Jena. The tour through two department stores in Jena’s new development areas offers exciting insights: How clever hobby gardeners made money.
• Our journey through the 1980s continues.
• Fruit and vegetables from southern countries were in short supply in the GDR.
• This is shown by a look at two department stores in Lobeda and Winzerla.
In the warehouse there are paint buckets and painting supplies between crates full of milk bottles and a trolley with lots of rolls: After the renovation, the department store opened in November 1985 Lobeda cheese again.
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The employees stocked the fresh produce shelves. The fruit and vegetable department presented itself in typical GDR style. White cabbage was available in quantities of 30 pfennigs per kilogram. Savoy cabbage cost 40 pfennigs per kilogram, leeks 1.60 marks per kilogram.
Vegetable department in Jena-Lobeda in November 1985: An employee is stocking the display. © Archive of our newspaper
Apples in two quality classes (1.70 or 1.30 marks per kilogram), pears at 70 pfennigs and walnuts at 7.60 marks per kilogram were available. The offer of the day was grapefruit (4.40 marks per kilogram) or lemons (5 marks per kilogram). Sausage from the Jena slaughterhouse waits for customers at the service counter.
Small shopping carts, cash registers without belts
As was usual at the time, the checkout areas did not have any belts to display the goods. Instead, two shopping baskets – the trolleys were much smaller than today – were placed next to each other and the products were sorted from one to the other during the checkout process. There were three department stores in Lobeda-Ost: the first opened in December 1972. A consumer department store followed in 1980; 1983 the HO department store on Salvador-Allende-Platz. Photos of the opening after renovation
Also interesting
In Winzerla Initially only one consumer department store supplied the population. An HO department store was added in the 1980s. The fruit and vegetable department there was also rather sparsely stocked. There was lettuce and radish (35 pfennigs each), as well as apples (2.80 marks per kilogram) and limes (3.80 marks per kilogram). Walnuts were available for 3.80 marks per kilogram.
The customer in front of the fruit and vegetable shelf doesn’t look really enthusiastic. © FMG | Archive of our newspaper
Paid more for fruit than later received
Luckily, a delivery of cherries was already waiting on the loading dock. Private individuals were also able to bring in fruit and vegetables to purchase. Curious: In some cases they received more money than the goods later cost in the store. Some people are said to have delivered their fruit and later bought some back at a cheaper price.
Fresh cherries are delivered to the department store in Winzerla. © FMG | Archive of our newspaper
Also interesting
These episodes also appeared in our series:
– Constant change in Saalstrasse: demolition program in the Jena center
– Repaired instead of thrown away: HDR Jena repaired umbrellas herself
– Gackelboy for 80 marks: Heka department store Jena was the place to go for household and cosmetics
– Mixed bread for 62 pfennigs: Special shop for bread in Jena city center
– Hardware store with broken goods: How people in Jena got building materials
– How HO and the consumer cooperative supplied the citizens of Jena with food
– Large folk festival in GDR times: When thousands stormed the brewery market in Jena
– Opening ceremony in GDR times: How a consumer department store opened in Jena city center
