East German products still available
Vložit
- čas přidán 17. 12. 2022
- I went shopping in a German supermarket and found all these products, that used to be very popular in East Germany. All these brands have somehow survived the German re-unification ) or have come back after being a way for some years.
This video tells the stories of these products.
- Fit detergent
- Florena cream
- Rotkäppchen sparkling wine
- Nudossi chocolate spread
- Halloren Kugeln
- Russisch Brot
- Dresdner Stollen
- Spreewald gherkins
- Bautz'ner mustard
- Böhme chocolate
Sources
Websites:
www.fit.de/fit-gmbh/unternehm...
www.florena.de/uber-florena/m...
www.rotkaeppchen.de/geschichte/
www.dr-quendt.de/unternehmen/...
www.emil-reimann.de/de/emil-r...
spreewaldhof.de/unsere-geschi...
www.delitzscher.de/de/unterne...
Book:
Der Treuhand Komplex - Norbert Pötzl
Picture of the Brandenburg Gate:
By Lear 21 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Thanks, YT algorithm. Found a new hidden gem
So hidden that it's on the algorithm.
Same
Same!
not interesting at all actually, boring content
He's a Nazi be careful
A strange sensation to watch a video about East German Products, narrated in English with a Dutch accent.
"gurkens" :D
I live in the west of Germany and my proudly East German coworker/boss once brought some dish detergent because we ran out of it at the office. Of course it was Fit and came with a serving of East German brand history, presented by him.
zieht die Mauer wieder hoch
Sorry if I'm reading this wrong, but surely you didn't work with an easy German whilst living in west Germany. Could you give more context to this I am very interested to hear
@@josephm3966 my boss is from East Germany. Although he would prefer to live in the east (the people are much more direct and honest there), he settled here because he and his wife found work here and stuff. After the GDR ended, many East Germans moved west, actually (for better economic opportunities), so there are many people from the former GDR living here.
ETA: since the 9th November 1989, people in East Germany have been free to travel. The GDR officially ended on 3rd October 1990. Moving from East to West Germany is about as complicated as moving from Memphis to Nashville. We're a unified country. The reason why I'm making the east-west distinction is that although it's one and the same country, differences do persist - the economy is still less developed in the former GDR, older East Germans (40+) have a far different mentality as they were raised in communist propaganda, and there are the usual cultural differences between regions in Germany such as different traditional foods, different traditional clothing, different traditional festivals, different dialect and a different type of person.
Haha. My first knowledge of Spreewald Gherkins came from "Goodbye Lenin" (2003) film
Same here!
Beautiful film
Shocked you didn't mention Vita-Cola! Vita-Cola returned when Thüringer Waldquell secured the rights to the name and formula and began producing it in 1994. They even sponsored a football club in the early 2000s in Rostock! But that aside, gotta love how the EU is so serious about protecting regional foods. It's like how San Marzano tomatoes are special because of the volcanic soil used to grow them in that region. Dresdner Stollen is special symbolically as it was sent to West Germany by GDR citizens as a way of thanking them for sending care packets. The history of Stollen is quite interesting. Dresden Stollen was first documented in 1474. During Advent, bakers were not allowed to use butter, only oil, and the cake was tasteless and hard.
They had to persuade to several popes as oil was expensive in Saxony and was hard to come by. Pope Nicholas V said no, and it didn't take until 1490 for Pope Innocent VIII to grant the use of butter. When Saxony became Protestant, this restriction on butter was removed, and overtime, richer ingredients like marzipan was added.
There are many products that originated in the DDR and are still on the market. There had to be a selection, else the video would be eight hours long :)
Vita-Cola is actually pretty dope. Would recommend!
Yeah it is really good, especially cooled.
Dresdner (Christ)Stollen was always a popular Christmas treat with a very good reputation even in the West before reunification. It was often sent by families living in the GDR to family members living in the West for Christmas.
Not having any family in Germany, nobody has ever sent me any, but I always order some myself for everyone here. It's simply delicious.
Auch Russisch Brot gab es in Westdeutschland, etwa von Bahlsen.
@@ursinodepeluche Das stimmt.
My grandfather in Dresden always baked it himself, otherwise grandma always baked everything else, but the Stollen was grandpa's responsibility. After the war, he had to give up studying because the school had been bombed out and he then learned to be a baker, which was quite helpful to survive.
