Growing Up in the Soviet G.D.R. (Communist East Germany) | Interviews With Locals

Cycling across the world, interviewing locals along the way! Note: views expressed are not my own. Have you ever wondered what life was like in East Germany before the fall of the Berlin wall? Petra grew up behind the iron curtain in the communist G.D.R. (German Democratic Republic), a Soviet satellite state formed after WWII. I met her in Rauen, a small village some 60km East of Berlin, where she sat down with me to talk about her experience living in a country that no longer exists, including her run-in with East Germany's stasi (secret service), and the West's misconceptions about the nation she once called home. She lived close to the East German border, which enabled her to have some level of exposure to West Germany, since they received West German radio and TV signal, even though tuning into anything other than the East German TV and radio signals was a punishable offence. But she had very little experience of the outside world before West and East Germany reunification. The cold war meant there was a lot of hostility between places like the GDR and the West. We're often taught that everything in the Soviet Union and its satellite states was awful. But was East Germany bad? What was East Germany like? How was everyday life in the GDR for people like Petra? Have a watch of an interview on East Germany, and life in the GDR. --------------------- BACKGROUND: For the last 1.5 years, I've been on a cycle tour from Tromsø in Northern Norway to Baku, Azerbaijan, while interviewing locals along the way for my blog. Cycle touring for beginners like me can be intimidating; I'd ridden a bike 4 times in the previous 10 years before this journey, but I decided to jump in at the deep end and learn about bikepacking and touring while I was on the road. After watching a few videos on "how to cycle tour", I set off, and covered 11 countries by bike (and took detours to another 2). Travel blogs and vlogs tend to focus on the traveller; what they did, where they ate, etc. I figured there are enough of those out there, so this one aims to be a little different. Who really cares what I think? Instead of providing another Brit’s opinion on the world around them, why not get the perspectives of the people that live in some of the places I find myself in? So, I’ve been interviewing people in the places I visit on my 6,000km cycle tour to understand life according to locals around the world. I’m exploring perceptions, values, politics and delicacies as I travel throughout Eurasia and further afield, using a specially tailored interview format that will demonstrate how these change as I move from region to region. Most of them are written articles on my website, but I've decided to compile the best audio from those interviews and combine it with videos from the adventure. Long distance cycle touring alone was always going to be a challenge, but I got used to it after a month, and eventually started to truly appreciate it. I didn't have much cycling gear or expertise, and I resorted to using an old Trek mountain bike that I got for free, which was frustrating at times, but I found motivation in the locals I met along the way, and the far-flung places I reached off the beaten track. The adventure by bike introduced me to a new side of travel. I'd never interacted so much with local people and my surroundings, when I'd been abroad or been so exposed to the kindness of strangers. Travelling so slowly as I pedalled made me feel immersed in the countries and cultures I cycled through, and it forced me to stop in some of the more obscure places the world has to offer. All in all, cycling the world shows you a side of some countries that most travellers never get to appreciate. --------------------- TLDR: for the past 1.5 years, I've been cycling from Northern Norway to Azerbaijan while interviewing locals along the way. Find out more at the links below! Facebook Page:   / tieranfreedman.co.uk   Instagram:   / tieranfreedman   Website: https://www.placepersonplate.com