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Cars and TransportationGermany

The Trabant: Automotive Lemon or Cult Car?

February 6, 2025

East Germany’s Trabant reached cult status after breaking through the Berlin Wall.

https://p.dw.com/p/4q6sZ
Deutschland Berlin 1989 | Westberliner begrüßen Trabi in der Nacht des Mauerfalls
Image: Sven Simon/IMAGO

First built as East Germany’s answer to the “People’s Car”, the Trabant gave the country’s people freedom of mobility and a sense of hope. A feeling that soured as other countries made rapid progress while East Germany and the Trabi stayed the same. We trace the Trabant’s journey from necessity, to automotive lemon, to when it made its way through to the West after the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

 

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