@@Manaklyps Dresden was left in ruins after the war, that was really uncalled for. But I am glad your grandfather learned to be a baker, you must have enjoyed your Christmas dinner at your grandparents ! Did you learn to make it yourself from him ? Not necessarily to become a baker, but German Stollen and breads are a treat!
We still use Fit because its cheap and good. Nudossi is expensive but is high quality and has a superior taste compared to Nutella. And Rotkäppchen because its just good.
I forgot Russisch Brot when i was a kid i allways eaten it in school there was aswell Putzi Toothpaste and Leckermäulchen Yogurt.
@@mr.atomic2970Russisch Brot auf Schulausflügen/Klassenfahrt...
Habe schon lange keine Nutella mehr gekauft, aber Nudossi könnte was sein mit dem höheren Haselnussgehalt.
@@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis4346 ja das ist es auch bei Nudossi und russisch brot war immer im schulvesper dabei.
Yes! I know Spreewald Gurken from the movie Goodbye Lenin! 😁 Greetings from Czechia!
Spreewaldgurken haben Lieferschwierigkeiten.
One of my all-time favorite movies.
For those who don't know: The Red Tower is the oldest structure in Chemnitz. Whether it's called that because of the red porphyry tuff or the long use as a dungeon remains a mystery. It is mentioned as early as 1466! It is believed it is the remains of a 12th-century keep that oversaw early market trading on the Aue (floodplain) in Chemnitz, and the residence of the town magistrate, who was appointed by the emperor. Its use as a prison is only documented from the 16th century onwards. In 1570, it had 13 cells for 19 prisoners. It was still being used as a prison in 1840, when the city walls had already been dismantled. It burned down during WWII in 1945 but was completely renovated after 1990.
Another GDR product is Club Cola. The government announced a project to create the drink at the 1966 Leipzig Spring Fair, and was first bottled in East Berlin in April 1967. Club Cola is still available in Germany today, however it is not made according to the same recipe as the drink that used to be sold in the GDR, since the original formula was lost in 1990 when the former brand owners were going bankrupt.
Thank you Dear Leader.
I recognised that pickles inmediatly from the film Goodbye Lenin, really good movie.
Gut gemacht CZcams. Dass Sie mir diesen Channel vorgeschlagen haben😊
I have a still unopened bottle of East German beer that I bought in England in the summer of 1990.
As a French, I much prefer Nudossi to Nutella, and so have more than once ordered some from Germany. Everyone who tasted it here as a result, also prefers it to Nutella. Whether or not it would be worth it for Nudossi to spend a fortune on marketing is another matter, but they could easily find buyers here, if people could taste it.
Need a Nudossi dealer ?
@@parkerbull3316 I know of two places I can get it from in Germany, but heavy postage, are you a dealer ? It could interest me.
Nudossi puts the money into hazelnuts, while Nutella puts the money into ads
@@thomasb4422 That's true.
@@parkerbull3316I am in NL, is this something you are willing to deal?
Another East German brand that is still around is Piko, who make model trains. Their product is much larger now than it was in the DDR-era, with trains being produced in N, TT, HO and G scales. They've even bought tooling from a defunct American company. What's confusing though, is there is a British company that makes track called PECO and they're pronounced the same way.
oh hey! we here, just outside berlin in brandenburg, still see fit a lot - never knew it was a brand from the GDR 😂
A surviving East German Brand is Multicar producer of small trucks.
Another surviving East German product is Orwo photographic film, they are planning to release new products for stills and motion picture.
Orwo Colour films were sub-standard, not quite the quality of Kojak or Fuji ;-) However' GDR did have high quality optic products e.g. binoculars, telescopes and cameras.
Pentacon sold its cameras to the non-socialist foreign countries. Some of them under their own Praktica brand, but also under the retailers' brands.
@@johnsbox That's another one: the East German Zeiss is still around. After reunification they sold a bunch of product lines to the West German Carl Zeiss and renamed the rest of the company to Jenoptik which expanded into more industrial high-tech optics.
When I lived in Rostock, I bought Nudossi thinking it was a supermarket brand till someone told me the story
By the way, more hazelnut.
You summoned a Rostocker?
Thanks for a great channel! When talking GDR brands, although not consumer goods, you should also make a video about Ampelmann.
I bought a watch from Germany. It came with a bag of Russich Brot and I’ve been hooked ever since.
“Russisch Brot” was also a Common Cookie in West Germany. I ate those in my childhood in West Germany. it was a “Bahlsen” Produkt.
