Unsere Fahrt in die Sächsische Schweiz
Maker: Unknown
Date Made: April 4, 1981
Country: German Democratic Republic
Materials: paper; cardboard; photograph paper
Measurements: 31 cm x 23 cm x 3 cm; 12 3/16 in x 9 1/16 in x 1 3/16 in
Red hard-back bound Brigadebuch made to commemorate a weekend trip taken by border guard co-workers and their families to Saxon Switzerland. A Brigadebuch was a collectively written diary that was popular in the GDR as a way of encouraging comradeship and collective sentiment among co-workers of all kinds of companies. This Brigadebuch is organized in a similar way to a travel journal, with black and white photographs glued in to document the trip. The photographs are captioned with events that occurred over the weekend and the daily itinerary. The Brigadebuch tells of a hike through the forest in the rain, games for children in the park and for adults in the dining hall, a lecture on "Problemen der Identität" or "Problems of Identity" for the wives of the guards, and a buffet dinner. The second day of the trip is documented by photographs of a day trip to the Königstein Fortress, with maps and cut-outs from tourist brochures included. The pages are decorated throughout with pink and green hand-drawn designs.
Accession Number: 2017.015.042
Collection/Series: Peter Bochmann Border Guard Collection