Present 20

Manufacture of "Present 20" jackets at VEB Herrenmode Dresden, Bischofswerda plant.

Present 20 was the name of a textile that was developed in the GDR in 1969 "in honor of the 20th anniversary of the GDR" and formed the basic material for an extensive clothing series of the same name.

Development and production

For the 20th birthday of the republic in 1969, the GDR wanted to delight its citizens with "the stuff that dreams are made of". The VEB Textilkombinat Cottbus was built for production, the inauguration was carried out by Erich Honecker on September 29, 1969. The synthetic fiber material was made of 100% polyester and should compete with Trevira in West Germany . The clothing made from the fabric was wrinkle-free, easy to care for and hard-wearing. Because of these positive properties, the material was then u. a. also used for curtains, chair covers and tablecloths.

As early as the early 1970s, the clothing fabric came under criticism from consumers: the clothes were electrostatically charged , always stood a little stiff and you sweat quickly in them. In 1974 the production of the fiber was stopped. In spite of this, the material was celebrated as the "world's top product" in the operating history of the manufacturer's combine because of the new manufacturing technology, the speed of production and the quality of the product. It was not mentioned that the large circular knitting machines used had been imported from the Federal Republic of Germany.

literature

• Thomas Kupfermann: The great GDR fashion book Eulenspiegel-Verlag , Berlin 2010, ISBN 3-359022-61-0
• Stefan Sommer: The large lexicon of everyday life in the GDR, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf Verlag , Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-89602-532-5

Web links

• GDR fashion - shrill out of the gray area on spiegel.de
• Film on mdr.de: Present 20 - birthday present to the citizens

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Berliner Zeitung: The Eastern brand Present 20 is celebrating a crease-free comeback even after decades .
2. ↑ Norddeutscher Rundfunk: Present 20 - symbol of economic independence
3. ^ Mitteldeutsche Zeitung: DDR-Mode: Protest with needles .
4. ^ New Society for Fine Arts: Wunderwirtschaft, GDR consumer culture in the 60s , Böhlau Verlag , 1996, ISBN 3-412083-96-8 , pp. 144, 147.