The East German Poster Collection at George Mason University Libraries
The German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany, existed from October 7, 1949, until it was unified with the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) on October 3, 1990. A communist dictatorship, East Germany is often remembered as West Germany's grey twin, a bleak country that millions of people fled from over the course of its forty-year existence. Newspapers, the theater, novels, films, and the arts were all censored, and the Ministry for State Security (or Stasi) recruited hundreds of thousands of informants to spy on their neighbors, friends, and even family. Perhaps best remembered for the infamous Berlin Wall that divided Germany's capital, East Germany has continued to exercise a powerful hold over German historians and the public alike.
In 2010, George Mason University Libraries acquired a massive collection of East German posters. Containing more than seven thousand objects, the collection is one of the largest of its kind. This website makes information about these posters available to researchers and students through a searchable database. The posters are divided into five series: Culture and Science, Politics, Film, Art Exhibitions, and Performing Arts. We invite you to examine the featured posters, high-quality images of which have been scanned into the database; browse the online map of linked posters; or use the advanced search function.
If you are interested in viewing these posters in person, please visit the George Mason Special Collections Research Center for more information about scheduling an appointment.