack of yet another essential commodity in East Germany—medical supplies. “To recover, you need special medicine from the West,” one of them notes, underscoring the disparity in healthcare quality between East and West[34]. The socialist system often struggled to provide even a semblance of the standards available in capitalist countries.
In series focusing on life under the former regime, interaction with nostalgic objects plays a key role. “Wow, real jeans! Uncle, you’re amazing!” exclaims the twelve-year-old Zuzana Dvořáková upon receiving a pair of denim trousers from her uncle. She is so delighted that she continues wearing them around the house. Her reaction signals the emotional and sentimental value commonly attributed to scarce consumer items.
Denim appears not only in direct interaction with characters but also as part of the mise-en-scène—casually draped over a chair, for example, or left near a work desk, thereby remaining present in the frame. In Deutschland 83, when protagonist Martin Rauch is sent to the West against his will, his transformation begins with a simple instruction: “Change your clothes—they should fit[35],” accompanied by a shot of a neatly arranged pile of Western attire: a red Puma T-shirt, white trainers, and, crucially, a pair of jeans. The jeans symbolise transformation, the imposition of a new identity, and separation from one’s former environment. As a once-scarce everyday item in the East, jeans have since come to embody a powerful nostalgic symbol. For many viewers, they evoke longings for previously unattainable goods, while their association with Western culture romanticises an era in which such objects held significant emotional weight.
These seemingly mundane objects—denim jeans[36] and pickled gherkins—function as bridges between individual memory and collective remembrance. While gherkins symbolise adaptability and domestic creativity amid scarcity, jeans represent aspiration and fascination with the world beyond the Iron Curtain. The nostalgia these items evoke is not merely an idealisation of the past, but a complex form of cultural remembrance, charged with emotional and symbolic meaning.
By integrating such objects into their narratives, television series invite viewers to re-live memories and, crucially, transmit them to younger generations for whom these items exist only as distant icons of a bygone era. In doing so, they affirm that nostalgic memory is not solely about historical fact, but about emotion, symbolism, and the interpretative layers of everyday life.
3.2. Material Culture as a Central Narrative Agent
The socialist era was replete with systemic anomalies, many of which came to characterise the everyday experience of life under state socialism. Among these, queues emerged as a quintessential symbol, laying bare the profound inefficiencies of central planning. Despite official proclamations from party functionaries that all consumer needs were being met, queues told a very different story. This tension is vividly illustrated in episode ten of the Czech television series Vyprávěj („Tell Me a Story“), titled Promoce („Graduation“). A lengthy queue forms outside a hardware store; Karel, compelled by his wife Eva, reluctantly joins. Upon learning that the delivery of washing machines has been postponed until the following morning, he attempts to leave, only to be stopped by an elderly man who admonishes him: “Where do you think you’re going, young man? They said they’re coming in the morning.” When Karel protests, “So you’re going to wait here all night?” the man replies, “Of course, aren’t you? When else will you get such a chance?” [37] In this episode, the queue ceases to be mere backdrop and assumes the role of a narrative protagonist; apart from the final graduation scene, Karel spends the entire episode waiting in line.
Objects displayed on shelves and in glass cabinets, common features in shared living spaces, exemplify the kitsch aesthetic typical of the socialist domestic interior. “Every era has its favourite kitsch,” writes journalist Eda Kriseová in her novel Kočičí životy („Cat Lives“)—“garden gnomes, polar bears used as ashtrays, sunsets with palm trees and oceans. Over time, kitsch becomes a valuable collector’s item, sold only in antique shops.” [38] Through the voice of her protagonist, Kriseová underscores the sentimental attachment to kitsch: “[…] in it, people recognise the best parts of themselves.” [39] In this sense, Ostalgie can itself be viewed as a form of cultural kitsch—a selective, emotionally inflected recollection of the ‘better’ moments within an otherwise difficult historical period.
