Wonderland - The Founding Era of the Federal Republic

Reading with the author Harald Jähner. As soon as the rubble is cleared away, an unprecedented economic boom begins in Germany, along with an insatiable shopping spree: furniture, cars, travel, electronics. With rock 'n' roll, the youth embrace a new way of life. In 1957, the first supermarket opens, marking the beginning of the discount store revolution. The television reshapes living rooms. – And suddenly, new questions arise: How should one live? Are we losing our cultural identity to America? How much freedom does a child, a marriage, a worker need? Elvis Presley and Freddy Quinn provide different answers. By 1967, the Federal Republic is structurally complete. For the first time, a German state exists without a higher ideal than the happiness of the individual. A journey into the pleasures and struggles of the economic miracle – into the world of cheese hedgehogs, Neckermann catalogs, and Stalingrad memories, of guest workers and a new type of politician like Kennedy or Brandt, of happenings and the "Klammerblues." When the Beatles sing "All You Need Is Love" in 1967, the student revolt is already underway. Harald Jähner's brilliant portrait of the young Federal Republic, a time when everything was being reshaped – and which is waiting to be rediscovered.