I love how they pretend like we don’t eat most of this food anymore. This is typical school canteen food. And I‘m 22

All of this is still regularly served in our canteens...so none of this has disappeared or is forgotten.

I live in post-Soviet republic. Not far from my home there is cafeteria near industrial area, that used to be much bigger during Soviet era, that works since early 80's. According to my father, who went there for lunch as he worked back then in nearby car manufacturer, it still serves same simple and tasty dishes and has same classic Soviet interior. Place is still very popular during lunch time, many local workers from different companies now go there.

I don't know. I remember visits at our East Berlin friends in the late 1980's. To me as a child, it was like a cornucopia. So many kinds of salami and ham that we didn't have. An incredible selection of cakes in the pastry shops. Everything seemed more colourful to me - perhaps because I was small, perhaps because it had the exciting aura of a "foreign country", but still. In Czechoslovakia of the 1980's, I didn't see such rich selection of goods. On the other hand, we didn't have those drastic shortages like Poland or - according to the footage in this video - East Germany. In Czechoslovakia, basic stuff was always there. It just lacked the colour, so to say.

In the USSR, that Jägerschnitzel would probably have been made with Doktorskaya sausage. Andong has done a great video on the history of that Soviet "mystery meat".

I still cannot believe that I was alive at a time when Germany’s capital was divided by a wall separating it into two distinct countries. It feels like it belongs only in history books but I remember having products at home that had tags “Made in West Germany”

Tote Oma... dead grandma... was one of my favourites. Very hearty. 😋

I visited East Berlin twice in 1988 in the same week ( one trip official and the other unofficial ) when I was in the British Army During the 2nd we found a pub in the back streets of the Alexanderplatz and had Broiler chicken all washed down with the local beer which was so weak it was like water ! And the staff made a fuss of us because we paid in West German Deutsche Mark ( black market currency in the East) they threw in a few extra rounds of the beer !

If you're ever in San Francisco,there's a great restaurant named Walzwerk.It's decorated with DDR memorabilia and the portions are obscenely huge.

I had Oma' s from both the DDR and FDR. Both were excellent cooks but the food my Oma from the DDR prepared was more basic but still delicious.

In Krakow, Poland, I love to go and eat at one of the Soviet era "Milk Bar" type cafés. The food is very similar to food of the DDR. Basic, but wholesome and filling, cheap too!

If I remember correctly, fresh tomatoes were not always available in "Hauptstadt der DDR". In West Berlin Jägerschnitzel, always had mushrooms. As a matter of fact, the word "Jäger" in any menu meant that there will be mushrooms in a sauce.

Ketchup, tomato, and pickle juice... “that’s real tomato sauce westerner!”

1:33 "Das ist echte Tomatensoße, mein Lieber Wessi" To the people who dont speak German. In Germany, we sometimes differ between "Ossi" (people living in the former DDR region, east) and "Wessi" (people living in the BRD region, west). Both are words used to mock (mostly in a funny way) the other one, because of cultural differences that evolved in those areas and which are sometimes in a (light) conflict.

The jägerschnitzel basically introduced me to German cuisine, and European meat dishes in general As an Indonesian, I did several twists to it . Instead of the pasta and tomato paste, I served it with fried rice

I was in East Germany many times. The biggest problem was availabilty of foods. The usual answer was "Hamwernich" (we don't have) I only got to try 2 dishes. Goulasch many times and once Hackepeter (raw ground meat) We were scared to eat the Hackepeter so we ordered vodka (Korn) to pour over it😂

Food: the ultimate way to be able to travel, not just from one land to another but from one time to another also!

That's kind of interesting. 2 things I liked most were the guy saying that the chairs were just as uncomfortable as in the old East Berlin, and Avec Gunther (the cook) changing his mind about emigrating once the wall came down. I think I can relate to Mr. Gunther's philosophy. Doing something because you want to is Freedom. Doing the same thing because you must, is not.