It literally means „Russian bread“ i used to eat it too, im thinking of buying some from netto.:)
rottkapchen is very important here in berlin
Chocolate we ate as kids in Yugoslavia. We called citrona wit c instead z. All those products were good products the problem was limited availability
Nudossi! 👍 Great Show!
Zetti Knusper Flocken is another good product from East Germany that you can get the West. I have also seen Filinchen but only in East German supermarkets.
Natemays
I was very surprised when I saw "Burger Knaecke" in South Africa's Pick 'n Pay Supermarket. 😮😂
Greetings
I've been interested in life in the GDR for some time but it is really difficult to find good material en English about it. Thanks so much and keep up the good work. Greetings from Spain.
Yay! Found another interesting hidden channel
Very interesting. I'm on the hunt for Nudossi, next time I'm in Germany....love Hazelnuts.
I really enjoy Halloren, having developed a taste for it on my many trips to Germany - it's very different to English chocolate, and I can occasionally find it in the Lidl and Aldi supermarkets here
Halloren occupies a specific place. Not really "just chocolate" but also not really expensive chocolate truffles. They are pretty affordable yet still can be seen as a little special treat.
Never heard of Aldi but we have Lidl in Sweden. I’ll be sure to keep a lookout for Halloren.
70/100g sugar too much for me
My daughter and her bf brought me several packages of them in February 😊 delicious!
How could you exclude Vita Cola?
Mitten in den Neunzigen Jahren war ich während meiner Universitätsstudien (Erdkunde mit Deutsch) bei der Uni Derby zweimal in Deutschland berufstätig - einmal bei einer Ausgrabung in Osnabrück und dann bei einem Busbetrieb in Aachen und ich errinere mich gut an den „Ostmarken“ im Supermarktregal und habe oft diejenige gekauft. Noch heutzutage habe ich ein noch laufendes RG 25 Mixgerät, womit ich oft Kaffee mahle!
Lovely video, but personally I missed the "Pfeffi" aka peppermint-liqueur like the ones produced by Berliner Luft or Nordbrand Nordhausen. Although both are available in western Germany as well, it's much more common in the east.
It is THE drink for any occasion in Berlin
As a West German I buy fit because the bottle just fits so conveniently in the cabinet. The West German brands all have bottles that demand more cabinet space than necessary. Do their manufacturers think that detergents are some type of lifestyle products?
Yes
Another former East German brand is Rügener Badejunge cheese, although it is no longer produced in Rügen, but in Thuringia.
When I was a little boy and not going to school yet, my parents were at Regen and I was looking like the "Bathing" boy, when I was exploring the Baltic sea.
Florena also has a very good shaving cream which is made to be used with a shaving brush.
Florena is 10 years younger than Nivea and meanwhile it's part of the same company. Ok you said it in the video.
The Konsum market chain is alive and well in Leipzig, as well as Club Cola, which is a good drink.
Absolutely fascinating, thank you
In August of 2022, my wife and I had a meal in Berlin at a nice restaurant adjoining a huge open-air atrium. Being in Berlin for the first time and nearing the end of our stay, I decided to have sausage.
My plate was provided with some little squeeze packets of Bautz’ner mustard which kinda surprised me. I thought our restaurant was a little too upscale for condiment packets.
I loved the mustard, though, and I pocketed the extra packets when we left the restaurant. It looks like a regular yellow American “ballpark” mustard but it’s not vinegary. It’s really good.
When I got back to the US, I was able to order some via Amazon. I’m running out now but shipping is too expensive for me to buy it again.
Until I figure out something, I’m rationing my squeeze bottle.
In german super markets you can buy buckets of 1000mL of "Bautzner Senf". And it's very affordable.
@@ikemkrueger I don't buy mustard that often but the small bucket of Bautzner Senf was €0.29 in 2018 and I think it's currently at roughly €0.50. I prefer "Löwensenf" nowadays but Bautzner mustard has that specific kind of taste that makes it a classic. Kind of like CocaCola. There are a bunch of objectively better Colas out there but sometimes you just need that ice cold CocaCola straight out of the glass bottle.
Hello, what about making a combined order for many more goods to an actual German shop online or brick and mortar shop) ? I'm French, and our postal company makes it nearly as expensive for me in France to order from neighbouring countries as to order from much further away. And so I make a big to huge order of lots of different kind of products from Germany once or twice a year. If not all, many of these specialties, but also other food, being much cheaper in Germany than in France, when the order is big enough, the heavy postage bill disappears in the difference. And if friends or family members join in, then all the better, you can sample quite a few things and pick what you'll order more of. Many sites in Germany also offer a bulk rate price on items, handy with goods having to be eaten with a short time once opened if you are a small family
German mustards generally shit all over the mustards of anglo nations. I wish I could some here in Australia. I have also lived in the US and UK and have always missed the vastly superior German food.
