European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 02, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse A family a Story life in a United Germany Utby Mary Neth staff writer we were locked in prisoners a Gray haired Lea Hering said of life in East Germany. As she poured her afternoon Coffee the elderly woman said that she Quot had t believed things would Ever after 40 years of communist Rule the mined Borders the Village spies and the lines at stores had become a Way of life that she accepted a if with resignation. But the fall of the Wall and the erasure of the Border has profoundly changed Hering s life and the lives of her family members. Three generations each tied to the tiny Thuringer town of Gorbitz Hausen live far differently than they did under communism. Hering chose to stay put. Her daughter and son in Law a decided to mix the lifestyles of East and West. Her granddaughter fled to a new life partly because of her age Hering remains in Gorbitz Hausen where for years she was pos mistress. She gets by on a Small pension supplemented by 200 Marks a month from her husband s life insurance a a total of 860 Marks $525 a month. With prices constantly going up in former East Germany it is difficult for her to make ends meet. A even the newspaper has jumped from 2.80 to 9.80 Marks a month Quot she said. Quot i manage though. I have she has no longing for the old Days. Quot things were terrible Here. You could not even buy a Nail without making five trips to the store. There were such shortages that things were sold Black Market a out the backdoor. A Kwa ordered a trabant a Small East German car 17 years ago. It was just due to be delivered when the Wall came Down Quot she said and laughed. Today her daughter and son in Law who live upstairs in the neat two family House drive a Ford. The Choice of car is symbolic for in Many ways Reiner and Jutte Armstroff have chosen a very modern and Western approach to life. Jutte has taken Over the Post office Job that her Mother held for 29 years. She did so after losing her Job As a kindergarten director in the wave of unemployment that is sweeping the Eastern states her husband a Metal worker now commutes to a Job More than 200 Miles away in the West. Quot he works in Cologne Quot Hering said. Quot he leaves every sunday afternoon and returns late Friday for an increasing number of easterners this living East and working West seems Ideal. The commuters get better paying jobs and exposure to new technologies without abandoning their roots. But for jutted a daughter Martina there was to be no Middle ground. She and her husband risked prison to flee to the West just before the Wall came Down. They now have settled in the state of Hessen where Martina s husband Rainer Menz works As an Auto Mechanic. They have a Small tastefully decorated apartment in the Village of Mosbach Southeast of Frankfurt. They have a Large Circle of friends. Rainer works for the firm that hired him 15 Days after his arrival in the West. Martina has begun a four year course in graphics and design at the University in Darmstadt. Quot i lacked the required degree but was accepted because i received an excellent on the entry examination Quot she said with Pride. Martina is aware of the tensions Between Quot possies Quot and Quot wessies Quot and said that she is quickly spotted As coming from Quot Over Quot my Thuringer accent is a Giveaway Quot she noted. Quot but when people learn How Long we have been Here their attitude seems to change. It seems to put us in a different Light. It s somewhat a the Menzes said they were not lured West by the Sis out Schuz Hlor for Lea Haring top Ranulf Catlon meant the return of her family Home after Yean of Eom Murlat neglect. Her inn daughter Martina Menz above fled the East a year Baton Nulf Catlon. Prospect of Money or consumer goods. Quot it was the Bells of big Ben that pulled us,1 said Martina. For years i had heard those Bells when London signed off its radio station. I wanted to see big Ben first hand Quot i was determined. I told friends that someday they would receive a postcard from me from there Quot Martina has no regrets in having said goodbye to a country that now no longer exits Quot when i was Little i remember drawing a picture of the screen when West German to signed off for the evening my Grandfather told me it was a very Nice picture but it was Best we did t show it to others he Tore it up and threw it away a amps. Dave Dudlo it is punishable then to watch West German to in Gorbitz Hausen Martina s grandmother nods at the living room television set and makes the same observation Quot Here bananas and oranges were a real luxury. They were Only in the stores maybe at Christmas. If we had t seen them on Western to occasionally we would have forgotten How they looked. Quot Gorbitz Hausen reached by winding country roads is no far from Arnstadt population 30,000, one of the oldest cities of the Eastern German states. In this Century Arnstadt became an Industrial Center with textile machinery and chemical plants today the plants have closed Down or Cut Back production the Eastern markets Are gone. The factories can t compete with the West. Western firms have taken Over several of the local industries said Hering but it has t helped the local of Market Quot they have replaced the 50-year-old machinery production is much quicker and better Quot she said Quot the result however is that the plants Don t need As Many workers As before a the people Here Are bitter Quot Hering said Quot what angers them most is that the old Plant managers Are still on the Job a they even have Given themselves raises Quot women have been hit hardest by the Lack of jobs she said. In East Germany 91 percent of All women had worked compared to Only 51 percent in West Germany Quot today almost All of my granddaughter s girlfriends have lost their jobs Quot she said with reunification the family regained ownership of its private property in the town Quot it s in terrible shape Quot Hering said of the Large farmhouse in the Center of town under the communist regime Hering was forced to lease it and other Farmland to the local production cooperative Quot they paid 20 Marks a month rent for the House Quot Hering said Gorbitz Hausen seems to be withering next month the Only grocery store will close its doors Hering. However remains optimistic Quot i m sure that within five years the Economy will pick up she said Quot there will be new industries and jobs Quot we would t want to turn Back the clock we enjoy our new Freedom we thought things would always stay As they were then All at once things moved so quickly wednesday october 2, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 7