These kitsch items, often resting on crocheted doilies or placemats, were frequently displayed in excessive numbers—sometimes even in illogical locations. A notable example is a ceramic ashtray featuring a polar bear, produced by the firm Ditmar & Urbach, which appears perched incongruously atop a pub’s beer tap. [40] This item has since been canonised as a symbol of its era and is now housed in the permanent twentieth-century history exhibition of the National Museum in Prague. [41]
The Czech series Svět pod hlavou („World Under the Head“) and Vyprávěj make extensive use of exaggerated period detail. Domestic interiors—such as the Dvořák family household—serve as stages where nostalgic objects move from background props to central narrative devices. The television set, for example, was a rare commodity in 1960s Czechoslovakia and a potent indicator of social status. In Vyprávěj, when Jana Dvořáková receives an opportunity to acquire one, she does not hesitate—even though it requires her to accept assistance from a somewhat unsavoury factory manager. “It’s in Kolín,” he says. “You’ve got to pick it up before the end of the week, during lunch break, from the electronics shop on the square.” [42]
The television continues to function as a narrative focus throughout the episode, becoming a literal protagonist in domestic disputes between Jana and her husband. Scenes featuring mass media, such as televisions or radios, are often presented with minimal dialogue, heightening the evocative power of the objects themselves. Radios assume a particularly prominent role in episodes referencing key historical events, such as 21 August 1968 or 16 January 1969. “Turn on the radio—quick! They’ve just reported that a boy set himself on fire in Prague,” one character exclaims. The entire room falls silent as the camera lingers on a Tesla-brand radio receiver. [43]
In some cases, household appliances function as narrative instruments that resolve domestic tension. When grandmother Běta discovers that the Dvořák family participated in the May Day celebrations in Prague, she threatens to move out—something she frequently does when discontented. The situation is salvaged by a radio broadcast: “You’re lucky, Josef, they just reported on Radio Free Europe that this year’s May Day celebration in Prague was unusually liberal-minded.” [44] Consequently, the dramatic conflict is diffused, and no move takes place.
3.3. Always a Reason to Celebrate
The narrative structure of television series that engage with the theme of Ostalgie frequently conveys the impression that life in the socialist past was replete with occasions for celebration. Interwoven with the tapestry of ‘small family histories’, these series feature scenes of birthday and name-day parties for relatives, festive gatherings in office settings during the Christmas season, and, more ideologically, collective celebrations of 1 May (Labour Day), 9 May military parades (Victory Day), the October Revolution, and International Women’s Day (8 March).[45]Such state-sponsored festivities served as mechanisms for reinforcing collective identity—workers, artists, pioneers, and youth organisation members would march together in unified parades, embodying the image of a harmonised socialist citizenry. [46]
In the opening episode of Deutschland 83, the viewer is transported into the midst of a birthday celebration for the mother of protagonist Martin Rauch, set in their East German home. The scene is vibrant: the garden and house teem with guests, older relatives chat outside while the younger generation dances and sings indoors. The soundtrack features 99 Luftballons by the West German band Nena, a protest song emblematic of the Cold War period. Despite the serious undertones of some conversations held at the party, such scenes underscore that life under socialism was not necessarily the grey, joyless existence often imagined by Western audiences.
Both Vyprávěj and Deutschland 83 employ familial and social gatherings to challenge dominant post-socialist narratives of deprivation and repression. These scenes portray life on the Eastern side of the Iron Curtain as marked by vibrant community solidarity and heartfelt hospitality. They remind viewers that East German and Czechoslovak citizens were also capable of celebrating life, and that their leisure activities, social rituals, and access to cultural artefacts—music, party décor, food—were not entirely dissimilar to those in the West. In doing so, the series reconstruct a world in which moments of joy and conviviality persisted despite ideological constraints, thereby contributing to the emotionally resonant texture of Ostalgie.
3.4. The Rhythm of Everyday Life
In the Czech television series Vyprávěj (Tell Me a Story), the daily routines and familial dynamics serve as the principal driving force of the narrative. Family interactions and everyday challenges are foregrounded as the central elements around which the entire storyline revolves. This is in contrast to the crime series Svět pod hlavou (World Under the Head), where recollections of the protagonist’s family and a mysterious familial past aid Filip Marvan in solving criminal cases. Nonetheless, emphasis on the characters’ personal lives and familial contexts remains significantly less pronounced.
Depictions of everyday life are conveyed not only through scenes situated within the family home but also through the professional environment, which plays an essential role in nearly every episode of Svět pod hlavou. Here, the workplace becomes a site where social norms, hierarchies, and generational tensions manifest, reflecting broader societal structures of the socialist period.
Family rituals, such as holiday celebrations or milestone events, are often infused with a blend of comedic and dramatic tones. This is particularly evident when the entire family convenes for special occasions, such as Christmas, weddings, or birthday celebrations. Christmas, conventionally regarded as a season of peace and serenity, becomes the most stressful time of year for Karel and Eva Dvořák. The tensions between them permeate the household atmosphere, affecting even their young son Honzík. The relevant episode poignantly illustrates how familial discord and social anxiety can seep down to younger generations, shaping their experiences and perceptions of festive traditions. Babi Běta (Grandmother Běta), overwhelmed by the holiday frenzy, escapes to the countryside cottage in search of solitude, while Josef finds himself facing accusations from his own brother.
