This essay is a case-study of a phenomenon called “ostalgie” which could be described as GDR-nostalgia. “Ostalgie” is a compound of the two German words “ost” (east) and “Nostalgie” (nostalgia.) It is, like a similar phenomenon referred to as “communist nostalgia”, a type of nostalgia. However, if one were to define “ostalgie” as “communist nostalgia” important aspects of the phenomenon would be left out. Despite the vast research (mainly by German scholars) on the reunification process of the two German states, little has been said about the positive retrospective evaluation of the former GDR among eastern Germans. The purpose of this study is to examine what constitutes “ostalgie” and what it could lead to. To answer what ostalgie is I examine research literature and analyze so called “ostalgie” consumption products such as movies and souvenirs with GDR-symbols. Drawing on two alternative hypotheses, one related to political socialization and one related to unification related hardships, I discuss the possible explanations for the emergence of “ostaglie”. To answer what ostalgie could lead to I also analyze and discuss existing research and make my own interpretations based on personal experiences with the reunification process. This study is thus mainly based on a qualitative literature analysis but is also illustrated by quantitative measurements of “ostalgie-related” attitudes among Germans. I argue that “ostalgie” should be considered as an outcome of political socialization as well as unification related hardships and that it would be misleading to assume that “ostalgie” could be explained exclusively by one of the hypothesis discussed. “Ostalgie” is an expression for eastern Germans’ will or need to reminisce about the good aspects of the GDR. The consequences of “ostalgie” are first and foremost that it trivializes the GDR dictatorship. It has also been noted that nostalgic people have more negative attitudes towards the German democracy than non-nostalgic people. I conclude the paper by discussing the difficulties of measuring how widespread “ostalgie” sentiments are due to the problems of definition.

Le mémoire de maîtrise présentée a comme but de faire ressortir la relation entre des rééditions des livres d’images de la République démocratique allemande (Bode 2002, Richter 2016) et l’ostalgie (Ahbe 2001/ 2013/2017/2018, Boyer 2006, Haage 2013), un phénomène de nostalgie de la RDA. À partir de la série Kindergeschichten der DDR (Beltz/KinderbuchVerlag; depuis 2009), une analyse paratextuelle (Genette 2001) a été effectuée. Les observations faites nous ont permis de distinguer les groupes commémoratifs affectés, de déterminer de quelle façon les réimpressions font référence à la mémoire collective de l’Allemagne de l’Est et de montrer de quelle manière cette mémoire influence les réimpressions. Avec cette contribution, l’auteure espère enrichir le domaine de recherche de la littérature enfantine germanophone. / This Master thesis explores the relationship between the reeditions of picture books from the German Democratic Republic (Bode 2002, Richter 2016) and “Ostalgie” (Ahbe 2001/ 2013/2017/2018; Boyer 2006; Haage 2013), a unique and continually evolving brand of collective memory specific to the GDR. Analyzing the paratexts (Genette 2001) of the series Kindergeschichten der DDR (Beltz/KinderbuchVerlag; since 2009), we could distinguish the affected commemorative groups, determine in which way the reeditions refer to the collective memory of East Germany, and show in which way this memory influences the reeditions. With this contribution, the author hopes to enhance the field of research on German children’s literature. / Das Ziel der vorliegenden Masterarbeit war es, den Zusammenhang zwischen Neuauflagen ehemaliger DDR-Bilderbücher (Bode 2002, Richter 2016) und Ostalgie (Ahbe 2001/2013/2017/2018, Boyer 2006, Haage 2013), als Phänomen einer spezifischen ostdeutschen Erinnerungskultur, herauszuarbeiten. Von besonderem Interesse war, wie Neuauflagen von DDR-Kinderbüchern an der (Re)Konstruktion von DDRErinnerung beteiligt sind und an welchen Stellen dies explizit als auch implizit deutlich wird. Anhand einer paratextuellen Analyse (Genette 2001) der Reihe Kindergeschichten der DDR (Beltz/KinderbuchVerlag: seit 2009) wurde nachgezeichnet, auf welche Weise und bei welchen Gruppen die Bilderbücher Erinnerungen auslösen (können) und wie diese Erinnerungen wiederum auf die aktuellen Wiederauflagen zurückwirken bzw. diese steuern. Die Autorin erhofft sich mit diesem Beitrag das Forschungsfeld der deutschsprachigen Kinderliteratur zu bereichern.