Oh yeah! The GDR was very isolated. I don't understand. I have a cooking book from the GDR with recipes from other countries in europe. But I think, some ingredients were sometimes or often difficult to get. Long ago I have eaten a Jägerschnitzel. It's time for it. Also a school remembering.

Wow...i spent some days in DDR...in 1987...i remember Ketwurst and grilleta...a little bit rare flavour ...but interesting... Nice video...

No matter how authentic the dishes are, you need Stasi informants to complete the GDR dining atmosphere.

Interesting to see how, regardless of circumstances, humans will always find a way to make great food!

Yeah, that's the oddest thing I hear about the old East Germany: A lot of people who lived through that era and who didn't necessarily appreciate the regime, especially older people, thought the food was better than today's fare that I'm guessing was the food that predominated in the old West Germany.

I had Solyanka and Jaegerschnitzel when I visited Berlin back in 2016.

I visited friends in the GDR in the mid-90s and actually enjoyed some of the food (Solyanka = "einmal-durch-die-Kueche-gefegt") and beer ( a lovely dark stout, can't remember the name though ). I don't see most of the dishes as "forgotten" though, but that's just my impression.

you can still get some of these dishes at the butcher in lunch hour in eastern germany!

I much enjoyed watching this video. I had to run it back to find the name of the restaurant, Volkskammer das design restaurant and then found the owners name, Aurick Günther. I wish I had seen this video two months ago so I could have eaten there when I was in Berlin for Christmas. Now I will just have to make another visit!

"Broiler" was a linguistic anomaly, usually the West was a lot more into English loan words than the East.

i lived just across the street for months, in the big student apartment complex, at time of doing my master nternship in Berlin. i so wanted to go there and try the food but i didnt have the money, i was really on end with money. i would go to the market that's across the parking lot and get some saurkraut, potatoes and blood sausage (it's a good and cheap supermarket!) and cook for myself. that, or instant chinese soup. something baked for weekends.

As a former east germn kid I never in my life heard the term Grilletta. xD All the other stuff mentioned here I know of.

I'll have to visit this place when I go to Germany! Sounds both fascinating and delicious!

So I see why they interviewed this man, seems wise. He felt the same way I feel about the U.S. currently. Serve all that to me I'll try it for sure !

Diesen komischen Burger (Grilletten) und die Ketwurst hab ich noch nie gehört oder gesehen, den Rest kenne ich selbstverständlich als Sachse. Bedeutsamer Teil auch meiner Kindheit (28). ;)

I went to East Berlin twice and had Grilletten and Ketwurst. Wasn't bad. The beer was pretty good too. Went to the Restaurant Moskau as well. That was an experience.

@2:20 “Even the chair is just as uncomfortable (as back then)” 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Can’t wait to go back to Berlin and visit this restaurant!, 😊❤

My partner spent part of his childhood in West Germany, moved away, and returned for uni after the wall had fallen. After seeing this episode, he is berating himself for never seeking out East German cuisine. In uni he was living on the west side of Berlin and would occasionally cross town, be creeped out by the profoundly depressing and uncomfortable feeling of the soviet bloc buildings, and cross back before too long without ever really experiencing the culture. He cannot believe he didn't know about the different names for things while living so close.

I ate at that restaurant! Had the jaegerschnitzel. Baloney/Mortadella meat, crumbed, served with the tomato sauce and undercooked pasta spirals so it has the crunch.

So much butter in the sauce ! Are you sure there was so much butter in East Germany ? Just to give an idea, I went in St Petersburg in spring 1993, and I still remind most of the shops were still empty and that find a restaurant that could give you a proper meal was quite difficult...

I worked for an East German restaurant great experience and GREAT Food and Beer!!!

Junge so ein richtiges Jägerschnitzel ist schon was feines...if you grew up with this kind of food it just comforts you even now a days

what's that soup and toast thing called again? looks good.

I was forced to eat Jägerschnitzel in primary school and I can say with confidence that it is a salty abomination. The other foods are an acquired taste, but generally palatable.

