Barometers of GDR Cultural Politics: Contextualizing the DEFA Grimm Adaptations

This essay examines adaptations of the Grimms' fairy tales by the East German Film Studio, die Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft (DEFA). After a brief discussion of the condemnation and rehabilitation of fairy tales in the Soviet Union and GDR (German Democratic Republic), it analyzes selected fairy-tale film adaptations against their political, ideological, and cultural-historical background. This investigation shows that the conception of the films, as well as their reception, responded quickly to vacillating liberal and repressive trends and thus functioned as a barometer of cultural politics in the GDR.As children's films, these adaptations illustrate an interesting synthesis of art and politics, as well as pedagogy and entertainment.