Germany's Valley of the Clueless
By M.-L.
@MALUSE (69373)
Germany
March 5, 2017 12:05pm CST
Going up the river Elbe on a paddle-steamer ship from the city of Dresden, capital of the Land of Saxony, in the direction of the Czech border one passes a transmitting tower for television and radio broadcast. Its shape was inspired by a champagne glass or so it's said. It's 252 metres high. It was the second highest building in the former GDR (German Democratic Republic) after the TV tower in Berlin which is 368 metres high.
Why should anyone be interested in this tower? Who cares for No 2? Ah, there's more to this tower than meets the eye. This tower was (in)famous for what it did NOT do. You may think that the task of a transmitting tower for television and radio broadcast is to transmit. This is correct in theory, of course, but in the case of this tower it wasn't in practise. It did NOT transmit the channels from West Germany. The citizens living in the middle of the GDR were near enough to Berlin, meaning West Berlin, from where they could get the channels from West Germany. This was also true for the ones living near the German-German border.
The north east and the south east, however, were too far away and were thusly completely cut off from the news from 'the free world'. They had no idea what was going on. They lived in the 'Valley of the Clueless'.
Some technically talented Ossis (nickname for the citizens of the east. East = Osten) turned the antennae on their roofs so that they could get programmes from Western Germany. But that was dangerous. Especially in the 1950s and 1960s viewers of Western TV were often denounced by patriotic Stasi (state security) neighbours. By the 1980s, the authorities gave in and even tolerated the existence of communal antennae which enabled neighbourhoods to watch Western channels as well.
Clueless Ossis were seen as positive by many Wessis (nickname for the citizens of West Germany). They used to send parcels to their poor brethren and sisters in the GDR. We also did this regularly. Ossis living near the border knew what one could buy in West Germany, they knew the TV ads by heart. Many forgot that one had to work for one's salary in West Germany, too, and demanded expensive presents and were miffed when their Wessi relatives told them that they were too expensive. Ossis from the two valleys of the clueless (about 15% of the population) were more grateful. They were just happy to get something at all.
All this must sound completely crazy for people who've never had anything to do with the two Germanys. And yet, it was the reality for 40 years.
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photo: google
21 people like this
17 responses
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
5 Mar 17
It's a picaresque view ans the tower looks visually appealing. I saw the movie The Lives of Others which touched on the Stasi.
2 people like this
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
5 Mar 17
I love these stories of what it was like for people to live in these countries back then. I still fondly remember my first visit to Czechoslovakia {as it was then} in 1992. It was such an innocent place, and such a privilege to visit and talk to people. It must have been hard for families separated by the East/West divide in Germany.
2 people like this
@andriaperry (116936)
• Anniston, Alabama
5 Mar 17
I never knew all of that, thanks for sharing.
I like the photo
2 people like this
@fishtiger58 (29820)
• Momence, Illinois
5 Mar 17
How interesting, all this just to get a bit of television. I love the picture, I wish the US would make their towers for things like tv and cell phones more attractive. I would never have guessed that this tower was for more than just a nice visual.
2 people like this
@DWDavis (25805)
• United States
6 Mar 17
The Cold War created many odd circumstances in Europe and other parts of the world. I spent 22 months in Korea in the mid-1980s, including 2 tours patrolling the DMZ between North and South Korea, and saw first hand how the division affected those folks.
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69373)
• Germany
5 Mar 17
A student I met at uni lived in the GDR when she was a girl. She visited her grandmother in West Germany and in the night before she wanted to return to her family the Wall was erected. She couldn't go back but later was glad that fate had given her the chance to stay in the West.
2 people like this
@garymarsh6 (23404)
• United Kingdom
5 Mar 17
I always find your accounts of East and West Germany fascinating. It must have been terribly hard for those in the East. I understand how they were asking for such expensive gifts knowing you were living in the land of honey!
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
6 Mar 17
I remember it all very well and one of my girlfriends had half brothers who lived in East Germany.