I don't know about you, but I love the Jägerschnitzel.

Panierte Jagdwurst hat auch meine Oma gemacht (hat gut geschmeckt, ich bin aber inzwischen Vegetarier) und die ist nur selten aus Hessen rausgekommen, für Tagesausflüge nach RLP, NRW und BY. Im Osten ist sie nie gewesen. Fisch-Soljanka ist absolut lecker und auch keine Erfindung der DDR, sondern eher eine Spezialität aus Pommern und Preußen. Letscho hat man als Urlaubs-Andenken mitgebracht, wie im Westen die italienische Tomatensoße, die kombiniert mit Haschee zur westdeutschen Variante der Bolognese wurde. Man hat halt gekocht mit dem, was man hatte. Und ob man's nun Ketwurst oder Hotdog nennt, ist doch wirklich alles Wurst/wurst. Übrigens hat man auch in Westdeutschland nicht immer alles jederzeit zur Verfügung gehabt. Ich bin auf dem Dorf in Hessen groß geworden. Wir hatten einen kleinen Supermarkt vor Ort, in einen größeren musste man 15 km fahren. In beiden gab's im Sommer keine Orangen oder Mandarinen. Heidelbeeren, Brombeeren, Himbeeren, Pilze usw. hätte man dort nie im Leben angeboten, denn das konnte man wild pflücken oder hatte das im Garten. Mittwochs konnte es schon mal sein, dass die Bananen aus waren, denn geliefert wurde montags und donnerstags. Frische Ananas musste man bestellen, Litschi, Physalis usw. kannte man gar nicht, nicht mal Auberginen gab's, Kürbisse schon gar nicht. Unsere vermeintlich große Auswahl heute ist auch nur Augenwischerei. Warum brauche ich 5 verschiedene Sorten von banalen Cornflakes, 6 Sorten Vollkorn-Knäcke oder 7 Sorten Kaffeesahne. Kaum jemand schmeckt da nen Unterschied. Dafür ist durch Supermärkte und Discounter und industrialisierte Großproduktionen das Angebot an traditionellen regionalen Wurst- und Backwaren weniger geworden. Früher konnte man noch sagen, die Jagdwurst von Metzger A schmeckt mir besser als die Jagdwurst von Metzger B. Da sie immer und jederzeit zur Verfügung stehen soll, kaufen A und B sie jetzt beim selben Produzenten ein und machen sie nicht mehr selbst. Dasselbe hab ich in der Gastronomie, wo dank Convenience-Food auch viel vereinheitlicht worden ist. Die DDR hatte das schon in den 70er und 80er-Jahren aus Devisenmangel, wir haben's heute Gesamtdeutsch wegen "Geiz ist geil" und "so isses halt bequemer". In meiner ehemaligen Uni-Stadt z.B. gibt es inzwischen doppelt soviel Studentenkneipen, wie zu meiner Studienzeit, aber wesentlich weniger Auswahl beim Geschmack. 80% der Kneipen bekommen ihr Essen vorgekocht aus ein- und derselben Großküche bei mir um die Ecke, die auch dem Besitzer der Kneipen gehört. Trotzdem werden manche Stein und Bein schwören, dass die Lasagne in Kneipe X besser schmeckt als die in Kneipe Y.

I'd love to check out the volkskammer!

Too bad I didn't know about this restaurant the last time I was in Berlin. What's even sadder is that I'll probably have forgotten about it again the next time I'm there.

As an american, that jeagershintzel looks like a deconstructed veal parm but with vodka sauce instead of marinara and a side salad. i wannaa try it.

Used to get some of this at an East German restaurant in San Francisco - Walzwerk. Unfortunately no more due to the pandemic.

These dishes were favorites among people since the days of East Germany.

This reminded me of a little restaurant in Buenos Aires called "Peron, Peron."

3:02 what's the special occasion that Kim Il Sung's photo is placed on the window?

