Brewing Socialism: Coffee, East Germans, and the World, 1949-90

• In Event: Table Matters: Food and Drink in Cold War Eastern Europe

Abstract

Placing coffee at the centre of its analysis of the German Democratic Republic, my project considers the role of coffee in the GDR’s attempts to legitimate its visions of a socialist modernity. Although officially classified and historically considered a luxury item rather than a staple good, this seeming humble commodity in fact came to possess a significant amount of political importance in the GDR. In the postwar years, access to coffee provided East Germans with a sense of a return to more manageable times, and hopes for the future. Meanwhile, the regime inserted coffee into its own messages and visions of a modern socialist utopia. Together, these influences contributed to coffee’s rise in prominence to an established part of everyday life; far from a luxury, East Germans expected an uninterrupted flow of coffee by the 1960s. Maintaining such a flow challenged the regime’s claims to legitimacy when world prices skyrocketed in 1977, forcing drastic measures to fulfill demand. Though state planners managed to keep coffee on store shelves, doing so required them to replace the most affordable brand with an adulterated substitute containing only 50% roasted coffee. The population rejected this action en masse, forcing the regime to find sources of coffee for which it could pay in finished goods rather than hard currency. In turn, the GDR’s search for coffee led to its extensive involvement in trade and agricultural projects in the developing world.

Author

• Andrew Kloiber, McMaster U (Canada)