Konsum and Co. - A look into the shop windows and department stores of the GDR

Planned economy, shortage economy, queuing for everything - the fact that the German Democratic Republic's economic policy was not very successful is undisputed today. The cliché of shops with nothing but Spreewald gherkins is on everyone's minds. And yet - since the late 1990s, new editions of former GDR products such as Knusperflocken or Rotkäppchen sparkling wine enjoy constant popularity even beyond East German nostalgia circles. Leaving brand names and clichés behind, what did GDR shops really look like? Go window shopping with us, peek behind shop counters, meet people working or doing their shopping - in the GDR and shortly after the fall of the Wall.