The characterization of the DDR as being "isolated" seems strange: just because they didn't have as open or strong of relations with western countries doesn't mean that they didn't engage with or have many ties to other countries. Plus, the DDR was pretty famous for its electronics and some other products, and as many are saying in the comments here, there were many visitors to the DDR from other countries.

3:02 Kim Il-sung and Erich Honecker poster. Both the leaders of real Korea/Germany

East Gernany has Worcester sauce? wow i didnt realise that, i love Worcestershire sauce especially on fried eggs and bacon.

My sister still cooks Soljanka now. It tastes good.

Is it traditional for forcemeat schnitzel to have big chunks of the breadcrumb coating missing because the cook clumsily turned it over in the pan using a carving fork instead of tongs?

As a cold war buff I have always wanted to check out Berlin and see some of the remnants of the era

Most of the dishes died away because it just didn't taste good. Some dishes taste good enough to stay regional. The tomato sauce is just disgusting. Noodles were washed with water to make them bigger and blend.

A cuisine that developped from shortage. Yeh, can be great.

Thüringen is my favourite eastern part. Why? The most fantastic dog ever was invented there, in Apolda. The fantastic Dobermann! 😍

most germans still eat those on a regular basis and those restaurants serving these dishes still exist in a big quantities

Solyanka is so good!

I live in Thuringia... all of this is common in any canteen or restaurant lol

Very inventive.

2:20 Lol. That dude looks like he was about 5 years old when the wall came down..

Omg I'm from Costa Rica and was in Dresden for a year. I ate a lot of jagerschnitzel and did not know this was eastern German

There is a channel called Salami TV, where a great character cooks and enjoys typical East German meals! :D

I can relate.

As a german I'm glad about the translation because I don't understand them 🤣🤣🤣

I want to try one of those steamed clams.

In the early 1980s in England, there was a 'joke' 'What has 10,000 legs, moves very slowly and eats cabbages?' 'A Polish meat queue.'.

I have visited Germany in 2012 and loved it. The food was really good. These DDR dishes look like something only a mother could love.

Maybe not the most delicious meal, but I would really love to try all that dishes because it's part of a culture and an age.

"Chausseur sausage" - 🤣 - stay ma a little bit on the teppich. Sonst genau mein Sound!

1:54 -- ragout fin 3:26 -- lecsó / letcho 3:30 -- solyanka

This makes spam look like Kobe beef.

Food have no boundaries

Miss the East German restaurant Walzwerk in San Francisco. A victim of the covid quarantine.

I had Ketwurst in Serbia ones. They just called it Hot Dog! 😂

Gotta eat here.

I¨m absolutely a westerner,but this is interesting,and by the way in my very personal opinion food has nothing to do with politics!I was 1 time in East Berlin,good memories!!

Some of it looks good

That was anything but lecsó at the picture. They changed it a lot. The main diferrence by looking that they used tomato sauce

Loved it!!! Thank you DW Food

Dude at 2:38 looks like he keeps his family in his cellar.

There are some North Korean dishes that we don't know.. why do I feel Germany and Korea is similar.. I wish Korea can unite soon too and North Korean dishes could be preserved.

I had to stand in line at the fish store the lines were long. My stepmother would come little later to get her fish. I did not eat it.

North🤝East germany: being underrepresented and underrated in videos about german food and culture

In Poland there was Jaegerschnitzel made from polish mortadel

This is awesome I love this I have been to East Berlin Very cool place

Man....thank god most of this is forgotten :D

More knowledge,great, but yes canteen food. Eat whatever you enjoy 😊

I’d like to go to an East German restaurant

nostalgia is a hella of a drug

It looks quite a lot like Norwegian cafè food.

Not only the food, but the East Berlin dialect has disappeared as well

Mouth watering food! 😋

Why not just have subtitles?

I'm pretty sure that Ketwurst doesn't mean ketchup on Wurst, but that it's a joke on the hot dog. Dog becomes cat, which becomes Ket.