This documentary on the history of East Germany is told from the point of view of its people, using authentic historical footage and documents. It covers cultural, economic, and political developments from the founding of the GDR in 1949, to German unification on October 3, 1990. Highlighted are: the 1953 uprising, the Prague Spring, Bitterfelder Weg, the building of the Wall, the cultural repression of the 1960’s, economic stagnation, Stasi activity, and the East German civic movement and popular upheavals that finally brought down the state.