Further Media
In the GDR, an independent punk scene also emerged from the 1970s onward. From 1980, it faced increasing repression. Punks were labeled “asocial” because they distanced themselves from official youth organizations. This photo shows Burkhard Strelow, then 19 years old. His haircut and clothing style indicate his affiliation with the punk scene. With a specially altered army jacket, Levi's jeans, and boots, he wanted to stand out and provoke.
In an interview, Burkhard Strelow recalls how difficult it was to obtain typical punk clothing in the GDR: “Completely unaffordable for an apprentice. Bomber jackets for six hundred East German marks or genuine Doc Martens for a thousand. It wasn't possible, so we sewed on our own.”