Why did the East Germans drink so much more beer than the West Germans? In 1988, they drank 142 litres of beer a year, double the intake of the average West German. Was it to forget their worries, which came with living in the German Democratic Republic? German reviewers have also identified worryingly many factual inaccuracies. For example, Hoyer gets Angela Merkel’s age wrong in the very first sentence of the book. These combined with the immature writing style and a meagre bibliography serve to undermine the pretensions to scholarship.

Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990 by Katja Hoyer Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990 by Katja Hoyer

This book has enlightened me to a lot of what happened in the country and why. I did feel, however, that the really dark stuff was rather glossed over. Yes, the word "dictator" was used a time or two. The number of people Stalin made disappear in horrific circumstances was stated. It is accepted that the Stasi was feared. Mielke was mentioned many times, but not in any real depth. Also, no light was shone on the ordinary citizens who spied on their families, friends, neighbors, colleagues. The reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990 marked the end of the division between the democratic West (FRG) and the communist East (GDR), which had persisted since 1949. However, while West Germans continued their lives as usual, the reunification brought about significant changes for East Germans.In 1990, a country disappeared. When the Iron Curtain fell, East Germany ceased to be. For over forty years, from the ruin of the Second World War to the cusp of a new millennium, the German Democratic Republic presented a radically different Germany than what had come before and what exists today. Socialist solidarity, secret police, central planning, barbed wire: this was a Germany forged on the fault lines of ideology and geopolitics. I discovered Beyond the Wall (2023) in the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction long list. I’m very interested in the GDR so was keen to read it.

Beyond the Wall: A History of East Germany by Katja Hoyer Beyond the Wall: A History of East Germany by Katja Hoyer

Leeder, Karen (31 March 2023). "The good, the bad and the ugly in the other Germany". TLS . Retrieved 2023-06-03. Utterly brilliant . . . Authoritative, lively and profoundly human, it is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand post-World War II Europe' Julia Boyd However, the question of the Stasi remained a recurring thought as I read the book. The German Democratic Republic, with its all-pervasive Stasi and political oppression, instilled fear and earned East Germany the reputation of being one of the most severe authoritarian surveillance states. Those familiar with the book Stasiland by Anna Funder will understand the gravity of this. a b Mikanowski, Jacob (2023-04-02). "Beyond the Wall by Katja Hoyer review – the human face of the socialist state". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712 . Retrieved 2023-06-29. Hoyer explains that after years of political upheaval, war, economic turmoil and rapid political change, most Germans were exhausted and sought stability, a settled home life, and a future without war and economic disaster. Thus an anti-fascist, socialist one-party state like the GDR appealed to many East Germans.The book covers the history of East Germany in the period between 1949 and 1990, including the sudden and unexpected collapse of the state with the fall of the Berlin Wall, as well as many other points in the state's history. It includes both large historical events and anecdotal stories of ordinary people living within the state. [4] Reception [ edit ]

Beyond the Wall by Katja Hoyer | Hachette Book Group Beyond the Wall by Katja Hoyer | Hachette Book Group

No says Katja Hoyer, the high beer consumption can be attributed to the fact that East Germans simply had fewer worries. In her book "Beyond The Wall," East German-born historian Katja Hoyer challenges the prevailing narrative that portrays life in the GDR as overwhelmingly negative and oppressive. Instead, she argues that many East Germans enjoyed a relatively stable and comfortable life with fewer concerns compared to Westerners. Her book offers a new perspective by delving into the lives of ordinary people, aiming to depoliticize the past and provide a more balanced view of history. Based on first-hand accounts and extensive new research, Hoyer presents the history of the GDR as never before -- as a kaleidoscope of perspectives, experiences and stories. From the ashes of the Second World War to the fall of the USSR, this is the definitive story of the other Germany, the one beyond the Wall. It's a popular history book on the DDR. As I don't know all that much about it and as I am rather interested in how daily life must've been, I really liked this book a lot. It's an easy read with lots of stuff that was new for me. I would have liked to know a bit more on how the economy worked, but it has a lot of information that corrected the cliché views on the DDR. For a small isolated country without raw materials it did do a lot things rather well, not just the olympics. The regime tried hard to fulfil consumer wishes, even subsidized mass importing of levi jeans and stuff like that.

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New angles on post-war Germany and Austria: Florian Huber, Sophie Hardach, Adam Scovell and Tom Smith https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006sjx Beyond the Wall also delves into the profound impact of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent reunification of Germany. Hoyer explores the mixed emotions experienced by East Germans during this period of profound change, including the loss of familiar structures and the challenges of transitioning to a market-based economy. She also reflects on the lasting legacy of the GDR and its impact on Germany's political and social landscape in the present day. I read from Hoyer's experience discussing the book in Germany that the German edition of Beyond the Wall stirred emotions in German readers, despite the fact that the 30-year gap between the German reunification and the present moment may provide relatively enough time to assess the process with more objectivity. The East German communist regime (GDR /DDR) had, upon seizing power in the late 1940s, vowed to build the socialist society of the future out of the ruins of the Second World War. Instead, the regime brought misery to millions of its own citizens, devoted much of its energy to developing the most pervasive system of mass surveillance the world had seen up to that point, and seemed only capable of placating the population of the GDR by building a massive wall around them. Not that Hoyer is an ostalgie-filled apologist. The GDR she describes is one divided between those “who resented the permanent state of alert and politicisation of life” and “others who craved meaning and belonging in contrast to what they perceived to be the empty consumerism of the West”. Die Zeit, "'Das Interesse an deutscher Geschichte ist groß'" (in German), 8 May 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.

Katja Hoyer: we need to hear ‘the whole story’ about East Germany Katja Hoyer: we need to hear ‘the whole story’ about East Germany

The unspeakable sin that this book commits is that the author interviewed a broad cross section of people who lived in the GDR. And while they complain about repression, surveillance, and shortages, they also point out that some elements of life in Ostdeutschland were nicer than today in late capitalism. To name a few: there were no restrictions on abortion, there was free childcare, and everyone got housing, education, health care, and jobs.This book has been getting a good reception from critics and fits well with the emerging revisionist history of socialist Eastern Europe from authors like Kristen Ghodsee, Lea Ypi, Gal Kirn etc.