The complexity of family relations, personal development, and the emotional weight of daily events unfolding amidst public holidays offers a nuanced portrayal of the protagonists’ inner lives within the framework of broader societal customs. The depiction of Josef’s conflict during the Christmas period—voiced through the exasperated remark, “[…] and on top of all this, these damn Christmas holidays!”—underscores the ironic intrusion of personal crises into a season typically associated with tranquillity and reconciliation.[47] In this way, the series subverts the idealised image of festive harmony, replacing it with a more authentic representation of the lived experience within the domestic sphere under socialism.
3.5. Political and Ideological Representation
The political agenda of the socialist regime permeated everyday language, embedding ideological influence even into seemingly mundane vocabulary. As one character in Deutschland 83 (Germany 83) remarks: “You call plastic ‘plastics’, a department store is a ‘supermarket’ […] this is an orange – if you say ‘mandarin’, no one will understand you” (Deutschland 83, “Quantum Jump”, 00:20:48). Certain terms were evidently deemed too Western by the regime’s officials, prompting a substitution of words with alternatives more aligned with socialist principles. The series’ protagonist, Martin, must learn this revised vocabulary during his training as an undercover agent in West Germany’s Bundeswehr.
The series Svět pod hlavou (World Under the Head) offers a crime-narrative setting through which it vividly portrays the intense system of surveillance and control characteristic of the socialist state. It depicts a reality where “[…] it was impossible to disappear, to avoid notice, to slip into the shadows, to be forgotten”[48]. From the opening episode, scenes are imbued with authoritarian commands issued by officers of the National Security Corps. Marvan’s colleague, Plachý, embodies not only cynicism but a brutal, overbearing disposition that mirrors the hierarchical and coercive structure of socialist institutions, particularly their enforcement and security branches.
To achieve a compelling cinematic representation of Ostalgie, series creators frequently integrate elements of “grand history” (Große Geschichte). In Vyprávěj (Tell Me a Story), authentic black-and-white historical footage is used to illustrate key political and social milestones. The first episode, Od začátku (From the Beginning), references pivotal 1960s events: the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, the rise of Leonid Brezhnev following Nikita Khrushchev, Yuri Gagarin’s historic orbit around Earth, and the global popularity of The Beatles. The influence of historical events reaches its peak in the seventh episode, 21. srpen (21st August), which is distinguished by heightened drama, more intense scenes, and extensive integration of real archival materials, including period-specific radio broadcasts.
In addition to this historical framing, a range of ideologically loyal characters populates the narrative universe, reinforcing the immersive Ostalgic atmosphere. Within state enterprises, the military, and civil institutions, loyal party cadres were omnipresent. In Vyprávěj, comrade Karpíšek continually disrupts the “workplace harmony” of Josef Dvořák and his colleagues from the first episode onward. Their initial conflict stems from Josef’s “imperialist” brother Mikuláš, who occasionally visits him at work. These interpersonal disputes evolve against a backdrop of ideological tension. “Comrade Dvořák, I’ve told you repeatedly not to let your brother visit you here. Do you even realise what kind of trouble that could cause?”—Karpíšek’s warning is rooted in Mikuláš’s emigration, a violation of socialist loyalty.[49] His interventions reflect the authoritarian control exercised by the regime over private lives. These tensions were not merely personal but ideological, demonstrating the regime’s intrusion into the moral and emotional landscape of everyday life. Josef, in turn, interprets Karpíšek’s meddling as an infringement upon his personal rights and freedoms.
Whereas Svět pod hlavou conveys political ideology through mechanisms of surveillance and state-enforced discipline, Vyprávěj engages with ideology via everyday scenarios—participation in May Day parades, ideological clashes within families, or disagreements over current political affairs. These narrative threads illustrate how political ideology permeated the most intimate spaces of citizens’ lives. For instance, disagreements over whether the Dvořák family should participate in the 1st May celebrations reveal the ways in which official ideology penetrated familial dynamics and tested personal loyalties.
3.6. Nostalgia as a Narrative Device
A recurring narrative strategy employed by directors in Ostalgie-themed productions is the visual evocation of the protagonist’s “younger self.” From the very first episode of Vyprávěj (Tell Me a Story), titled Od začátku (From the Beginning), set in 1964, the directors and screenwriters frequently incorporate brief flashbacks in which the visual frame softens and the scene is transported roughly twenty years into the past. These retrospective glimpses serve not merely as aesthetic embellishment but as an essential narrative device through which the audience is invited to navigate the cinematic timespace. The logic of this perspective is self-evident: childhood and youth represent emotionally heightened life phases, making them particularly well-suited to the nostalgic framework Ostalgie demands.
