u/HassanT1357

I am a Canadian and after meeting my girlfriend's parents, I want to know if Pro-DDR or Pro-Communist sentiment is a widespread opinion or a fringe sentiment in the former East? I have come across contradicting evidence that I'm trying to make sense of.

When I met my girlfriend's parents (Leipzigers who were born into the GDR) and the conversation turned to politics, they seemed to be very nostalgic for the GDR era and expressed deep longing for how "things were in [our] youth". Apparently they were Farming Machine makers in Saxony/workers in a big company called "FortSchritt" which as an Engineer in this industry (John Deere) I have never heard of but apparently was really big back then(?). Googling it only reveals a small Chinese-owned company of this name.

They just seemed very deeply nostalgic to me and my whole discussion with them basically just turned into them talking about their good memories from their 20s and how much they missed it and that "[My Generation] will unfortunately never get to see how great life used to be in Germany". This was honestly very astonishing for me to hear, because it is totally contrary to what we're taught in Canada about what people of that era felt about the GDR. What we're taught about the GDR was that it was impoverished and underdeveloped, and in school growing up we read books and movies showing that East Germans risked death to mass migrate to the West, and that mass rioting against the GDR is what eventually brought down the Berlin wall. My dad (who himself was a Chemist visiting in Leipzig in the year after reunification) always described desperate economic conditions to me in East Germany at the time of reunification when he was there. The voting pattern as far as I know, shows that East Germans do not vote for any pro-communist or left wing parties as should be the case if they miss communism rule, but they rather overwhelmingly actually vote for the far-right, ironically.

However, when I go to certain German news comment sections online, I see many people expressing a similar nostalgic wish to return to the GDR, and during a rally my girlfriend (who is very much not pro-GDR but is pro-SPD which I think is the former East German Party?) was at, I saw the side opposing her chanting "Ost! Ost! Ost Deutschland!" over and over as a rallying cry which seems ironic and opposite to my expectations.

Does anyone here in Leipzig have parents who were alive during GDR times, and if so, do they really miss communism and the GDR that much? And, genuinely, can I ask why?

Are we taught incorrectly about how Germans felt about the GDR in Canada? Or are my Girlfriend's parents just a special fringe/a red flag?

Thanks all for your help!

Hi everyone,

I'm a Canadian engineering student currently studying in Munich. I'm really interested in German culture/history, and its been a longstanding dream of mine to make a small blog writing about the way of life of people in every German state. My girlfriend is from Halle and I'm planning a longer trip to Saxony-Anhalt next month. In particular, I was hoping to use Halle as a basecamp to visit some of the smaller/more rural towns or villages surrounding it. I'm thinking of visiting places like Teutschenthal, Schraplau, or Farnstädt.

I would be thrilled to talk to local people, get to know the local history of their town, the industry/economy (especially if the town has a Mittelstand), what is important to them, and things of that nature. I'd be especially interested to get to know about people's experiences pre- and post-GDR as I've heard that has had a big influence in this state.

The issue is that my girlfriend is, for her own set of reasons, not very much not a fan of the state and has told me that she wouldn't recommend the trip. Particularly as I'm visibly non-European (I'm of South Asian Canadian background). She has said that smaller outlying/rural towns in this area are not good places to visit and are largely like no-go zones for non-locals. This is really sad to me because I really do want to visit some of these smaller/rural towns in the state and learn about the people there, though I understand that her disdain might be caused by her own personal experiences or biases and not necessarily representative.

My main questions would be:

1. Is the situation in these areas truly as bad as my girlfriend makes it sound, and is there any way in which I can make this wish of mine come true? Would it really be impossible as someone visibly non-European to meet and talk to locals in these places?

2. My German level is roughly B1, generally speaking how likely is it to find people who speak English in the rural areas surrounding Halle? Would there be a strong dialect clash between people from Halle and people from surrounding rural areas as is the case in Bavaria? What would be the optimal way to approach people/have these conversations based on local customs?

I'd be grateful for any pointers you can give me. Danke im Voraus for any advice.

Hi everyone,

I'm a Canadian engineering student currently studying in Munich. I'm really interested in German culture/history, and its been a longstanding dream of mine to make a small blog writing about the way of life of people in every German state. My girlfriend is from Halle and I'm planning a longer trip here next month. In particular, I was hoping to use Halle as a basecamp to visit some of the smaller/more rural towns or villages surrounding it.

I would be thrilled to talk to local people, get to know the local history of their town, the industry/economy (especially if the town has a Mittelstand), what is important to them, and things of that nature. I'd be especially interested to get to know about people's experiences pre- and post-GDR as I've heard that has had a big influence in this state.

The issue is that my girlfriend is, for her own set of reasons, not very much not a fan of the state and has told me that she wouldn't recommend the trip. Particularly as I'm visibly non-European (I'm of South Asian Canadian background). She has said that smaller outlying/rural towns in this area are not good places to visit and are largely like no-go zones for non-locals. This is really sad to me because I really do want to visit some of these smaller/rural towns in the state and learn about the people there, though I understand that her disdain might be caused by her own personal experiences and not necessarily representative.

My main questions would be:

1. Is the situation in these areas truly as bad as my girlfriend makes it sound, and is there any way in which I can make this wish of mine come true? Would it really be impossible as someone visibly non-European to meet and talk to locals in these places?

2. My German level is roughly B1, generally speaking how likely is it to find people who speak English in the rural areas surrounding Halle? Would there be a strong dialect clash between people from Halle and people from surrounding rural areas as is the case in Bavaria? What would be the optimal way to approach people/have these conversations based on local customs?

I'd be grateful for any pointers you can give me. Danke im Voraus for any advice.

I'm an engineer in Canada studying industrialists in Pakistan, and I keep coming across this trend. Prominent businesspeople and industrialists in Pakistan, from armory owners to shipbuilding/shipbreaking yard owners to massive industrial conglomerate holders like the Dawood Sons company, they all disproportionately seem to belong to the same community, Memons. I've vaguely picked up from some of the older generation that Memons are apparently stereotypically associated with business, but I want to more deeply understand why they're widely successful in business endeavors or have this aptitude towards business?

I was reading Ahmed Dawood's Wikipedia page (hes the founder of Dawood and Sons and was personally asked by Quaid-e-Azam to set up industry in Pakistan) and he started his first business at 14, and then another at 19. I as a 15 year old could never dream of doing such a thing, nor would I have the skills to. Same with Muhammad Ali Jinnah himself who I recently found out was of Gujurati origin. I would also add that in the University I'm at in Canada in an area with a large South Asian population, the graduation roster of the business school has a massive section just with people of the surname "Memon", where they eclipse all the other surnames with the letter M combined. It's almost comical.

So... my question for any people of Memon or Gujurati background in this sub: Whats the secret sauce? What actually is it that allows people of this community to be widely skilled and successful in business and entrepreneurship generally speaking? What would I, as someone not of that background, have to do to replicate that? I mainly just want to understand why this trend I'm seeing exists, and what its like to be on the inside of it.

Thanks so much guys!