[chrisser]

I was fortunate to be in Hamburg the week of the unification. We had the day off so drove into the former East Germany.

It smelled like the city of Cleveland from my youth when steel mills were still operating. They still burned coal everywhere. There were still soldiers with automatic weapons walking around. Trabbis were prevalent and those that had ventured into the former West Germany were generally loathed by that population, especially if they wandered onto the Autobahn.

The Germans have almost as many Trabbi jokes as there are blonde jokes.

Best one I remember:

Q: “Why do Trabbis have rear window defrosters?”
A: “To keep your hands warm while you push them home”

Even back then “The Turks” were a problem. Supposedly immigrated to “do the jobs regular Germans wouldn’t do”.

[oh8eleven]

It smelled like the city of Cleveland from my youth when steel mills were still operating.
I know what you mean. Back in the 70s I used to go to Buffalo quite often. It too had many steels mills. Now ... nada.

[Empireoftheatom48]

I remember that. Prior to the wall coming down, East Germany relaxed travel restrictions, Trabbies were stuck on the sides of many Autobahns. Lol.

[VietVet876]

Hitch hiking into Frankfurt in the summer of 1965, we were picked up by a junior exec German driving a Taunus sedan. He spoke English and was eager to practice so I was asking him questions about their auto industry since I was a heavy motorhead. He said that a majority of the autoworkers were Turks imported to do the skilled labor jobs that all the able bodied men killed in the War used to do.