Traveling the Other Germany: The Social Production of the “Imaginary East” during Ostpolitik, 1967–1973

Federica Schiaffino, Scuola Normale Superiore

Western modernity has long defined itself by constructing symbolic “others” — backward, deficient spaces against which progress and freedom could be measured. Between 1967 and 1973, thousands of West Germans crossed the border to visit the GDR, leaving a trace of these experiences in a large corpus of unexplored travel reports. This extraordinary source allows us to investigate a social history of the German division, while also shedding light on the mechanisms of representation and perception of the “other” in relation to the construction of a state identity based on democracy, freedom, and economic prosperity. Drawing on Edward Said's Orientalism, this paper examines whether processes of asymmetric representation operated along the most contentious border during the Cold War. By analyzing this large corpus of travel reports the paper traces the social production of an “Imaginary East”. The reports were produced by travelers whose state-financed visits positioned them at the intersection of official encouragement and personal observation. Addressing the challenge of analyzing large ego-document corpora without sacrificing depth or imposing bias, an exploratory sample identified recurring patterns, which were then systematized into a coding framework that enables both frequency analysis and qualitative interpretation. Analysis reveals temporal transformation in observational modes. In 1967–68, material comparisons dominate (empty windows, queues), framed through paternalistic asymmetry positioning the GDR as a “poor brother.” Around 1970, focus shifts to interpersonal encounters and hospitality. By 1973, comparisons stabilize: differences become expected formulas rather than discoveries. In conclusion, tracing the historical formation of these asymmetric perceptions helps explain how and why “essentially different” East representations persist in German discourse today, more than three decades after reunification. The paper shows how everyday practices of border-crossing naturalized ideological divisions, gradually embedding East/West distinctions within socially shared frameworks of perception—a legacy still visible in contemporary narratives of German regional alterity.

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 Presented in Session 48. Collective Identity, Memory, and Nostalgia