GDR railway posters
Eisenbahnen
in Volkes Hand
Nederlandse versie
Even though there was no competition in the socialist system, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was not completely devoid of advertising. Political propaganda could be seen everywhere, but posters for concerts, exhibitions and movies were also present. Art and culture enjoyed the most freedom in terms of content and artistic expression. Product advertisements also existed. These were primarily meant to create a favorable impression of the country's state, even if products were scarce and the selection limited.
Advertising was also used by the GDR's railways, called Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR), to promote new timetables, discounts, vacancies or tourism. Here too, posters mainly created the illusion that there was a lot to choose from. Foreign destinations were limited: most people were only allowed to travel within the Eastern Bloc. The GDR did welcome Western transit passengers because they brought in foreign currency. Generally, the designs of railway posters were on par with those in the West.
First decade
After World War II, Germany (as well as Berlin) was divided into Allied occupation zones. From the Western sectors the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) emerged in 1949, where the railways continued under the new name Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB). That same year, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was established in the Soviet sector. There, the railways kept the pre-war name Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR). Under the Potsdam Agreement, the Allies had assigned all railway services throughout Berlin to the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR), including West Berlin.
In 1955 a poster commemorated ten years of railways 'under the control of workers and farmers', as it was called in socialist speak. Apparently 1945 was considered the start date, not the establishment of the GDR. The poster shows a man and woman in railway uniforms against a backdrop of a German flag. A yard full of trains includes a pre-war streamlined diesel multiple unit, but also a new Doppelstockzug (double-decker train). These were manufactured by Waggonbau Görlitz , now a Volkseigener Betrieb (VEB), or rather a state-owned enterprise.
Every second Sunday in June, the Tag des deutschen Eisenbahners was celebrated to honor railway staff. Dozens of 'Deserving Railway workers of the GDR' received a medal. That same month there were also days dedicated to teachers, builders and water workers, so almost everyone got their turn. The 1955 poster shows proud railway officials with a bouquet of flowers and in the background the 500th steam locomotive of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR).
Both posters were created in the socialist realist style of the Stalin era by an artist called Schöber, about whom nothing else is known. He (or she) continued to create posters for the Tag des Eisenbahners for decades, continually adapting his style to the spirit of the times. Socialist realism was over by 1960, and after that design styles aligned with global trends.
Tourism
'Every worker has the right to recreation and an annual paid holiday', was stipulated in the GDR constitution. Holidays were not to be a privilege and had to contribute to community spirit. Workers received holiday vouchers and the Holiday Service of the compulsory trade union Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (FDGB) arranged trips to subsidized guesthouses, holiday homes, campsites, bungalows, hotels and even spas. Foreign destinations, however, were limited to countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia (and, with a travel permit, Romania and Bulgaria). For this reason domestic tourism was important. Transportation was often by train as there was a waiting list for cars.
Popular destinations included the Baltic Sea islands of Rügen and Usedom, and inland the Harz mountains, the Thuringian Forest, and certainly Saxon Switzerland , the area between Dresden and the Czechoslovak border. The Reichsbahndirektion Cottbus published a horizontal poster showing a train running between the Elbe River and the sandstone cliffs (the timetable could be printed in the white box). 'Ostseetourismus' to the Baltic Sea was promoted with a poster showing a bather holding up a map of seaside resorts served by shuttle service from the train stations.
East Germans also had to practice winter sports primarily in their own country, while skiing in the Alps became accessible to more and more Western Europeans. The 'Bahn frei!' poster of 1971 indicated that a Sunday discount also applied to train journeys to and from winter sports resorts from December to March. Among the resorts mentioned were Schöneck (Vogtland), Buckow (Märkische Schweiz), Stolberg (Harz), and Altenberg (Ore Mountains). The latter is situated at an altitude of 750 meters.
Pioneer Express
Most East German children were members of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organization, the GDR's youth movement (named after a pre-war communist). They made all sorts of vows of peace and friendship, sang, danced, played games and sports and where crafting. The Pioneers also did good deeds like planting trees and collecting scrap metal. In 1959, a special Schienenbus (rail bus) was paid for with the earnings from waste collection. It was a prototype of the VT 2.09, manufactured by VEB Waggonbau Bautzen.
The Schienenbus was designed for small-scale passenger transport on secondary railway lines, but it was used by the Young Pioneers to crisscross the country and spread their message. Tickets were available at every station, the price: one good deed. 'No one is too small to fight for the preservation of peace', GDR prime minister Otto Grotewohl exclaimed at the inauguration. The poster, issued by the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) in collaboration with the pioneer magazine Fröhlich sein und singen was created by cartoonist Günter Hain.
Mitropa
Like Germany itself and the Reichsbahn, the Mitropa sleeping and dining car company was divided after World War II. It had been the German counterpart of Wagons-Lits since 1916. In West Germany, Mitropa continued as Deutsche Schlafwagen- und Speisewagen Gesellschaft (DSG). The GDR retained the Mitropa name and the old logo, although the eagle's head was removed to avoid connotations with the Nazi era. Mitropa AG remained one of the few joint stock companies in East Germany. In 1954 an agreement regulated interzone travel between the Reichsbahn, Bundesbahn, Mitropa and DSG, which functioned reasonably well. The poster 'Sicher Schnell Bequem' (Safety Speed Comfort) from around 1955 shows that Mitropa carriages ran as far as Warsaw, Prague and Bucharest, and also to Cologne, Munich and Malmö (Sweden).
Besides sleeping and dining cars, Mitropa also operated station restaurants and buffets on ferries in the GDR. In the 1960s, motorway restaurants, gas station kiosks and hotels followed, such as those at Meissen station, the Berlin-Schönefeld airport hotel, and the Rügen Hotel in Sassnitz on the Baltic Sea. These hotels are visible as luggage labels on a Mitropa poster featuring a stylized suitcase. In 1971 the company opened its first motel along a highway near Neubrandenburg.
