Birthday Presents || Special

GDR Souvenirs - Birthday and Anniversary Presents Preface || Introduction || Official Gifts || Gifts to the Party Birthday Presents || Special Items || Site Map Information || Guestbook || Picture galerie Birthday and Anniversary Presents by Andreas Michaelis One might be forgiven for thinking that birthdays, even those that come in round figures, are essentially private or indeed contemplative occasions. Not so, if the birthday boy happens to be the head of a state or Party or is in some other way in the public eye. In that case, a birthday becomes a public event. The guests can no longer be hand-picked, nor the tidal wave of presents averted. Gifts made to GDR leaders, if they were of the right kind, tended to end up in the museum. They included both highly individual pieces and items off the mass production conveyor belts. These souvenirs sometimes commemorated significant social occasions, sometimes insignificant; some were presented by governments, some by ordinary working people; and, while some might be suited to the personality and office of a president, others were given in friendship or comradeship. Along with presents to mark birthdays or other occasions in the lives of the state and Party leaders, there are certain items that were presented by home or foreign givers on particular GDR anniversaries. Most of these, and the oldest too, were left by Wilhelm Pieck at his death. One remarkable for its origins was given to him in Moscow in December 1943: a desktop calendar handcrafted out of wood for the Communist leader by German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union. The red crayon inscription reads: Unity and peace to the German people - Wilhelm Pieck - From antifascist prisoners of war in USSR p.o.w. camp 158. Three presents given to Wilhelm Pieck in Soviet exile in 1936, on his sixtieth birthday, have survived. They were made by Soviet industries, using material from the current production line, and represent a kind of gift that seems to have appeared for the first time in the USSR in the 20s. These presents signalled a deliberate rejection of feudal or bourgeois traditions and a liberation from the material and artistic values of an old societal system then supposed defunct, and their meaning to the recipient lay purely in their symbolic function. Doubtless it would be going too far to suggest that there was an individual artistic style of expression peculiar to socialism as practised in the Communist bloc countries - but it remains true that this kind of characteristic symbolic gift was in evidence in almost every east European country till the late 1980s. The workers at the factory or plant in question would normally be identified as the givers of presents of this sort. Thus Wilhelm Pieck was given a ball-bearing mount by the workforce at the 1st State Ball-Bearing Works, a clock (inevitably) by the workforce at the 2nd State Clock Factory in Moscow and a smoker's set made of cogwheels by the Sergo Orjonikidse Machine Tools Works. In 1954 the workers at Zeulenroda furniture factory took Pieck by surprise when they remembered an anniversary he had probably forgotten himself: in 1894, the President, then an apprentice carpenter, had joined the German Woodworkers' Association, and his fellows in the craft were keen to mark his diamond jubilee as an active member of the trade union movement. On the side of the chest they made to celebrate the occasion is an image of Stalinallee (Stalin Avenue) in East Berlin, which East Germany touted as the premier socialist street in the capital of the GDR. Naturally the Communist bloc had another tradition, first practised in the Soviet Union: the naming of cities, factories, co-operatives, streets and public amenities after prominent Communist personalities, often when they were still alive. A danger was concealed in this kind of honour, however. If a personality fell out of favour, or was downgraded by his successors, the names all had to be changed. Thus cities, works and streets named after Stalin were renamed almost immediately after the 20th congress of the Soviet Communist Party in 1956, and Stalin memorials were toppled. Stalin was dropped from the leadership hall of fame. The boulevard once known as Stalin Avenue became Karl Marx Avenue, which it remains to this day (though the names of other leading Communists have been largely removed following the velvet revolution in eastern Europe). In 1946, for his seventieth birthday, Wilhelm Pieck, then leader of the German Communist Party in the Soviet zone of occupation, was given a number of china figurines and a metal sombrero by the Party's cell in Mexican exile. Rather more useful, no doubt, was a cigarette case embellished with portraits of Lenin and Stalin which he received from Soviet comrades for his seventy-fifth birthday. One motif that