The child or adolescent point of view affords screenwriters greater narrative latitude, enabling them “to apply value-neutrality and conciliation”[50]. Children and adolescents are not expected to offer critical judgements, nor must they fully comprehend or analytically process their surroundings. Their naïveté becomes a powerful narrative tool, allowing for the portrayal of the past in a way that is emotionally rich but politically and ideologically unburdened.
A particularly telling example of this narrative mechanism is found in episode five of Vyprávěj. Roughly twelve-year-old Zuzka, the narrator’s younger sister, is given a school assignment to paint “the greatest person in the world,” whom, according to her teachers, is none other than Comrade Lenin. She turns to a newspaper image for reference, which features an artificially enlarged depiction of Lenin standing beside a “standard-sized” person. Zuzka innocently asks, “Why does he have such a big head?” to which her grandmother Běta replies, “Because he thought of many great things.” “And why does he have such big hands?” Zuzka continues, to which Běta answers, “Because he accomplished a lot.”[51] The child accepts these explanations without question, leaving it to the viewer to assess the implications of the dialogue and the broader ideological framing it reflects.
In this way, the child’s limited understanding becomes a subtle narrative vehicle for reducing the complexities and contradictions of the socialist system. It permits a form of storytelling that foregrounds personal memory while deferring political critique to the interpretative agency of the viewer. Thus, Ostalgie emerges not solely as a retrospective gaze, but as a carefully orchestrated narrative stance that mediates the past through innocence and sentiment.
3.7. Collective Spatial Nostalgia
In both Vyprávěj (Tell Me a Story) and Svět pod hlavou (World Under One’s Head), the viewer is exposed not only to Czech but also to Slovak from the very first minutes, as the directors deliberately embed within the script the notion that the narrative is not merely a return to the history of the Czech Republic, but to that of the former Czechoslovakia. One of the central characters in Vyprávěj, Eva, is portrayed by the Slovak actress Andrea Růžičková, who alternates between the two languages throughout the series. Slovak is employed especially in emotionally charged scenes—during moments of grief, disappointment, and marital disputes, as well as in conversations with her family in Slovakia, or when she first arrives in Prague as a young student at the beginning of the series.
For contemporary audiences, Czechoslovakia symbolises a politically defunct space to which one may relate only retrospectively—a space whose continuity can now be sustained primarily through recollection of historical events. Slovak is also heard in television broadcasts, and both languages naturally intermingle within workplace interactions, social gatherings, and even domestic life—reflecting a linguistic and cultural coexistence that was once standard.
A somewhat different, though equally essential form of spatial nostalgia appears in the memories of Filip Marvan, the protagonist of Svět pod hlavou. The series makes use of retrospective flashbacks, in which Marvan is transported to his childhood years spent growing up with his brother in a panelák housing estate. These prefabricated buildings were part of a mass housing solution implemented during the socialist regime to address severe shortages. Marvan frequently revisits the playground that once stood outside his residence, returning to it both in memory and physically, as he is mysteriously transported back to the 1980s.
The depiction of housing estates and nostalgic revisiting of public spaces such as playgrounds carries profound Ostalgie symbolism. These sites, emblematic of socialist urban planning and architecture, evoke collective memories of community living. Returning to these places in memory may symbolise a longing for the sense of communal spirit and belonging that, despite the shortcomings of the era, continues to resonate with former residents.
In the German series Ku’damm, East Berlin is portrayed as a space of refuge for protagonists from the Federal Republic of Germany. When Monika Schöllack chooses to flee from her controlling mother, she seeks shelter with her father in the East. Upon arrival, she is greeted with the words: “How many more will come? And they say people only flee to the West…”[52] The relative ease with which characters traverse the East–West Berlin divide in the series departs significantly from historical reality. However, it serves to evoke a sense of relaxed border control, alluding to a time when movement between East and West was less restricted.
Historical accuracy in Ku’damm is often deliberately set aside in favour of narrative engagement. Artistic productions frequently employ creative license when depicting historical periods to enhance dramatic effect or to better align with contemporary audiences’ expectations. A conversation between two protagonists—one from the East, the other from the West—illustrates this narrative ambiguity: “What are you doing here? […] Who were you visiting?” “I was just nearby, visiting some relatives […], you know, my father lives here.” This exchange highlights both the suspicion typically associated with border crossings and the seemingly casual, even incidental nature of the encounter. [53] Such ambivalence is deployed to serve the series‘ dramatic and storytelling aims, foregrounding narrative resonance over documentary realism.
