Ostalgie is a play on words that describes the sudden nostalgia for East German products following German reunification in 1990. It was initially a short-lived hype, but was still going strong in 2005. The term itself is based on the German word "Nostalgie" (nostalgia) from which the first letter was ommitted, leaving "Ost" (the word for east). It can be literally translated as east-algia.
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