This article is published with the authorization of the official account "Nibelungen Factory"
As one of the main culprits of the "Second World War", the defeated Germany paid a heavy price. After the fall of the Nazi government, Germany was regulated by the U.S., British, French, and Soviet divisions of the Allied camp. The protracted war had left Germany's cities in ruins and its countryside devastated, and Germans had to restore normal social order and rebuild their homes from almost scratch.
During the period of economic reconstruction in the Soviet-occupied areas of Germany, the Soviet authorities tried to infiltrate ideology into all aspects of social life, and at the same time established a planned economic system to integrate Germany into their own economic system. On the other hand, the influence of Nazi propaganda style could not be completely eliminated for a while, and Germany's own artistic style had long been deeply rooted, so it gave birth to a number of propaganda posters with both Soviet and German characteristics, and similar visual expression styles were continued after the establishment of the German Democratic Republic.
Poster for 1945/46
Our slogan is: Overcome post-war chaos and create a democratic foundation for a new order!
The picture shows the demobilized veteran and his family, behind whom are rubble and tank wreckage.
1947 Poster :
What we need: eliminate black market trading! Get ready and resume orderly management!
In the center of the picture is a German worker holding a rice bowl with the words "Decree No. 234" (Befehl 234, a labor mobilization order issued by the Soviet military authorities in October 1947), and his lower body is also wearing German camouflage pants, and the use of German uniforms as labor uniforms is very common in the early post-war period. Behind him are two black figures of illegal trade on the curtain, the men and women on the right are pushing the curtain, and the scaffolding of the building behind it has been erected.
1948 poster:
Our slogan is: Stop your performance!
Promote the completion of the semi-annual plan with your own strength!
"Stop your show!" This sentence is directed at the image of the capitalist behind the builders, who have a copy of the Marshall Plan in their hands, when the Eastern and Western camps are becoming more and more antagonistic, and the situation is already quite tense. The Soviet Union refused to participate in the Marshall Plan, initiated by the United States to aid Europe, and set up a Molotov plan to replace it. Although the Soviet Union considered the American Marshall Plan to be purely foolhardy, the West German economy did benefit from it.
1949 Poster:
Don't stand idly by!
More products, better life!
It's a scene of a textile factory working feverishly, but in the corner is a young man in a suit and leather shoes smoking a cigarette and watching it all indifferently.
1950 poster
Should we be satisfied?
No, more products, better products!
To this end, we must use technological innovation to establish a higher standard of work!
A family of four seems to have lived a happy life, the man unveiled a corner of the "two-year plan", followed by a variety of industrial products and houses under construction that could not be seen at a glance, and the blast furnace that spewed clouds and mist...
Now, that's your job too!
Hard-working painters are painting the rooms.
City and country hand in hand
The people are united
What have you contributed to spring plowing?
The picture shows a farmer working with a plough.
Full support for the construction of villages in peacetime.
Completing the new agricultural construction program requires the support of volunteers.
The peasant brother handed you the shovel and dug the soil.
Fight, young man!
Strive to be the builder of the new era!
A poster of young people going to the construction site to move bricks.
The Dresden Agricultural Exhibition in March-April 1947, held in the Municipal Hall in the North Square.
Come out of the wilderness
Go to the small vegetable garden
During the post-war period, German citizens reclaimed their yards and open urban spaces into vegetable gardens to cope with food shortages and subsidize their families.
Poster of Dresden encouraging tree planting in 1948.
Ore for construction
Mining is a guarantee for completing the economic plan, it can also improve your living standards!
A job poster for a mining company called Wismut AG.
Everybody comes to work!
The East German government was about to hold the first people's assembly elections on October 15, 1950, and in order to build momentum for the election, they launched the fifth rubble cleanup and brick recovery operation on September 23, which was also the decisive battle of the ruins cleanup operation. The recycled bricks can be used for new construction projects, and before new construction works can be carried out, the city ruins must be eradicated and the space cleared.
Poster of the Dresden Price Bureau.
The poster has an image of an "economic moth" on the left, and below it lists several kinds of economic damage: usury, black market trading, speculation.
The words on the black hand in the middle are: If you don't buy black market goods, the black market will be unsustainable!
The words at the bottom read, "There is a reward for reporting the illegal act to the Price Bureau (address) or the police.
Farmers are the guarantee of a good harvest!
Plan your autumn harvest early!
Berlin will be more beautiful than ever!
Support the National Capital Construction Program!
As a model project of socialism, the East German government spared no effort in the construction of East Berlin, and magnificent buildings and pieces of houses were erected, and a unique architectural style was formed in East Berlin.
A poster for the 1952 Berlin National Capital Construction Project shows the East German flag flying in the distance.