Poster Plakat
Poster of the Week
"Long live the friendship of the peoples of the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic!"
On October 7, 1949, a communist government was formed in the eastern portion of Germany. Its leadership vowed to be politically separate and socially distinct from Germany's western section known as the Federal Republic. The East German nation became the German Democratic Republic (GDR) - Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) in German.
In the GDR, all private enterprise was abolished and nearly every business and economic initiative was nationalized or controlled by the government via a socialistic economy. At the same time, a police state developed inside the burgeoning nation subjecting its citizens to constant mass surveillance. By the early 1960s, easterners began fleeing west.
In 1961, the GDR's population drain led its government to erect a barbed wire and concrete wall (the “antifascist bulwark”) along their border to separate East and West Berlin. The wall eventually was extended along the entire border of the GDR to effectively block its citizens from accessing their western neighbors. The wall also served to isolate the GDR from most of the world's population. Its border was patrolled by armed guards and death awaited those in the east who dared circumvent the wall.
After the wall came down (on November 9, 1989), East Germany collapsed and reunification with the Federal Republic of Germany took place in August 1990.
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About The Collection
Poster Plakat is a private collection of Soviet and Eastern Bloc political ephemera spanning 1916 to 1991. The collection contains over 1,000 original posters and poster maquettes. Sizes range from windowpane posters up to large, multi-panel broadsides. Numerous artists are represented such as Gustav Klutsis, Victor Deni, Nikolai Dolgorukov, Vladimir Stenberg, the Kukryniksy, Viktor Koretsky, and hundreds more. All posters are linen backed and ready for display.
If you are interested in using images from the Collection or exhibiting posters from it, please visit the Contact Us page for more information. You can also email info@posterplakat.com and include the name of your organization, the name of the contact person and provide your phone number. In addition, please provide a general description of the exhibit you are considering or the poster you would like to use.