East Germany struggled economically under Soviet influence, adopting a centrally planned system that prioritised heavy industry over consumer goods. Daily life was marked by shortages, low wages and restricted trade with the West. Strict state control stifled growth and fuelled unrest, including the 1953 workers’ uprising, which saw mass strikes and violent clashes.

This 1954 photo shows the living room of the Hegemann family in East Berlin’s Stalinallee – then a Communist showpiece – captured during a rare visit by Western journalists permitted by Russian authorities.

100 years of German home life, from Bavaria to the Berlin Wall