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What is wrong with the international comedy Join me every week to ask this question very Comedy Tourism I explore different trends and traditions of how the world actually funny in their respective mother tongue Do not forget your passport Just kidding, you do not need your passport or have you n.
There are people who tell jokes There are people who collect jokes and jokes and there are people who collect people who tell jokes.
To be fair, this joke could apply to a host of dictatorships, but that particular joke belongs to the Deutsche Demokratische Republik Do not let the Democratic Republic words or wrong; informally known as the East German socialist state was occupied by the Soviets making the civil and political freedoms it a little shall we say limited Who were rounding people pranksters Why, the secret police known as the Stasi and the people collected East Germans to the population of the poor and disenfranchised, humor has become a rare source of empowerment.
What we Americans think of when we think of East Germany, the scene of classic Zucker brothers top secret comes to mind.
Val Kilmer side, DDR government was a subject of ridicule by his own people not that long these days, the East German jokes, or became part of the German cultural fabric DDR Witz as compatriots call the Internet is plagued East German jokes, and it seems that many Germans are downright sentimental on the picturesque means DDR Witz once skewered a phenomenon known as Ostalgie literally Nostalgia East, has gained popularity in Germany and the world Western in fact it's all a museum dedicated to everything glorifying culture DDR it's aptly named DDR museum.
In general, the jokes about communism feel a little tired Communists are not the villains of the six o clock news and I even bet of the term Pinko commie is far from extinction generation But as a tourist comedy it belongs to you to overcome the antique look of humor is German and try to hear the voice of a people struggling to make light of the dark times to understand the context of humor east German gives glimpse of what life in the DDR was really about Why is toilet paper in the DDR so rude answer to every last asshole in DDR is red.
Don t believe me just ask the former West German intelligence service Bundesnachrichtendienst BND is sought jokes told by East German citizens to determine the general mood of the public on the other side of the Berlin Wall Although reports have generally started with political analysis and strategy, the joke section has become a favorite among intelligence officers over the height of the chancellery There are less than 2 years in 2009, also on 20 anniversary of the Berlin Wall falls, the BND released its files on East Germany Humor compulsory reading this article Humor event under communism Der Spiegel.
While documented West German spies, German spies East that are meticulously documented Germans we are talking about and have used the documentation against their own citizens Remember the Stasi I mentioned earlier that is the nickname of the Staatssicherheit security official state of East Germany, they turned eavesdropping into an art and had a penchant for encasing any and all possible dissenters omnipresent Stasi created high-stakes for humor and shaped the nature of the jokes themselves often joke was not what was said, but it wasn t say for example, the following is a non-joke on the head of the DDR, Erich Honecker I know a joke Erich took a lanyard and went into the woods then what happened, I'm not allowed to say, but it starts well.
Almost all East Germany seems implicitly political jokes Whether poking fun always slyly Stasi tuned as in the example above, or referring indirectly by the socialist state satires its dwindling resources, or Police call the stupid humor was entirely a product of his immediate situation DDR the most explicitly political jokes invented citizens of five jokes three years in prison for the person telling the joke and two years for anyone who laughed .
Some other examples How can you say that the Stasi bugged your apartment There's a new government in it.
What would happen if the desert became communist nothing for a while, and there would be a shortage of sand.
Christmas was canceled Mary didn t find diapers for the baby Jesus, Joseph was called to the army and the three kings didn t get a travel permit.
Hey, I'll tell a political joke note, I m with the police Yeah, yeah, I'll say it slowly.
Some of the jokes told in East Germany were variations on classic German tropes Many East German jokes featured the character Fritzchen or little Fritz, a young boy who fooled early adults with word games in looking like buffoons such an example the teacher asks the school what is the most important thing in socialism students consider and little Fritz Fritzchen answers the most important thing in socialism is man teacher that's a good answer, Fritzchen I'll give you a grade B Fritzchen is not satisfied and responds forcefully you maybe give me an a if I told you that the man's name was.
And of course, I would if I did not mention the Trabant Affectionately nicknamed Trabi, Trabant automobile was a creation of single DDR and the most common car in the country, he ran on only two speeds and savvy, with a plastic shell would have to start the car was notoriously unreliable and the waiting list to get often run for years is such an ironic reference now; I would t be surprised if it is already decorated a T-shirt or two Heck, I would t be graphic surprised if Urban Outfitters began selling the car itself suffice to say, the low quality of the Trabi was suitable many a joke here are some What is the best feature of a Trabant it heats her in the back to keep your hands warm when you're pushing it.
A new Trabi has been launched with two exhaust pipes so you can use it as a wheelbarrow.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the reunification meant the death of this brand of German humor is with a new political freedom, jokes DDR factory closed for business case study Elizabeth TenDyke, humor as resistance George Mason University, quoted an East German speaking on humor t We could laugh out loud about the Stasi or say Honecker was an asshole We had to talk through the flowers he was much more powerful now everyone can walk down the street and say Kohl is an asshole It doesn t mean even more.
Over twenty years later, the road to reunification was imperfect of East Germany continues to play catch-up with its technologically advanced Western counterpart and unemployment disparity could suggest that the dark days that inspired such biting humor has not completely passed the East German jokes are a national treasure of sorts, but maybe some of the wrong reasons, it is easy to laugh people who may seem a little behind but forgetting why they can be so out of touch is a disservice to the punchline.
Laura Turner Garrison sometimes written advertisements, she sometimes written comedy, but it is always wrong rights.
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