| Inspired by the semiotic shorthand used in the popular press to distinguish East (the land of the Trabbi) from West (land of the Mercedes) shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, this dissertation describes how prosperity became an essential component of West German national identity as early as the late 1940's. Constructing a West German national identity after 1945 depended on both a reaction against experiences of scarcity endured between the war's end and the June 1948 currency reform, and a desire for the new possibilities offered by ownership of consumer durables such as refrigerators, washing machines, cars, and televisions. In order to explore how the universal experience of reconstruction and a particularly German tradition of superior production for export interact in the creation of West German national identity, the first four chapters trace the development of a consumer society from the strivings for fashion during the chaotic period before the June 1948 currency reform, through the extremes of appetite legitimized in advertising for former black market goods such as cigarettes, to the emerging market for personal care products--once again available in peacetime quality. The popularized modernism embodied in the chic West German home of the 1950's suited a demand both for style and comfort, since the pleasing aesthetics of one's home were to provide the relaxation necessary for a quick rebound from one day's stress in order to operate at full capacity the next. The last four chapters examine how advertising strategies for the abovementioned consumer durables articulate a process of negotiation between traditional attitudes and an increasing standard of living. When these advertising strategies are compared with oral histories and opinion polls, the blend of custom and aspiration which emerges argues against a facile equation of increasing affluence and Americanization. While West Germans may have consumed the same sorts of items as their American counterparts during the 1950's, they did so in a way that reflected a project of societal reconstruction uniquely their own. |
