P. M. BRIEFING : Prudery Tumbles in East Berlin
East Germany’s wall of Stalinist prudery fell today as the first editions of the Western men’s magazines Playboy and Penthouse went on sale in an East Berlin hotel.
The glossy girlie magazines stood out among a new selection of West German newspapers and weeklies the exclusive Grand Hotel has started importing from West Berlin.
A strict ban on racy publications was one of the pillars of communist asceticism that East Germany’s disgraced former leaders imposed on the people while they themselves lived in luxury homes.
But the democratic upheaval shaking the country has swept away much of the old system, including a bureau controlling the import of Western publications. It has quietly stopped work.
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