Did you check World Market? (formerly Cost Plus World Market) They have a lot of European grocery items.
Mokka fix gold is produced in Poland by woseba and wildly available, also mentioned in good bye Lenin
I really enjoy your channel! Thanks!
Rotkäppchen is iconic and pretty hip as well
As a bulgarian, who lives in a neighbourhood, which had a school formerly named Wilhelm Pieck, Ive always been keenly interested in Eastern Germany. Great channel!
You should do a video about Intershops!. Excellent channel, btw 😊
Werder Ketchup, Bautzner mustard and pickles from the Spreewald, and forget the rest
mam ciągle w użyciu młynek do kawy z DDR - AKA Mona / I still use a coffee grinder from DDR - AKA Mona
I enjoy the German products sold at the local Aldi here in the United States. The German Christmas products were mostly sold out well before Christmas. It would be intersting to find a former DDR product in Aldi here.
I was born and raised in West Germany and I love Nudossi! MUCH better than Nutella. I also love "Spreegurken".
My local supermarket here in the States carries Radeburger Pilsner.
Thank so much for the awesome videos and content that you present!
This is such helping me not only to improve my english knowledge, but also about GDR and history!
Greetings from Brazil!🇧🇷🇩🇪
Love that he kept his word, gonna order some Nudossi
This was simply incredibly interesting!🎉
Vielen Dank for your in depth research and great video!! I live the pickles!! :)
Gefeliciteerd met uw onderzoek mijnheer 👍
Dr. Quendt offers also the Karlsbad host wafers, thin and filled with hazelnut.
Some things are missing: Vita Cola, Bautzner Kekse and Zeiss cameras come to mind.
Just now find your channel. Thank you for providing interesting material. 👍 Keep it on! 🖖
Want to try this Nudossi. Really enjoying the channel and learning about GDR
I find it sad that Eastern European products like these aren't available here in the Netherlands, I genuinely would like to taste some of these. Especially the hazelnuts.
Go over the border, you can buy a lot of these in west Germany
Go to any Polish supermarket in the Netherlands, they have it all.
@@heindijs yes especially nudossi, is avaiable in nearly all edekas in münsterland, even right near to the dutch border.
Very interesting. Great video, as always. Thanks for starting this channel and sharing all this.
In Poland, you can buy Mocca Fix Gold. I associate it with East Germany thanks to Goodbye Lenin
love your channel. I'm 52 so I remember the DDR though I never visited it. D.A., J.D. NYC
Dr. Quendt makes the best stollen, in my opinion.
I'm from the very west of Germany, worked in food retail for years. Some of these brands are staples that we sold all the time, for example was Rotkäppchen Sekt one of the four sparkling wone brands we had in a rotation of weekly discounts (the others being Mumm, Freixenet and... idk Metternich maybe)
Bring back the Trabant.😊
I love east germany ❤
Bohme chocolat also exported far east into Russia, you can buy it today in many Moscow supermarkets. Middle price category.
Thank you🎉
In my part of Germany there is a brand called 9 Springe. They sell a cola that has the same formula as Vita Cola and funnily they also use similar colors. You can still buy their products. I also love VIBA nougat and Mühlhäuser Pflaumenmus (plum jam). Ah, so much cool stuff that's still or once more available. Btw. Dr. Quendt has also really tasty Oblaten (wafers) that remind me of the ones my aunt gets, when she visits relatives in the Czech Republic. Thanks for bringing back good memories :)
Even after 30 years, east and west Germany haven’t fully integrated. Interesting and sad at the same time
Sad part is the BRD just chose economic subjugation instead when deindustrializing the former DDR
Even east germans on average get paid 20.000 € less than the 50.000€ average outside the DDR area
what do you mean by "integrated"? I don't know if this is true. Having regional products is nothing bad ... and would apply for products from Bavaria as well.
The main difference is that for the people in the East everything changed and turned by 180 degrees ... while for people in the West little changed and this is often paired with lack of interest for the other part.
Nice video! But shouldn't Köstritzer be there as well (even if today it's part of Bitburger)?
Ein süßer Haselnussaufstrich aus 36% Haselnüssen klingt gut.