Sleeping cars remained a core activity. Around 1980 Mitropa advertised sleeper tickets with the slogan 'Die bequemste Art zu reisen' (the most comfortable way of traveling) on a simple poster featuring red and white color planes. Perhaps these where meant to represent a folded blanket and sheet.
Flagship
In its 40-year history, the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) in the GDR had essentially only one flagship model. The VT 18.16 trainset was the East German answer to the fast and luxurious Trans Europ Express (TEE) in Western Europe. The design had to meet 'international standards' of technology and comfort, indicating that these did not apply to the other GDR trains. Built by VEB Waggonbau Görlitz, the design was by architect and industrial designer Hans Gutheil. Thanks to two turbocharged diesel engines, a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour was possible.
The prototype VT 18.16 01 was presented at the Leipzig Trade Fair in 1963. The front was painted with rounded shapes, strongly resembling the West German TEE trainset VT 11.5. The final series would have a more straight livery. A 1966 poster featuring the prototype commemorated the 20th anniversary of the SED (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands), the all-powerful party. This poster thus served a propaganda purpose: to showcase the technical progress of the GDR.
In 1965 the VT 18.16 began service as 'Neptune' between Berlin and Copenhagen, followed by the 'Vindobona' via Prague to Vienna, and the 'Karlex' to Carlsbad in Czechoslovakia. From 1968 onward the VT 18.16 also ran as 'Berlinaren' to Malmö, Sweden, via the Sassnitz–Trelleborg rail ferry. In addition to friendly Eastern Bloc states, the train also served Denmark, Sweden and Austria. These connections were primarily used by West Berliners, the so-called transit traffic that brought in welcome foreign currency.
In 1972 the new ship 'Rügen' entered service between Sassnitz and Trelleborg, equipped with four tracks with a total length of 480 meters. This allowed for longer trains than before. A DR poster shows the ship's cross-section with the VT 18.16 in the hold. In the background looms the 17th-century Swedish warship Vasa, salvaged in 1961. The slogan read: 'Modern technology on a proven course'.
Since 1969 the VT 18.16 trainset was also used domestically: between Berlin and Leipzig. This journey took 108 minutes, faster than the current high-speed train connection! In 1975 the poster 'In kurzer Zeit meilenweit' (Miles away in no time) appeared, featuring a train silhouette and colored lines and arrows against a blue background. The minimalist design demonstrates that GDR design kept pace with international developments.
Eisenbahner
The flagship VT 18.16 also featured on a 1974 recruitment poster, demonstrating that the East German railways were future-oriented, in addition to being interesting and versatile. The trainset was depicted as particularly fast and streamlined, next to a slow freight train. 'Dein Beruf bei der Deutschen Reichsbahn' (Your career at the Deutsche Reichsbahn) was a frequently used slogan in posters and brochures. The railways were not only recruting conductors, drivers and ticket agents, but also construction workers, unloaders and electrical engineers.
Railway workers continued to be honored on the yearly Tag des Eisenbahners. The 1973 poster read: 'We greet the peace-loving youth of the world'. That year, the day of honor coincided with the World Festival of Youth and Students, a sports event with 25,000 participants from 140 mostly 'left-leaning' countries. Poster designer Schöber chose the 368-meter-high television tower as a symbol of modern East Berlin. The Fernsehturm, built in 1969, had quickly become an icon, appearing on numerous posters, stamps, logos and flyers. In the foreground a train passes by, headed by diesel locomotive V 180 (Class 118).
Mit der Eisenbahn reisen
In 1969 a series of four DR posters about 'Mit der Eisenbahn reisen' (Traveling by railway) appeared, each featuring a train seat against a white background. For example, a first-class seat with a cushion embroidered 'Bon Voyage'. The text on this poster reads: 'Die gewohnte bequemlichkeit mitnehmen', that is: take your familiar comforts with you. All that's missing is a houseplant.
On another train seat sits a tray with Mitropa tableware: a coffee pot, a cup and glasses. The text on this poster bears little relation to the scene: train travel is 'Unabhängig vom Wetter' (independent of weather). Abstracted raindrops and snow crystals are depicted at the top. These posters are by anonymous designers, perhaps created by DEWAG (Deutsche Werbe- und Anzeigengesellschaft), an SED party affiliate.
Grumm-Päsler Collective
Many GDR railway posters of the 1960s and 1970s were created by the Berlin graphic design collective Bartel-Grumm-Päsler. They also created book covers, illustrations and film posters. Members were Walter Bartel, Eugen Päsler and the couple Helmut and Christa Grumm. In 1968 Walter Bartel fell ill, and four years later Eugen Päsler also left the collective, which gradually adopted a shorter name: Grumm-Päsler and eventually Grumm, although there were still two designers behind that name.
What's striking is their use of humor and the versatility of style. In 1971, Grumm-Päsler created both a poster for the upcoming summer timetable with simple shapes and solid colors, as well as one offering discounts for parents with three or more children. This poster was designed like a child's drawing, including the inscriptions. In both cases the same diesel locomotive was depicted, albeit in a different style: the red-and-light-yellow V 180 (Class 118) .
The front view of this locomotive reappeared in a 1974 poster by Helmut and Christa Grumm. 'Sonntags Rückfahrkarten' offered a one-third discount on Sunday train journeys up to 100 kilometers. The poster suggested visits to interesting cities, concerts, theater or nature. Meanwhile Eugen Päsler had continued on his own and created a poster for senior citizen discounts (Rentner Reisen). It was made of felt, wool and lace sewn onto fabric, featuring a colorful rainbow motif. These designs are on par with railway posters from Western Europe of the period.
