Nostalgia for the '80s among German Youth

This article tells about a kind of romantic nostalgia for the '80s among German young people. I have trouble relating because I remember the '80s and they weren't that great. 

The Cold War was still on the the Wall was still up. 

A Communist terrorist group called the Red Army Faction was wreaking havoc. 

The article mentions Nena's 99 Luftballons song. That song caught on because a lot of people were really afraid that a nuclear holocaust might actually happen.

The decade eventually turned out OK. The Wall came down and the Soviet Union broke up. The Red Army Faction was eventually apprehended. But at the time, we didn't know that these things would happen. 

The article says that a spirit of rebelliousness is part of this nostalgia. There was an anti-war movement in the '80s that advocated appeasing the Soviet Union. But it was the strength of Reagan and Thatcher that helped to bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union. That wall dividing East and West Germany would probably still be standing if the anti-war crowd had had their way.

The article is in German, but there are photos. The article also includes a photo gallery featuring art from the '80s.

http://www.dw.com/de/mit-nena-in-die-friedliche-revolution-warum-die-deutschen-die-80er-so-lieben/a-18945271


JBK
December 29, 2015


I just remembered something else that the '80s are known for: AIDS!

Before 1980, no one had ever heard of AIDS. It was in the 1980s that AIDS reared its ugly head and spread like wildfire.

I do not miss the 1980s and I do not understand why German youth long for those years.