From 1946 to 1989....East Germany, or 'DDR' existed. In some ways, it's a mythical 'kingdom' today and journalists try occasionally to remind the younger generation of the terrible woes and troubles that existed in this Communist-state.
One of my stories over the period, centers on vacations that East Germans were stuck with. Traveling beyond the border was often a tricky deal, and you certainly never went to Paris or Greece for your summer vacation.
A number of hotels were opened up around East Germany in the 1950s and 1960s....to give folks some government-sponsored week or two off for good behavior.
One of these developed properties was the Hotel Neptune up on the Baltic coast....near Warnemunde. As resort hotels go, this was probably a five-star operation, and originally designed for foreigners who came to visit East Germany, and then re-developed for a balance of some upper-class East Germans.
The remarkable thing about the Hotel Neptune is that it had most of the rooms (338 of them) bugged. Downstairs was a room where a couple of Stassi guys quietly sat and listened to hours of conversation....recording discussed topics....then sending notes and files off to some central depository where you had a folder on yourself, your wife, your kids, etc.
Most people visiting such a place would have known of the issue, and kindly limited their conversation to short talk and simply comments about the weather and food. It's not the kind of vacation that you'd really dream about but this was the best of the best-type situation and you had to adapt your lifestyle to being recorded.
Oddly enough, another feature of the hotel....because of the VIP guests, foreigners, etc.....they had to invent a 'coupon' to buy things around the hotel. So you'd arrive....have your currency with you, and buy these 'Neptune-currency' bills. Trying to explain this to people today is just about impossible, but that was the only way to prevent black-market activity.
What happened to the Hotel Neptune after the Wall came down? It continued to be a beachside resort hotel....with the bugging devices all removed. Today, it's a major spa and resort....visited by various Germans and foreigners....with none worrying about their gossip, chat, or criticism.
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