TV tempts East Germans

Press, 26 December 1986, Page 19

TV tempts East Germans

NZPA-Reuter East Berlin While East Germans decorate trees for the yuletide, the well-heeled ghost of Christmas-West is already haunting the playrooms and lounges of this Communist country’s citizens.

West German television advertising, watched here with a mixture of wonder and disgust, projects a glittering image of Christmas splendour into spartan East German homes. Chic clothes, home computers and holiday season tipples all beckon. But the department stores of East Berlin, though sporting festive lights, cannot reflect the fantasy world promised by their counterparts on the other side of the border.

Aware of the lure of this Western "paradise,” East Germany’s leader, Erich Honecker, has announced a new drive to bridge gaps in consumer supplies, especially in

clothes. Recent economic plans for 1986-90 show he prefers to trim industrial investment rather than cut consumer improvements. Christmas is the time of the year when the EastWest consumer goods gap is especially evident: Children’s lists of presents include Western toys unobtainable in East Germany.

One parent commented: “I suppose parents over there have problems when they just can’t afford all those things. But that doesn’t make it easier for us when we try to explain that this plastic lorry or that doll can’t even be seen in our country. “It’s one time we could do without our little ‘window on the West’,” she said with a nod towards the television.

Adults can treat themselves to some of the trappings of their wealthier fellow Germans if they

buy in special “Intershops” using foreign currency.. But Christmas in East Germany is by no means a tale of tallow candles and empty larders. The comparison with the West may be dispiriting, but Eastern neighbours such as the Poles and Russians view East Berlin shops with envy. East Berlin’s colourful Christmas fair is a bustle of food stalls, toy sales and joyrides. Cuban oranges make an annual appearance in the shops, and bananas and nuts are also available periodically. East Germany makes world-famous wooden toys. Biit, people complain, the very best go for export and are not seen here.

The Deputy Minister responsible for consumer goods industries, Waldemar Harz, aiming to fill the gaps on department store shelves, denies the

“export myth.” “There will always be some complaints, but it’s just not true that the best is exported ... There are some shortages, but in general, we can say that citizens here have a standard of living that meets their demands,” he told Reuters. The centralised state planning mechanism had become more flexible and responsive ‘ to people’s needs, even adjusting to Western advertising in some areas.

“Yes, we do react to advertising in the selection of goods we provide in the Intershops,” he said.

Those unhappy with the normal shops, and lacking Western currency for Intershops, can venture into special “Exquisit” stores that offer higher quality goods, especially clothes. But prices are well above average. Mr Honecker announced earlier this year

that he was giving higher priority to producing bet-ter-quality clothes for young people and several new “Exquisit” standard boutiques have opened.

Western businessmen have also noted that East German trade organisations are maintaining interest in consumer purchases, including clothes, despite a shortage of foreign currency. The streets of East Berlin and several other major cities have assumed a more wealthy appearance in the last decade despite recurring shortages. Thousands flock to these cities from country areas, seeking goods they cannot find at home. On the streets of East Berlin, East Germans are often better dressed than Westerners.

But Mr Honecker faces a difficult task in raising standards quickly enough to keep pace with demands fuelled by Western advertisers.