You probably have heard of this Germanism in the English language, describing the “economic miracle” that happened to Germany after World War II. The Wirtschaftswunder (pronounce: ‘veert-shafts-voon-dah) was the rapid reconstruction and development of the Western German (and Austrian) economy after complete devastation. The term was apparently coined by The Times in 1950.
This song from the German movie “Wir Wunderkinder” (pronounce: veer ‘voon-dah-‘kinder, meaning we miracle children) describes the dire situation after the Zero Hour and makes fun of the keenness with which every German embraced recovery, from stuffing their gills to some notorious wrongdoers selling autobiographies. I chose this link because of the poignant change of circumstances of life:
Why was only Western Germany (I will leave aside Austria) experiencing the Wirtschaftswunder, not Eastern Germany as well? It had to do with the rift between the Allies. The U.S., Britain, and France realized soon enough that Germany’s emergence from doom also meant a gain for the other nations’ economic health, installing the Marshall Plan with loans and a currency reform. In spite of massive dismantling of industrial areas and reparation payments, Western Germans worked hard on getting back to a new normal. Eastern Germany was under the control of the Soviet Union, and though they were trying hard to achieve similar, they had to pay reparations in kind without any supportive measures, which left them with way less for their own needs than their Western brothers and sisters.
As a child and teenager, I still walked past bomb rabble sites when visiting a great aunt of mine. And downtown Stuttgart’s shopping mile, the Königstraße, still featured quickly built, improvised shop premises near the main station; these one-story buildings were razed and replaced by multistory-buildings in the 70s’ concrete-building boom. So, I might have been witnessing the rear end of the Wirtschaftswunder.
My grandparents and parents, though, very much experienced the Wirtschaftswunder in Germany, from bitter famine and trying to swap whatever one still had (mostly work for food) to the sudden Fresswelle (pronounce: ‘frass-vel-lah, meaning guzzling surge) of the 1950s and the Reisewelle (pronounce: ‘rye-zah-vel-lah, meaning traveling surge) of the 1960s. My parents certainly neither overindulged in food or in traveling back in the day. And though I never lacked anything during my childhood and youth, indulgence was limited to special occasions. I don’t think it did me harm. To the contrary – it made me appreciate the effort that was put towards everything we had.
The German average consumer back in the day probably didn’t perceive the economic mechanisms for what they were in making the Wirtschaftswunder happen. They had no say in it, anyhow, and probably not everybody would have understood the interlocking of measures. It was that, literally overnight, empty shop windows were stuffed with merchandise once more. Where famine had reigned and black markets or hamster drives had provided people with rare items, traditional retail took over again and turned life back to normal. Imagine the incredulous amazement! THAT was the miracle. All the rest was a resilient uphill fight with the help of former foes. Now, THAT was also a miracle, if more on the humane side. But that is another story.
As a US Army “brat” who lived in W. Germany in the 1950s and 1960s, I was impressed with the difference between the former and latter decades. The German reputation for organization and engineering was joined by industriousness and friendliness. Best of all, my stepmother (formerly of Silesia and the Eastern Front) showed how a strong survival instinct and a loving nature could overcome major life challenges. As a historian whose dissertation evolved into a WWII-topic book (“Churchill’s Guests”), I am glad that your article covered the nearly-forgotten human side and after-effects of The War. Keep up the good work!
Thank you so very much for your kind words, Robert! I always keep thinking that without programs like the Hoover/Quaker feeding and Care packages so many Germans would have starved. And these were probably the most immediately felt of the humanitarian post-war programs the Allies created. My entire German core family hails from Silesia, by the way.