4. Final Reflection and Comparison
Each of the television series selected and subsequently analysed in this study proves essential to understanding the phenomenon of Ostalgie. Vyprávěj (Tell Me a Story) presents a decidedly positive narrative that reminisces about the socialist era exclusively in favourable terms. The former regime serves as a historical backdrop, framing the joyful and tragic moments of the Dvořák family’s multigenerational life. Ostalgie in Vyprávěj is conveyed primarily through a detailed portrayal of everyday life, the intimate dynamics of family life placed within the broader arc of historical events, and a narrative structure enhanced by retrospective flashbacks. The ease with which the regime is depicted makes Vyprávěj a quintessential Ostalgie series. Considerable emphasis is placed on objects that often become protagonists in their own right, reinforcing Arjun Appadurai’s assertion that material objects do not merely play a passive role in human lives but actively participate in social relations, cultural practices, and systems of meaning, contingent upon the specific socio-cultural context.
Household appliances such as the washing machine—a scarce commodity in the 1960s—around which the protagonist Karel Dvořák waits in a queue for an entire episode, and mass media objects like the television, for which Mrs. Dvořáková travels from Pardubice to Kolín in unpleasant company, become narrative anchors. The jeans brought to young Zuzka by her uncle Mikuláš from abroad exemplify Jan Assmann’s concept of the „memory of things“—how individuals embed memories, feelings, and associations into objects, which can later resurface vividly even after many years.[54]
In contrast, the second Czech series Svět pod hlavou (World Under One’s Head) explores the socialist regime primarily through the psychology of its central and peripheral characters[55]. This crime drama, set in a fictional town in northern Bohemia, offers a view of the regime through the lens of an authoritative and strict officer of the State Security. Though not without a sense of humour, the character is predominantly portrayed with negative traits. The detective narrative is intertwined with protagonist Filip Marvan’s family history, and while the show focuses predominantly on professional settings, viewers are given occasional glimpses into the domestic sphere of his childhood. These scenes resonate with Maurice Halbwachs’ claim that the objects surrounding us form a „motionless society“.
Marvan is inexplicably transported into the past through a temporal loop. His memories frequently return him to his childhood home, a place which offers him familiarity and orientation amid initial confusion. Through objects he once took for granted—playground climbing frames on a housing estate, vehicles of the Public Security, or items from the family fridge such as the Pribináček cream dessert and Májka pâté—Marvan reconnects with a specific social group that previously defined his identity. Within these everyday items, he rediscovers his former self and finds solace in the past amidst the chaos of the present.
In the German series Ku’damm, the socialist regime is only marginally present, to the point that it appears to have no influence whatsoever on the characters’ lives. The plot unfolds on the western side of Berlin, where the Eastern part is viewed with suspicion. “Are you from East Berlin?”—“Yes.”—“Exactly. [56] Once the border is closed, this will be solved for good”. The narrative takes place during a more relaxed phase of the Cold War, and characters frequently and easily cross the East–West divide. Here, the East is depicted as a place of refuge for individuals wronged by the past or disenchanted with the West. The storyline focuses on personal relationships and individual histories, highlighting that love, friendship, and emotional intensity were no less present in the East than in the West. As the series suggests, the inability to travel, worship, speak freely, or purchase quality goods did not necessarily equate to an absence of happiness. [57]
A similar theme appears in Deutschland 83, set in the 1980s. The protagonist Martin is abruptly taken from his life in East Germany and sent as a spy into the West German military. As he undergoes intensive training to pass as a Westerner, the viewer becomes acutely aware of the ideological and lifestyle differences across the Iron Curtain. The political and ideological dimensions of socialism permeate daily and family life. The show illustrates how the regime sought to shape cultural identity through language, replacing Western-sounding terms with ideologically acceptable alternatives—such as “shopping centre” instead of “supermarket”. Martin must not only adopt a new identity, but also internalise a new vocabulary, symbolising the ideological transformation imposed on the individual.
Language plays a central role in the Czech series as well, where Czech and Slovak frequently co-occur—in television broadcasts, in workplaces, during social gatherings, and even within households—reflecting the everyday bilingualism of former Czechoslovakia. For contemporary viewers, this now-defunct state represents a political space that can be reappropriated only retrospectively through nostalgic remembrance.
