It was a sarcastic (insider) joke between me (a West-German) and Grzegorz (a Pole). Of course this picture is not from East Germany, but recently we West-Germans started to talk about "the steppe" since it is the best term to reflect the problems of this part of our country. Although we invested bazillions into the east German infrastructure there is no growth and development, because most able people left for the west a long time ago. The east German population exists of mainly elderly people and idiots. This is the reason is also another "bonmot": The German DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik - GDR - German Democratic Republic - the former commie state) can also be translated into "Der Dumme Rest" (The Silly Remains).
A little levity, there.
yitbos