recurs insistently in the presents given to him on that birthday and his eightieth is the first of the GDR's five-year plans. It was launched in 1951 and declared over in 1955, ahead of schedule, the targets more than met. Even at that date, the propaganda that accompanied the beginnings of an East German planned economy could be grotesque, and the items that recollect this phase will doubtless tickle many now. It would only be fair, however, to bear in mind that in the first decade of the GDR's history the struggle to fulfil plans was accompanied by a genuine sense of a fresh start, a new and energetic departure - and in this respect it was finally a more honest thing than the ossified, dogmatic planned economy of the 70s and 80s,with its clichés and hot air. Slogans such as Peace - Reconstruction - Prosperity, or the five-year plan emblem together with its motto The key to our success, are eloquent not only of the political vocabulary favoured during the 50s but also of the hopes and longings of the East German people. Among the many activities mounted by the Freie Deutsche Jugend (Free German Youth) was the Wilhelm-Pieck-Campaign , intended to prompt greater effort by the country's young people and the working population in general, to mark the President's eightieth birthday. On this occasion, the apprentices at the Bitterfeld electrochemicals combine gave Pieck a stylish folder containing documents and statements concerning their FDJ group. At their deaths, Pieck and Grotewohl left several hundred folders of this kind, with enough material for a hefty tome, or a feature-length satirical programme. Elsewhere, workers in factories set a good example in cost-cutting. If honorific gifts were produced in series, a given item could be made at a fraction of the cost of an individually-crafted piece. The figure of a muscular miner in a combative attitude, an optimistic expression firmly on his face, was far and away the most frequently given present for Pieck's eightieth birthday. He received numerous gifts from comrades in the Federal Republic too. Most of them were little items with some local connection, such as a figure of Roland from Bremen , or one of Hamburg's typical Hummel figures . The GDR leadership's duties routinely included visits to factories. These visits served primarily to demonstrate the closeness of the state and Party leadership to the working classes. In 1953, Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl visited the Ernst Thälmann Polygraphics Works at Saalfeld. He may have been critical of the work being done by the graphic artists and designers there; at all events, for his sixtieth birthday the following year he was presented with an entire collection of draft designs for new product labels. In the 50s, in addition to the obligatory gift, a leader might be honoured by having a work team (at least) named after him. Long before he officially took over the reins of the state and Party, Walter Ulbricht was so popular that labour collectives bore his name as early as 1953. For his sixtieth birthday, one of his work teams presented him with a desktop set praising his endeavours on behalf of peace, unity, democracy and socialism. Ten years later, as chair of the GDR's Council of State, he received for the first time one of the traditional presents from the Soviet armed forces in Germany - generally bombastic and symbolically top-heavy affairs. That first gift was a model of a Soviet cosmonaut memorial. A present from the Soviet armed forces to Otto Grotewohl has survived too, a figure reaching for the stars and thus symbolizing humanity's unceasing striving after higher things - an allegory that recurs frequently in Communist and socialist iconography. The Honecker era, too, in due course provided the Deutsches Historisches Museum with a number of anniversary presents. The desk set given to Erich Honecker, on his sixtieth birthday, by Lieutenant Colonel Kurkotkin, commander in chief of the Soviet armed forces in Germany, and bearing a personal dedication, particularly intrigues all who see it. The martial character of the set was no doubt intended to convey that the SED First Secretary could count on the massed firepower of the Soviet Union behind him, and thus settle in to a quiet period in power. The composition - typical in approach, given its origin - does in fact include a number of useful items, regardless of its military character and offputting design: a radio, a thermometer in the TV mast, a calendar, and four ball-points disguised as missiles. Ten years later a Soviet-German joint-stock company, SDAG Wismut - which was the last company in East Germany to remain under partial Soviet administration and control (till 1990), because of the uranium it was mining - presented a conversation piece inspired by mining. The bismuth workers, honouring an established tradition, selected