Ostalgie as represented in television series should not be mistaken for accurate historiography. Nostalgic remembrance is inherently subjective, shaped by memory’s malleability. [58] Memory „does as it pleases“, subject to the erosion of time and the fact that the past is always perceived from a specific „assigned standpoint“.[59] The intergenerational transmission of memory is essential to the culture of remembrance and collective identity. Given the multiplicity of perspectives—whether from directors, screenwriters, or family members recounting personal stories—unintentional distortions inevitably occur, and may diverge significantly from historical reality. Over time, the narrator’s version may evolve into a substitute for the actual event, blurring the boundary between memory and fact.
Media representations of socialism differ markedly between Germany and the Czech Republic, both in approach and societal impact. In Germany, popular films and series about the GDR—such as Sonnenallee (1999), Go Trabi Go (1991), the critically acclaimed Goodbye Lenin! (2003), and DDR-Show—have become central to popular culture. These works blend humour with ideological commentary and have elicited varied reactions from both East and West Germans. In the Czech context, socialist nostalgia initially met with resistance. The re-airing of shows like Thirty Cases of Major Zeman was mired in controversy, whereas films like Pelíšky (Cosy Dens, 1999) and Pupendo (2003), directed by Jan Hřebejk, approached the topic with humour while acknowledging its darker facets.
German Ostalgie often stems from a sense of lost identity and yearning for the stability and communal spirit of the former GDR, in contrast with the individualistic ethos of the Federal Republic. In the Czech Republic, Ostalgie tends to be less political and more cultural or commercial in nature. It is closely tied to retro trends appealing even to younger generations with no lived experience of socialism. In sum, German Ostalgie is rooted in the historical reality of a divided nation, whereas its Czech counterpart is more culturally nostalgic and retro-oriented. Furthermore, in the Czech context, it is not as deeply interwoven with questions of national identity as it is in Germany.
Appendices
FIG. 1: PICKLING CUCUMBERS – A WHOLESOME FAMILY ACTIVITY
Vyprávěj – My Big Day, S01E15, 00:30:08, source: Czech Television Broadcasting
FIG. 2: QUEUING OUTSIDE A HOUSEWARES SHOP
Vyprávěj – Graduation, S01E10, 00:25:00, source: Czech Television Broadcasting
FIG. 3: “REAL JEANS – UNCLE, YOU’RE AMAZING!”
Vyprávěj – Mikuláš Comes in the Summer, S01E06, 00:22:12, source: Czech Television Broadcasting
FIG. 4: A CHANGE OF WARDROBE AS A TOOL FOR SHAPING A NEW IDENTITY
Deutschland 83 – Quantum Jump, S01E01, 00:16:22, source: Amazon Prime Video
FIG. 5: THE UNIFORM GREY – WHERE HAS IT GONE?
Vyprávěj – Mikuláš Comes in the Summer, S01E05, 00:37:45, source: Czech Television Broadcasting
FIG. 6: A SODA SIPHON AND THE CHARACTER OF A 1960s KITCHEN
Vyprávěj – Christmas, S01E16 00:14:03, source: Czech Television Broadcasting
FIG. 7: A KITCHEN EQUIPPED WITH STANDARD DOMESTIC APPLIANCES OF LOCAL PRODUCTION, 1970s–1980s
National Museum in Prague, exhibition “20th Century History”, photo by K. Kočárková
FIG. 8: A DOMESTIC IDYLL IN THE LIVING ROOM
Vyprávěj – Easter, S01E14 00:13:41, source: Czech Television Broadcasting
FIG. 9: THE ICONIC DITMAR URBACH ASHTRAY WITH A POLAR BEAR CAVE
Vyprávěj – Easter, S01E14 00:38:09, source: Czech Television Broadcasting
FIG. 10: GLASS BLOCKS – A MANDATORY FEATURE IN EVERY BUILDING
Vyprávěj – Bonbonnière, S01E18 00:05:39, source: Czech Television Broadcasting
FIG. 11: EVENINGS WITH THE NEW TESLA 4211U “LOTOS” TELEVISION SET FROM 1961–1964
Vyprávěj – Is He the One?, S01E02 00:39:11, source: Czech Television Broadcasting
FIG. 12: A TESLA RADIO RECEIVER IN THE DVOŘÁK FAMILY FLAT
Vyprávěj – Great Expectations, S01E02 00:47:28, source: Czech Television Broadcasting
FIG. 13: COTTAGE LIFE – A UNIQUELY CZECH PHENOMENON
Vyprávěj – Mikuláš Comes in the Summer, S01E05 00:04:59, source: Czech Television Broadcasting
FIG. 14: SO-CALLED SURVEILLANCE DUTY OF THE SNB COMRADES (WATCHING THE TV SERIES THE 30 CASES OF MAJOR ZEMAN)
Svět pod hlavou – Delinquent Youth, S01E05 00:10:53, source: Netflix
FIG. 15: FOR PEACE AND SOCIALISM!
