Ostpunks: the Rebels of the GDR

- Melody Z.

The Punk movement was born around 1976 with bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash in the United Kingdom or The Ramones and The Runaways in the United States. Thanks to radio, this sound was able to spread across the Western world and teens and young adults were quick to adopt the DIY aesthetic and rebellious themes the songs promoted.

In 1945, the Allies of the Second World War divided the surrendered Germany between them. Four years later, in 1949, the Soviet Union oversaw the creation of the German Democratic Republic in East Germany. With this new state came new rules and restrictions: the Ministry for State Security, known as the Stasi, was such a repressive force and had such an impressive covert network that the population was under constant threat of observation or interrogation for any small step out of line. Despite this, life was meant to be easy and everyone was expected to follow a path preset for them but this didn’t suit everyone.

It wasn’t before 1981 that a solid punk scene was established in East Germany thanks to careful communication with the West. Christian Lorenz, former member of the band Feeling-B, explains that some parts of the GDR could tune in to a BBC radio show that regularly broadcasted punk music. Enthusiasts met up and formed bands, creating sounds with anything they could get their hands on. They obviously had to dress the part, so dyed and spiked hair, piercings and bold makeup started to pop up on the streets alongside torn, resewn and decorated clothes. People started recording pieces and writing articles to send to friends in the West, and some bands even succeeded in crossing the Iron Curtain to perform in the West to a more apt audience. These people came to be called the Ostpunks (East-punks).

Unfortunately, the government grew wary of the youngsters' imitation of the West and the Stasi made quick work of gathering as much information as possible on the burgeoning movement. The Stasi created a file for most Ostpunks—about 900 total—containing their various infractions and suspicious activities, regularly bringing them in for interrogation, asking, bribing or threatening them for information on their fellow punk enthusiasts. Some cracked which caused distrust and suspicion within the community. Some punks were imprisoned for minor offenses; the government was strongly intent on finding and squashing anything vaguely resembling western culture as it threatened the socialist regime.

As much as the Stasi believed that Ostpunks were spreading a rebellious, western, capitalist way of life, there were actually a few differences between the Eastern and Western interpretation of Punk. Through their style and music, West-punks fought against social and artistic norms, and while this resonated with the Ostpunks, they didn’t relate to the “No Future” issue. “No Future” is a motto that was often used in the western punk community, it symbolized the lack of security, certainty and help available to young people who wanted to succeed at something in society. The Ostpunks had the opposite problem, their future was laid out for them, they had no choice, no options, no freedom. Their motto became “Too Much Future”.

After the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, the Ostpunk movement died down. Although they had, to some extent, hoped for a new East Germany, free from the GDR, they hadn’t expected to be sucked into West Germany and obliged to conform to their capitalist system. Some were happy with this outcome and started new lives, making their own choices away from the constant, looming threat of the Stasi; some, with nothing to fight for or against, were left to find a new path without directions. The punk movement in the GDR was a critical part of a lot of young people’s lives during the last decades of the Cold War and, although often disregarded, it may have played a role in the reunification of Germany.