This “Kulturgeschichte der DDR” (Cultural History of the GDR), Gerd Dietrich remarks in his introduction, “ist weniger ein Buch das man liest, sondern mehr ein Buch, in dem man liest (“is less a book which one reads than a book in which one reads”) (XLII). This corresponds entirely to my reading experience. The book is ordered chronologically and guides its reader towards concrete appearances, at times very material phenomena, of East German culture. The three main parts, “Übergangsgesellschaft” (“Culture in a Society in Transition”) (1945–57), “Bildungsgesellschaft” (“Culture in a Developing Society”) (1958–76), and “Konsumgesellschaft” (“Culture in the Consumption Society”) (1977–90), are divided into a great number of thematic chapters such as “Die Politische Kultur des Antifaschismus” (“The Political Culture of Antifascism”) or “Zwischen Vielfalt und Ausbürgerung” (“Between Diversity and Expatriation”), which in turn lead to subchapters dealing with individual subjects (like the role of Franz Kafka in cultural debates or the success of the wall unit). I found myself diving into these detailed accounts, reading for hours from there on, especially on long bus or train rides. The book interpellates the reader into reading selectively but nevertheless continuously; this is its way of “making sense.” And if you look for something specific, for better or worse, you might not find it or come across it only by accident. So, the book does not function simply as either an encyclopedia or a lexicon, although it reaches out to everyone interested in East Germany, including historians and students of history. Perhaps also because of its format, it might well become “the Dietrich,” resisting what online resources might meanwhile be able to do better, namely to give immediate access to something factual (or to pure information).

By writing this book, Dietrich pointedly declares that he had aimed to make “die DDR ambivalenzfähig” (“to make the GDR capable of being ambivalent”) (XXVI). Accordingly, his first methodological move is to assume the relative independence of the cultural sphere. That is, he abstains from making it merely a function of the political and its institutions.