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J Neurol Surg A Cent Eur Neurosurg 2025; 86(S 01): S2-S3
DOI: 10.1055/a-2558-3251
Original Article

Once Upon a Time in the Year 1950

Stephan W. Jaster
1   Abt. Neurochirurgie und Frührehabilitation, Mediclin Krankenhaus Plau am See, Plau am See, Germany
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Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis. (Latin proverb, 16th century)

Whatever we are going to do or to decide: we are dependent on the current political, economic, cultural, and social conditions.

This article is written on behalf of the political, social, and cultural circumstances in the world, Europe and both German States in the year 1950, when the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (DGNC) was officially founded.

Five years after the Second World War (WWII), the Cold War between the Western European states and the USA on one side, and the Soviet Union and the Communistic States in Eastern Europe on the other side had come to a head. The first showdown took place around West Berlin (Berlin Blockade) beginning in June 1948. The Western Allies organized the Berlin Air Bridge to carry supplies to the people of West Berlin, the Blockade was lifted in May 1949, and the Airlift ended in September 1949. The first military showdown began on the Korean peninsula in June 1950.

In that year, the Chinese People's Liberation Army invaded Tibet, the Dalai Lama asked for political asylum in India, the Republic of Taiwan was founded, the U.S. Government built the hydrogen bomb, and the UN Refugee Agency was established.

FIFA World Champion Uruguay won 1:0 against Brasilia; Germany had its first international match after WWII against Switzerland, also winning 1:0.

Ernest Hemingway published the novel Across the River and into the Trees,[1] in his opinion his best one. In Hollywood the movies Cinderella by Walt Disney and Annie Get Your Gun by Irving Berlin were released.[2]

Europe was divided by the still permeable “Iron Curtain”; the Secretary of State George C. Marshall developed his European Recovery Program (ERP, aka Marshall Plan) to rebuild the damaged economy for all European states including the Soviet Union. Moscow rejected the offer and directed the other Eastern European states, including the German Democratic Republic (GDR), to reject the offer as well. The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Austria, and the Eastern European countries had a benefit from the ERP. The GDR became dependent on the Soviet Union and was incorporated into the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) and declared the first 5-year plan. The border to Poland through the Oder and Neiße rivers was fixed by a contract in Zgorzelec and adopted at the time of the German reunification in 1990. The FRG was elected to an associate member of the Council of Europe (CoE).[3]

The reconstruction of both German states had to be reinforced, many ruins resulting from allied bombing in WWII still had to be removed, and the city palace of Berlin was demolished by order of the political leader of the GDR, Walter Ulbricht. In the GDR, the first elections were held with a reported voter turnout of 98.44%, in which the “National Front of the GDR,” dominated by the East German communistic party, the SED, got 99.7% of all the votes cast. The GDR passed a law on mother and child protection and equal rights for men and women, which was already mentioned in the preamble of the constitution in 1949.

In the FRG, the first census of population was performed, Konrad Adenauer was elected to the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and the Constitution of Berlin entered into force; at this time Berlin was a disaster area. The delivery of electricity from the GDR to Berlin was interrupted, and conversely the transport of stone coal from the FRG to the GDR.

In both states the authorities had exercised a collective loss of remembrance, and they needed the expertise of the intellectuals of the Third Reich for the institutional building; for example, Hans Globke, co-author and commentator of the “Nuremberg Laws,” became a personal advisor to Chancellor Adenauer. The Federal Supreme Court and the German Federal Mail started their activities; the Ministry of State Security was established in the GDR.

The anti-Semitism of the German population still existed; for example, a Jewish female witness in the trial against Veit Harlan, who produced the Nazi movie Jud Süß, was whipsawed by the audience and had to be protected by the police. Nevertheless, the Central Council of Jews in Germany was founded.

The last food ration cards in the FRG (for sugar) expired (in the GDR they were valid until 1958); in various areas of the FRG free school meals were offered to the pupils. Children were also sent to summer camps. In view of the Korean War, the population had begun to hoard fat and sugar because of fear of renewed rationing. There was shortage of housing due to the 12 million refugees from the former German eastern territories in Russia and Poland and the GDR, which was moderated by housing in shared apartments. The Freedom Bell in Berlin, a mockup of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia donated by U.S. citizens, rang for the first time.

In the FRG, the joint organization of the regional public service broadcasters (ARD) was founded. Schwarzwaldmädel was the first color movie after WWII, which was seen at the movie theaters and established the era of sentimental movies with a regional background. In the opening act of the movie theaters, the newsreel “Neue Deutsche Wochenschau” was established.

In the GDR, the fairy tale movie The Heart of Stone was released, one of the most successful films of the DEFA (Movie Company of the GDR), which was seen by 10 million people and established the movie production for children.

For the first time, pocketbooks were published in the FRG (Rowohlt-Verlag); a German translation of the French story “Le Petit Prince,” written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was published.

The laundry detergent “Persil” was reintroduced into the market 12 years after the shutdown of production.

The compact car “Lloyd LP 300,” produced by the Borgward Company in Bremen (the so-called “Leukoplastbomber”), became the prototype for the compact car “Trabant” in the GDR—released in 1958.[4]

Even though the economic miracle of Western Germany had not yet begun, there were voices that warned of the better food situation in the FRG ([Figs. 1] and [2]).

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Fig. 1 “AEG Elektroherde – Rezepte,” Illustration zum Rezept “Gänsebraten.” https://www.wirtschaftswundermuseum.de/gesellschaft-1950-1.html (Accessed January 5, 2025).
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Fig. 2 “Ich werde zu dick - Was tun?” - “Ein Trostbuch für Viele.” https://www.wirtschaftswundermuseum.de/gesellschaft-1950-1.html (Accessed January 5, 2025).

In the year 1950, the German Society of Neurosurgery was signed into the register of associations and the actual third conference of German neurosurgeons was declared to be the first annual meeting of the new society (see next chapter by H. Collmann and J. Krüger).

You will find further information in this special issue.

All facts in this article are generally known except the following references.



Publication History

Article published online:
21 May 2025

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