GDR-Nostalgia in the Former East Germany and Politics of Memory of the PDS

In 1990 when the GDR and FRG were united, there was a lot of optimism about the future of the new state. However, after few years after this historical event, both West and East Germans felt disillusioned by the transformation process. The sensation of the East Germans was named GDR-nostalgia or the so called Ostalgie, nostalgic longing for the former GDR. This feeling was rooted both in the objective socio-economic situation and in the feeling of loss in the biographies of the East Germans. This paper deals with the political dimension of the GDR-nostalgia, focusing on the political party PDS, a successor party of the communist state party SED. Despite the pessimistic prophecies about the PDS the party was growing steadily in the East. The East Germans felt that the party represents their particular interests in the united Germany. Yet the PDS didn't use a chance to deal critically with its controversial history. The hypothesis is, that the party, by presenting an idealistic version of the GDR past to the public and their potential voters, tried to strengthen the nostalgia feeling in order to gain votes. To prove the thesis the structure of the party, its program and history institutions will be examined. The concept of politics of memory will be described