Thuringia in the DDR

I came across a dozen printed pages yesterday. One of the first thing I wrote about beer. Way back in 1990.

Never been published before. Not much point publishing it now, as it's a guide to beer in Thuringia in 1990. I suppose it has some historic value, as it records an odd time. When the wall was down, but the DDR was still an independent country.

And it's a few easy blog posts. No need to think up lots of new words. I've regretted my commitment to post daily since, er, just about since I made it. I'll be able to spin at least half a dozen posts out of this old crap. Sorry, classic, rediscovered early writings.

Let me know what you think of it.

"Thuringia in the DDR
Thuringia, which now forms the southwestern corner of the DDR, consists, approximately, of the 'bezirk' of Suhl, Erfurt and Gera. Its landscape is dominated by rolling hills and forests, still containing much wildlife, which contrast sharply with the grim, industrial image of the DDR. The Thuringer Wald in the south is an area of particular natural beauty. Only the northeast, in the region of Jena and Gera, is spoilt by the more obtrusive presence of industry. The countryside is dotted with villages of ancient half-timbered houses, seemingly almost untouched by the 20th century. For the most part these are still real living communities rather than groups of city commuters trying to rediscover rural life. Consequently most villages still have a baker's, butcher's and, of course, a pub.

From 1920 to 1952 Thuringia was a 'land' or state (and should be again as of late 1990 when the DDR becomes a federal state) with its capital in Weimar, then later in Erfurt. There are many other attractive towns, some unfortunately wearing their age badly, and most of any reasonable size have a brewery.

Thuringia has a long history as a brewing centre and still boasts one of the largest concentrations of the country's 250 or so breweries. Unsurprising, given that Franconia, with the greatest density of breweries in the world, is just over the border in the Federal Republic. The beers from any given brewery beers are usually only sold in the local area. This admirably decentralised approach does however have the disadvantage that, in any given town, 90% of the pubs seH the same beer. An exception to this are the 'spezial' or 'delikat' beers from certain breweries (such as Apolda or Braugold), which are sold as premium products and tend to be found in posher outlets all over Thuringia. An interesting development as a result of the border being opened, is the appearance, albeit at treble the price of the local stuff, of West German beer in both shops and pubs. A disadvantage of the open border is that you may be competing for pub space with crowds of W. Germans attracted by the, for them, laughably low prices in the DDR."

As I said earlier, there's a lot more of this.