Vyprávěj – My Big Day, S01E15 00:50:15, source: Czech Television Broadcasting
FIG. 16: THE RED CARNATION – A SYMBOL OF SOCIALISM
Svět pod hlavou – The Dead Ones, S01E03 00:09:44, source: Netflix
FIG. 17: NIGHT PATROL OF THE PUBLIC SECURITY SERVICE
Svět pod hlavou – Delinquent Youth, S01E05 00:27:30, source: Netflix
FIG. 18: TESLA 426A “TENOR” – A BROADCASTER OF NEWS DURING THE AUGUST INVASION
Vyprávěj – 21st August, S01E07 00:23:05, source: Czech Television Broadcasting
FIG. 19: “IT STARTS WITH LONG HAIR, ENDS WITH A HIJACKED PLANE”
Svět pod hlavou – Delinquent Youth, S01E05 00:10:59, source: Netflix
FIG. 20: A COMPACT BATHROOM FROM THE 1970s–1980s
National Museum in Prague, exhibition “20th Century History”, photo by K. Kočárková
[1] APPADURAI,Arjun: The social life things: commodities in cultural perspective. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. 1988.
[2] ASSMANN, JAN: Kultura a paměť: písmo, vzpomínka a politická identita v rozvinutých kulturách starověku. Praha, Prostor, 2001.
[3] ASSMANN, Aleida: Der lange Schatten der Vergangenheit: Erinnerungskultur und Geschichtspolitik. München, C.H.Beck, 2006.
[4] ŠUBRT, Jiří – Štěpánka, PFEIFEROVÁ: Kolektivní paměť jako předmět historicko-sociologického bádání. Historická sociologie [online] [2023-08-28]. https://doi.org/10.14712/23363525.2017.62.
[5] GJURIČOVÁ, Adéla – Michal KOPEČEK: Kapitoly z dějin české demokracie po roce 1989. Praha; Litomyšl, Paseka 2008, p. 9.
[6] ASSMANN, Jan: Kultura a paměť: písmo, vzpomínka a politická identita v rozvinutých kulturách starověku. Praha, Prostor, 2001, p. 16-17.
[7] GERHARD JENS, Lüdecker: Kollektive Erinnerung und nationale Identität: Nationalsozialismus, DDR und Wiedervereinigung im deutschen Spielfilm nach 1989. München, Ed. Text + Kritik, 2012, p. 77.
[8] ZIEGENGEIST, Juliane: DDR-(N)Ostalgie in deutschen Nachwende-Spielfilmen von 1990 bis 2006. Zwischen Kritik und Kult. Jahrbuch Für Kommunikationsgeschichte [online] [2025-1-14]. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23346911.
[9] ASSMANN, Jan: Kultura a paměť: písmo, vzpomínka a politická identita v rozvinutých kulturách starověku, p. 23.
[10] Ibidem, p. 23.
[11] APPADURAI, Arjun: The social life of things : commodities in cultural perspective. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1988, p. 10-15.
[12] HALBWACHS, Maurice: Kolektivní paměť. Praha, Sociologické nakladatelství, 2009, p. 185-187.
[13] HOLZER, Michaela: Die deutsch-deutsche Problematik im Spielfilm: eine Analyse der Komik der Filme Sonnenallee und Good-bye, Lenin. Saarbrücken, VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2011, p. 74-77.
[14] BERDAHL, Daphne. ‚(N)Ostalgie‘ for the present: Memory, longing, and East German things. [online] [2023-09-18] https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.1999.9981598.
[15] BRUNK, Katja H. – HARTMAN, Benjamin – GIESLER, Markus. Creating a Consumable Past: How Memory Making Shapes Marketization. [online] [2023-06-22] https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucx100.
[16] WELZER, Harald – MOLLEROVÁ, Sabine – TSCHUGGNALLOVÁ, Karoline: „Můj děda nebyl nácek“: nacismus a holocaust v rodinné paměti. Praha, Argo, 2010, p. 17-18.
[17] Ibidem., p. 17-18.
[18] MAYER, Françoise: Češi a jejich komunismus: paměť a politická identita. Praha, Argo, 2009, p. 33.
[19] WELZER, Harald – MOLLEROVÁ, Sabine – TSCHUGGNALLOVÁ, Karoline: „Můj děda nebyl nácek“: nacismus a holocaust v rodinné paměti, p. 17-18.
[20] KUNŠTÁT, Daniel a Ladislav MRKLAS: Historická reflexe minulosti, aneb, „Ostalgie“ v Německu a Česku. Praha, CEVRO Institut, 2009, p. 5.