I was soo suprised to hear a Dutch accent once I clicked on this video. Love to see the interest in regional history exceeds borders! Thank you for your research and dedication!!
Hope to see a part 2 with Schlager-Süßtafel
Vita Cola also
Great video, as always!
The red package at you're holding your hand of candy I can't pronounce the name is actually soul stateside to and I've actually seen that brand on my grocery shlf and I have seen that candy candy aisle so probably tomorrow I'll walk down to my local grocery store which is only around the corner and try that brand of candy
Your vlogs are much needed and really helpful. DDR was a country that seems to be misunderstood and underappreciated. I love what you and Katja Hoyer are doing to explain life in the DDR.
Yes I've read Katja Hoyer's book on the DDR, a very informative read, especially on the formative years of the Country.
Really really lo e your videos! 👏
My Ruhla quartz alarm clock still runs after 40 years.
My new favorite channel😁
Nice Canadian Tuxedo!!!
Love the vids, keep them coming
I love your Dutch accent
Thank you very much sir. That was very informative video.
Interesting. Thank you for sharing
I bought two mint condtion east german arny back packs. one to save. one to use.
Great video! Really interesting information
My first camera was a Praktica. They are still around -- just not as iconic as it used to
Some of the East German brands went out of production a few years after the unification. The trademark protection for those brands vanished after a number of years - or clever busimen bought them. That leads to the phenomenon that some brand name returned .... but often not produced in East Germany and often use a different recipe than their predecessor. That leads to confusion since some East German customers tend to pay these products in the beleve they support jobs in the region. So these products don't say "Produced in East Germany " on the package - they know about the impression that the brand is known and suggests a regional product.
"Spee" - a washing detergent is an example for this confusing product image. Many assosiated it with East Germany. Though the factory returned to the Henkel company after the unification they moved the production wothout much publicity to the West - but still keeping the brand - knowing about there market share in East Germany.
Great video. Could you cover how elections worked in the GDR?
The SED-Front won with either 99.98 or 99.97 percent. Voting was mandatory but still some refused to vote.
"Elections"
They passed to you a list with the candidates.
It was optional, to remove someone from this list.
So, people noticed, when you disagreed.
For me, the 98 % result was believable, because it was manipulated.
Later I learned, there were more people who disagree and the propaganda simply lied.
1990 I noticed the difference, when I have to choose.
I had multiple teachers from East Germany in secondary school and they'd always make me curious about the various products they missed badly. I'm so happy to see so many lovely things still available today.
I still hope I can taste some Spreewaldgurken some day...
Great channel! I'm glad I found this.
Oh, they recently started selling Halloren kugeln here in St. Petersburg. I wondered what's their history yet never bothered to google it. Thanks to the video, now I finally know.
Going to berlin in a week, making a list of these things so i can try them out.
I also want to point out that these are not "national treasures" of the GDR. Many of these things have existed long before WW2, and are regional products, that have, more often than not, persisted despite of the GDR. Not because of it.
Well yeah, he spoke about that in great length in the video lmao.
Kurze Aufmerksamkeitsspanne oder Defizite in Englisch?
These food items are venerated in the East and they don t have much left industry-wise. Thus, east people cling to the rest.
Spreewaldhof is the only brand still selling actually fermented gurken, not just the vinegar versions
Polish shops are your friend in this regard - naturally fermented gherkins are still very popular and can even be bought unpasteurised by weight from a big barrel or in the refrigerated section :)
Is that the reason why they lost the knack over the years?
Very cool! I’m just digging into the fascinating history of the GDR and reunification. Thanks for making this video!
You forgot one very specific product that's still available.
ORWO film.
A descendant from the original Agfa wolfen plant, that was forced to sell it's film as orwo.
They still produce film today, and recently put out a new colour film.
I bought ORWO film in the UK in the 1980s
Interezting video!
Always interesting to learn about this era. I would love to see what other brands that still exist beyond the supermarket, for example Carl Zeiss, Praktica (which became a UK brand), and Meyer Optik Gorlitz. I know a bit about DDR cameras, so I wonder if other technical companies may have survived.
I own a Pentacon lens. It's a 135mm f/2.8 late version, the one with 6 blades. (Almost) all metal construction and the results are amazing.
My dad had a 'Waltzflex' camera, it was the two lens type and you viewed from the top. Not sure if it was a DDR product or West Germany. The spliting up of companies and factories was terrible, there was so much talent the world could not gain from.
very interesting
I want my wall back and 4 meters higher !!
Such a fun channel for those of us with an interest in the DDR