[ENVIRONMENTALISM IN THE GDR - SAMIZDAT] Umweltschutz im Haushalt [The environmentally friendly household]. German samizdat publication. Undated and unnumbered, but most likely 1987

Ziegler, Ralf, editor

About this Item

[Leipzig, 1987]. Three leaves, A4, with mimeographed text and illustration to rectos. Punched holes to left margin; trace of paper clip to upper left corner; very good. Scarce issue of this East German samizdat publication on environmental questions, a quietly subversive and counter-cultural topic even without any overt political content, given the disregard for ecologically sound practices within the GDR. It contains advice on efficient heating, water use, cooking, and household tools. The publication is a prime example of how East German samizdat gained a semi-legal footing within church communities and environmental activist groups, in part because such organizations were able to use typewriters and duplicators needed for publication: "The position of the Evangelical Church in the GDR permitted East German activists the opportunity to publish and distribute uncensored news within certain limits under the protective umbrella of the church" (Doellinger, Turning Prayers into Protests, 81). The last leaf features the printed note "innerkirchl. Dienstgebrauch," e.g. "for intra-church official use." A few issues are held by a private literary archive in Berlin (POESIE SCHMECKT GUT e.V.). No copies found in KVK or OCLC.

Seller Inventory # P6404

Bibliographic Details

• Title: [ENVIRONMENTALISM IN THE GDR - SAMIZDAT] Umweltschutz im Haushalt [The environmentally friendly household]. German samizdat publication. Undated and unnumbered, but most likely 1987
• Seller catalogs:
  • Unofficial & Underground
  • Samizdat
  • Ephemera
  • Germany
  • Social History, Politics, Propaganda