This essay is a case-study of a phenomenon called ?Ostalgie? which could be described as GDR-nostalgia. ?Ostalgie? is a compound of the two German words ?ost? (east) and ?NOstalgie? (nostalgia.) It is, like a similar phenomenon referred to as ?communist nostalgia?, a type of nostalgia. However, if one were to define ?Ostalgie? as ?communist nostalgia? important aspects of the phenomenon would be left out.