December 2001 - Nr. 13
Surprise Behind the Shutters
Cold War Advent Calendars Reveal Much
About GDR Culture
TWIG - There is little delight to be found in most used advent calendars – all the windows opened, the treats removed, Christmas passed. But some, like Renate Kroll, see more meaning in the discards. The 65-year-old has collected 60 examples of these Christmas countdowns, all produced during the 40-year existence of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Kroll regards the calendars as rare documentation of the blend of Christian practices and East German values that took root in the GDR. Her collection is now on display at the Museum of European Cultures in Berlin.
In Soviet-influenced East Germany, religion was marginalized, relics thereof consigned to basements or modified to suit state ideologies: Father Christmas became Jack Frost, "Christmas trees" turned into "decoration trees" and wooden angels were transformed into New Year’s figures. Mere depictions of churches could be perceived as antagonistic to the state. "The ideological conversion of the GDR unfolds in these advent calendars," Kroll asserts in a recent article in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. She says the calendars illustrate a communist government’s attempts to rid a Christian country of its beliefs and institutionalize an abstract ideology. "You’ll laugh to death to see all that is in there," says Kroll. She points to a standard model: Baby Jesus in the middle, Maria and Joseph, and a few stable animals around them. But a closer look reveals that the shepherds approach from left while the three wise men stand at the right – in perfect ideological alignment. The proletarian shepherds offer simple clothing and food, while the kings bring gold, gems and exotic fruits – a subtle condemnation of capitalism.
It was hard to get advent calendars at all, let alone religious-themed ones, in GDR days. The Planet publishing house, which had close ties to the communist party, printed a few calendars decorated with motifs sure to enchant every young Marxist: Soviet cosmonauts and Siberian snow queens. Christian-themed calendars were only available at a handful of religious bookstores and these became prized possessions, worn and frayed from year after year of use. "These calendars were a matter of life and death for people," Kroll claims.
