Bye bye Schrankwand

[dieastra]

I'm never sure what the right official term for "Schrankwand" is. Wall unit? Wall of cupboards? Do people outside of Eastern Germany even have those? LOL I mean, from visiting furniture shops/stores once in a while I know that nowadays you only have a couple of shelves and I always wonder where people store their stuff. Then again, not everyone HAS as much stuff as I do ;)

Anyway, the pictures show my old "Schrankwand" ("Schrank" means cupboard and "Wand" means wall, we always put two words together to create a new one). It was bought in 1982 when my family moved to a bigger flat/apartment and I finally got a room for myself at the age of 9. When I moved out of home 14 years ago I took it with me and it stood in the sleeping room since then. But in two weeks some people will come and take it away, and it will go into the G.D.R. museum! We have a museum where you can look at all the old things from the former Eastern German life, I love that they are collected there instead of just thrown away, I mean, it is my childhood after all and lots of memories. And I can visit my Schrankwand there if I want to see it again ;)

And a week after that a new one will be delivered which is even higher (to use that empty air till the ceiling) and so I will have much more well needed space for all my action figures and all the miniature things I buy for them.

At the left side was a wardrobe/clothes cupboard and underneat some drawers for socks and underwear etc.:



And at the right side was an inbuilt desk with a lamp and this is where I did my school homeworks:



And the whole thing together:

Comments

[tardisjournal.livejournal.com]

The picture you enclosed in the comments looks like what we'd call a "curio cabinet", but it's a lot bigger. As for the first thing, no those aren't common over here, nor do they have a name that I'm aware of!

The only time I've encountered something similar, though a lot smaller, was in my tiny dorm room freshman year in college. It came with the room and had a loft bed on top, desk underneath, wardrobe on one side, and drawers for clothes on the other, along with a few shelves. I loved it. It held everything I needed in one compact space!

That's so cool yours is going in a museum! How exactly did that come about?

[dieastra.livejournal.com]

Now I just looked up the word "curio" in the dictionary. Do you mean, like for displaying collections? Like the glass vitrine I bought for my figures? Because there are some glass doors in there? I did only want small displays but usually there is also a huge part with glass, where you display your porcellain cups and plates, for example. Here is an example for that one: http://static.findix.com/data/adpix/picture_L/eiche-rustikal-schrankwand-massiv-27158.jpg

In my comment picture, the long thing at the left side is a bar btw. It opens downwards and inside I have glasses and bottles.

Now I am curious though, why in your opinion there is a difference between this one from the comments and the other one? I mean, technically they are the same. Of course, the style is different, one is more simple and one more advanced, but both are a wall of cabinets. I have seen some in the earlier Eastern German life, which people had in their living room, and it also had a desk, but it was hidden and you only flapped it down when needed. And usually also there is a big hole where the TV is supposed to go, but I have that somewhere else.

But I think the reason could be indeed that in the G.D.R. not everyone had a house like nowadays. It was hard to build one, as you could not just go and buy the items needed, you know. So most lived in apartment buildings, which where small (you should see my parent's kitchen, it is not a kitchen where you can sit inside, it is just too small), same goes for the bathroom. Just the necessary items in there.

So yeah, since we don't have an attic and don't have a garage and don't have a basement, where maybe you store all your things, all of it has to go into the apartment actually! That makes sense.

Edit: Sorry, forgot your question. I just asked them! As simple as that. I had no idea how otherwise to get rid of it, you know, if I had put it into the trash I would have needed some men to help me to take it apart and carry it down the stairs. Now it is not my business anymore ;)