a particularly fine mineral sample. The musical box they built into the sample seems never to have been used. On the same occasion, Honecker was presented with a pick by the Senftenberg Brown Coal Combine. It was not to be the last he received in his lengthy career as head of state and Party. It was not only the leaders of state and Party that were given these heavily symbolic presents; the tradition was observed at every level of the state and Party hierarchy. Stasi boss Erich Mielke kept a trophy room, as it were, at his headquarters in Normannenstrasse. Numerous honorifics are now on display there, gifts to Mielke or the ministry on a variety of occasions. Some were passed on to the Stasi ministry's information centre, whence they were made over to the Museum für Deutsche Geschichte in 1990. There are the usual plaques and tapestries, but one of the Stasi ministers birthday presents was a rather unusual model of an electric oven. In the GDR, 7 October was a national holiday, an annual celebration of the establishment of the first German workers' and peasants' state, and the date was marked with a grand parade, a government ceremony, and countless local festivities around the country. And every five years, on jubilee occasions, the state and Party leadership celebrated in lavish style. Leaders from friendly countries, and representatives from around the world, would pay their respects to the GDR. Again, it is the presents made by the Soviet armed forces that are especially striking. The model of the Soviet memorial in Treptow Park, which symbolizes the liberation of Germany from fascism and stresses the role played by the Red Army, was a gift to mark the GDR's silverjubilee in 1974. The outsized helm presented to Honecker on the 35th anniversary by the Schwerin SED regional leaders alluded to the well-worn image of Erich Honecker as the great helmsman of state. The accompanying letter is a gem, sparkling with all the routine phrases that had become de rigueur among the Party leadership echelons. The regional first secretary thanks our dear comrade Erich Honecker for his outstanding personal contribution to the conception and realisation of policies designed to assure the happiness of the people and the safeguarding of peace, and asserts that the people of our region are paying tribute to these fine socialist politics by making greater endeavours than ever before, in every field of society. By the time of the 40th anniversary celebrations, however, a gloomy knowledge of imminent upheaval darkened the leaders' festivities - though surely none of them could suspect at the time that it was to be the GDR's very last birthday.

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25th Wedding Anniversary Gift Ideas - FindGift.com Personalize FindGift.com! -- Login | Sign Up | List of Services Gift Ideas Gift Registry Gift Shops Gift Bookmarks Home | Help keyword search Gift Giving Made Easy! A free service dedicated to helping you find creative gift ideas! Home Occasions Anniversary 25th Anniversary Refine Search for Anniversary Gift Ideas Anniversary for Him for Her for a Couple 1st Anniversary 5th Anniversary 10th Anniversary 25th Anniversary 40th Anniversary 50th Anniversary Keepsakes Poems Any Price $0 - $10 $11 - $25 $26 - $50 $51 - $100 $101 - $200 $200+ Related Links Gift ideas via the traditional & modern anniversary table Need help remembering their anniversary? Sign up for our FREE email reminder service! Use our Gift Wizard to customize your gift search Use our Gift Finder to find gift ideas customized to the likes/dislikes of the recipient. Personalized Romance Book Romantic and humorous anniversary gift. Personalized romance novels. www.bookbyyou.com Stroll down Memory Lane A place where great moments and memories live forever. Very unique www.yourmemorylane.com Viewing 1 - 10 of 238 gift ideas found Framed Anniversary Print: What Happened When You Married from Birthdayandanniversarygifts.com ($32.95) Top news story of the month the couple married, headlines for the year, top movies and songs, prices for their wedding day, & headlines for previous milestone anniversaries. Framed. Fast shipping! Order by Noon M-Fri Eastern time to have order go out the same day! Questions? Contact Birthdayandanniversarygifts.com . Add to Gift Bookmarks Add to Registry [ More Gifts from this store ] [ People Who Liked This Gift Also Liked ] [ Report Error ] Personalized 25th Anniversary Plate from Things Remembered ($29.95) The heart atop the 25th Anniversary Plate is symbolic of the love that has surrounded those two special people throughout the years. Mark their silver celebration in classic style with the silver plated brass plate. Limited time offer! Buy any gift and get the 2nd gift, of equal or lesser value, at 50% off! Questions? Contact Things Remembered . Add to Gift Bookmarks Add to