Background: Trommel,or “The Drum” was the weekly magazine for elementary school children in the GDR. This page includes material from three issues from 1980. It is a good example of propaganda aimed at children. DDR-Comics has a lot of material from the magazine. Material from Frösi, another magazine aimed at children, is available on the same site.
This is the cover of #26/1980. The cover story is an interview with a watchmaker, who spent three months in Vietnam helping to establish a watch factory. A more detailed summary of the contents is available. | |
This is the cover of issue #18/1980. The picture is of a Siberian school girl who wants to follow in the path of one Gaidarowez, a hero of the Russian revolution. The cover also has an interesting articled titled “Too Much Politics.” It begins by noting some children have written to say that they think there is too much political material.
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This is the cover to issue #43/1980. The cover story is on the visit of a group of school children to the GDR Baltic port of Saßnitz. An interior article on life in the United States begins:
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Go to the GDR Page.
Go to the German Propaganda Home Page.