Main content

East Germany

Anne McElvoy hears about a new history of East Germany and why we need to dismantle the old clichés about the DDR.

Katja Hoyer and Karen Leeder join Anne McElvoy to discuss new histories of East Germany, stories depicting life in the state which have recently been translated into English as well as a recently translated edition of Uwe Wittstock's February 1933. Plus, Emily Oliver on the history of ±«Óãtv German service and Elizabeth Ward is beginning a research project on the cinema of East Germany and its involvement in International Film Festivals.

Katja Hoyer's book is called Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990
Professor Karen Leeder has been reading February 1933, a new translated work by one Germany’s leading contemporary writers, Uwe Wittstock

Producer: Ruth Watts

You can find other conversations about German culture and history available on ±«Óãtv Sounds and as the Arts & Ideas podcast
New angles on post-war Germany and Austria: Florian Huber, Sophie Hardach, Adam Scovell and Tom Smith /programmes/m0006sjx
Cuba, cold war and RAF Fylingdales: Ian McEwan's novel sets a relationship against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis and the fall of the wall in Berlin plus new research /programmes/m001c05p
The 1920s - Philosophy's Golden Age Wittgenstein changed his mind, Heidegger revolutionised philosophy (and the German language), and both the Frankfurt School and the Vienna Circle were in full swing. Matthew Sweet is joined by Wolfram Eilenberger, David Edmonds and Esther Leslie. Plus, a report on the plight of the Lukacs Archive in Budapest /programmes/m000q380
Walls: Novelist John Lanchester, journalist Tim Marshall and historians David Frye and Kylie Murray /programmes/m0002150

Available now

44 minutes

Last on

Tue 28 Mar 2023 22:00

Broadcast

  • Tue 28 Mar 2023 22:00

Featured in...

The Arts & Ideas Podcast

The Arts & Ideas Podcast

You can download all the past episodes of Radio 3's Free Thinking

Discussions and talks from the Free Thinking Festival 2019

Discussions and talks from the Free Thinking Festival 2019

Angry politics, what we can’t say, being diplomatic, weeping, emotion in music, film & TV

Click to listen to discussions, talks and music as the Free Thinking Festival 2019 Gets Emotional

Click to listen to discussions, talks and music as the Free Thinking Festival 2019 Gets Emotional

Angry politics, what we can’t say, being diplomatic, weeping, emotion in music, film & TV

CLICK to LISTEN & SEE programmes from the Free Thinking Festival 2018: The One & the Many

CLICK to LISTEN & SEE programmes from the Free Thinking Festival 2018: The One & the Many

We examine the fast-changing relationship between the individual & the crowd

CLICK to LISTEN & SEE all programmes, images, clips & features from 2017's festival

Free Thinking Festival 2017: The Speed of Life