Registry [ More Gifts from this store ] [ People Who Liked This Gift Also Liked ] [ Report Error ] Personalized Anniversary Poem from PoetryGift.com ($29.99) Unique anniversary gift that will always be remembered. Personalized with names, anniversary date and personal message and customized for any year anniversary. Free shipping. FREE SHIPPING available for any order. Special 10% discount by entering coupon code - poetrygift - on order form Questions? Contact PoetryGift.com . Add to Gift Bookmarks Add to Registry [ More Gifts from this store ] [ People Who Liked This Gift Also Liked ] [ Report Error ] 1 Dozen Sterling Silver Roses from Love is a Rose ($599.00) A dozen roses, each flower preserved in sterling silver. Arranged with baby's breath. Vase sold separately. Most of our gifts are handcrafted so please order early so you will get the ones you want. Questions? Contact Love is a Rose . Add to Gift Bookmarks Add to Registry [ More Gifts from this store ] [ People Who Liked This Gift Also Liked ] [ Report Error ] 25th Wedding Anniversary Ornament from Personal Creations ($14.95) Our silver-colored 25th anniversary ornament is personalized the couple's names (8 characters each), last name (15 characters) and anniversary date. Made of resin. Measures 3-1/2"H. $5 OFF orders over $40! Save on personalized gifts, ornaments and decorations. PROMO CODE: GFB548. (exp 12/31/05) Questions? Contact Personal Creations . Add to Gift Bookmarks Add to Registry [ More Gifts from this store ] [ People Who Liked This Gift Also Liked ] [ Report Error ] Silver Anniversary Remembrance Box from Love is a Rose ($129.95) The perfect gift for a couples 25th Anniversary. This stunning 10"x12" custom Remembrance Box comes complete with a real rose preserved in pure sterling silver. Included is a 2" x 3" engraved plate with your personal message. Most of our gifts are handcrafted so please order early so you will get the ones you want. Questions? Contact Love is a Rose . Add to Gift Bookmarks Add to Registry [ More Gifts from this store ] [ People Who Liked This Gift Also Liked ] [ Report Error ] 25th Anniversary Frame from BrideStuff.com, Inc. ($14.99) "This 25th anniversary photo frame is the perfect place to put a photo of the married couple. The frame is inscribed with the words from 1 Corinthians 13 "Love is patient, love is kind. Free U.S. ground shipping on all purchases over $100! Questions? Contact BrideStuff.com, Inc. . Add to Gift Bookmarks Add to Registry [ More Gifts from this store ] [ People Who Liked This Gift Also Liked ] [ Report Error ] "Reflections" Anniversary Frame from Wedding-Presents.com ($49.95) Reflect with joy on your first year together, or the past 50 years together as husband and wife with our new and exclusive "Reflections" Anniversary Frame. Choose ANY Year. *Money Saving Coupon* Save 15% off your order! Use code 'findgift' during checkout. Hurry, offer expires September 30th! Questions? Contact Wedding-Presents.com . Add to Gift Bookmarks Add to Registry [ More Gifts from this store ] [ People Who Liked This Gift Also Liked ] [ Report Error ] "Celebrations" Crystal Flute Set from Wedding-Presents.com ($24.95) Create a lasting memory as you toast your wedding or anniversary in style with this two piece crystal flute set. They are custom personalized with the couples first names in your choice of 11 designs. *Money Saving Coupon* Save 15% off your order! Use code 'findgift' during checkout. Hurry, offer expires September 30th! Questions? Contact Wedding-Presents.com . Add to Gift Bookmarks Add to Registry [ More Gifts from this store ] [ People Who Liked This Gift Also Liked ] [ Report Error ] The Original Family Birthstone Tree from BirthstoneTree.com ($100.00) The original family birthstone tree(1966) is a bronze engraving of your families history with birthstones set beside each name and birthdate. The perfect gift for parents and grandparents. Questions? Contact BirthstoneTree.com . Add to Gift Bookmarks Add to Registry [ More Gifts from this store ] [ People Who Liked This Gift Also Liked ] [ Report Error ] Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | viewing 1 - 10 of 238 gift ideas found Bosses Day Oct 16, 2005 24 Shopping Days Left Bosses Day Gift Ideas Sweetest Day Oct 15 Halloween Oct 31 More Holidays Seasonal Gifts Wedding Gift Ideas Anniversary Gift Ideas Autumn Theme See this month's Top 20 Gift Ideas Gift Helpers » Anniversary Gifts » Flower Meanings » Monthly Flowers » Monthly Birthstones » Signs of the Zodiac » Additional Resources FindGift.com Newsletter Sign up to receive seasonal and unique gift ideas via email. Email Address Merchant Login | Add Your Products to FindGift.com | Press Room | FAQs | Contact FindGift.com Conditions of Use | Privacy Policy | Site Map © 1997-2005, Registry Online, Inc. FindGift.com and its logo are trademarks of Registry Online, Inc.