[21] WELZER, Harald – MOLLEROVÁ, Sabine – TSCHUGGNALLOVÁ, Karoline: „Můj děda nebyl nácek“: nacismus a holocaust v rodinné paměti, p. 19.
[22] KUNŠTÁT, Daniel a Ladislav MRKLAS: Historická reflexe minulosti, aneb, „Ostalgie“ v Německu a Česku, p. 5.
[23] HALBWACHS, Maurice: Kolektivní paměť, p. 200.
[24] ENNS, Anthony: The politics of Ostalgie: post-socialist nostalgia in recent German film. In: Screen, iss. 1 (vol. 2007), p. 477.
[25] GJURIČOVÁ, Adéla – Michal KOPEČEK: Kapitoly z dějin české demokracie po roce 1989, p. 7.
[26] HALBWACHS, Kolektivní paměť, p. 188.
[27] MAYER, Češi a jejich komunismus, p. 33-36.
[28] GJURIČOVÁ, Adéla – Michal KOPEČEK: Kapitoly z dějin české demokracie po roce 1989, p. 190-194.
[29] VÁGNEROVÁ, Vendula: Interpretace života v socialistickém Československu v porovnání s fenoménem Ostalgie ve sjednoceném Německu. [online] [2012-11-18]. https://postfsv.wordpress.com/2012/11/18/interpretace-zivota-v-socialistickem-ceskoslovensku-v-porovnani-s-fenomenem-ostalgie-ve-sjednocenem-nemecku.
[30] GJURIČOVÁ, Adéla – Michal KOPEČEK: Kapitoly z dějin české demokracie po roce 1989, p. 194-203.
[31] VÁGNEROVÁ, Vendula: Interpretace života v socialistickém Československu v porovnání s fenoménem Ostalgie ve sjednoceném Německu. [online] [2012-11-18]. https://postfsv.wordpress.com/2012/11/18/interpretace-zivota-v-socialistickem-ceskoslovensku-v-porovnani-s-fenomenem-ostalgie-ve-sjednocenem-nemecku.
[32] FIGUREOA, The Grounded Theory and the Analysis of Audio-Visual Texts. [online] [2008-01-22] https://doi.org/10.1080/13645570701605897.
[33] Ku’damm 56, It’s Alright, 00:27:20
[34] Deutschland 83, Quantum Jump, 00:07:23.
[35] Deutschland 83, Quantum Jump, 00:16:22.
[36] Vyprávěj, Mikuláš chodí v létě, 00:22:12.
[37] Vyprávěj, Promoce, 00:19:57 – 00:21:10.
[38] ŠEBO, Juraj: O socialismu s láskou. Bratislava, Noxi, 2011, p. 204.
[39] Vyprávěj, Promoce, 00:19:57 – 00:21:13.
[40] Vyprávěj, Velikonoce, 00:38:09.
[41] Vyprávěj, Promoce, 00:19:57 – 00:21:18.
[42] Vyprávěj, Je to ten pravý?, 00:09:18 – 00:09:44.
[43] Vyprávěj, Velká očekávání, 00:47:28.
[44] Vyprávěj, 1. Máj, 00:48:29.
[45] ŠEBO: O socialismu s láskou, p. 157.
[46] Ibid., p. 157.
[47] Vyprávěj, Vánoce, 00:25:43.
[48] KABÁT, Jindřich. Psychologie komunismu. Praha, Práh, 2011, p. 185.
[49] Vyprávěj, Mikuláš chodí v létě, 00:49:12.
[50] ČINÁTLOVÁ, Blanka: Zátiší se sifonovou lahví. Fotogenie ostalgického vzpomínání. In: Cinepur, iss. 78 (vol. 2011), p. 58.
[51] Vyprávěj, Je to ten pravý?, 00:16:56 – 00:17:30.
[52] Ku’damm 56, It’s Alright, 00:30:49
[53] Ku’damm 56, Schatten der Vergangenheit?, 00:57:44 – 00:58:55.
[54] KRISEOVÁ: Kočičí životy, Praha, Práh, 2023, p. 326.
[55] ERNAUX, Annie. Roky. Brno, Host, 2022.
[56] Ku’damm 59, Der Skandal, 00:35:55.
[57] ŠEBO, Juraj: O socialismu s láskou, p. 306.
[58] VODŇANSKÁ, Jitka: Voda, která hoří. Praha, Torst, 2018, p. 11.
[59] TORČÍK, Marek: Rozložíš paměť. Praha, Paseka, 2023, p. 17-18.
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