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Christian Meister

b. 1954

Born
1 Sep 1954, Starnberg
Country of birth
West Germany, today Germany

Living person. The family sees only the name, dates and photo; everything else stays private unless they choose to share it.

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  • Birth1 Sep 1954, StarnbergProbable1 source

A life in time

  1. Born · Starnberg

    Birth, Starnberg

What was it like?

The world around Starnberg, 1954: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Christian was born the same year as Angela Merkel, Hugo Chávez, and Jackie Chan.

Born the same year

  • Angela Merkel

    chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021 (born 1954)

  • Hugo Chávez

    president of Venezuela (1999–2013); revolutionary and military officer

  • Jackie Chan

    Hong Kong actor and martial artist (born 1954)

  • Oprah Winfrey

    American talk show host, actress, producer, and author (born 1954)

  • Sócrates

    Brazilian association football player (1954–2011)

  • François Hollande

    President of France from 2012 to 2017 (born 1954)

Fashion
Around 1955–1955

The Klepper Coat Status Symbol

The Klepper coat, a rainproof jacket, became a significant status symbol for West German men by 1955. Nearly two-thirds of all raincoats produced in the country that year were manufactured by this firm.

Perlon Lingerie Symbolized Progress

In the early 1950s, women embraced Perlon garments, such as lingerie, because they could be hand-washed in the evening and dried overnight without needing ironing. This was marketed to housewives as a symbol of progress and time-saving convenience.

Music

Milk bars and jukebox music

Youths frequently visited milk bars to drink milkshakes and listen to music on Wurlitzer jukeboxes, which cost one groschen per selection. Alcohol was prohibited in these establishments for those under 21 years old.

Rare records and fragile needles

Shellac records were so rare that customers had to trade in an old disc when buying a new one. The needles used to play them often wore out after only two or three uses.

Getting around
Around 1950–1950

Slow 1950 train travel speeds

In 1950, a 91-kilometer train journey from Bocholt to Münster took 2 hours and 38 minutes, averaging less than 35 km/h.

Around 1950–1950

Train travel costs in 1950

A 1950 third-class train ticket from Bocholt to Münster cost 5.50 DM, while a platform ticket required for companions cost 10 Pfennig.

Daily life

Cramped and basic postwar living conditions

In the early postwar years, families often lived in severely cramped, makeshift conditions such as barracks or subdivided rooms, with many sharing a single bed among multiple people. Basic necessities like light, heating, and running water were frequently missing or unreliable, forcing households to use items like oil lamps and primitive stoves for warmth and cooking.

Difficult conditions for school children

Classrooms were frequently overcrowded, with up to 60 children per class, and students often used slates and dip pens instead of paper. Many children faced interruptions to their schooling during winter months when classrooms could not be heated due to severe fuel shortages.

Food

Prosperity Symbolized by Hearty Meals

Following the scarcity of the postwar years, a "wave of eating" began in the mid-1950s where hearty portions of potatoes, thick sauces, and pork roast with fat crust became symbols of newfound prosperity.

Shrimp Peeling Wages

In the 1950s, a skilled shrimp peeler could process six pounds of shrimp per hour and earned 2.15 Deutsche Mark for this labor.

Prices and wages

Worker wages in 1955

In 1955, the average hourly wage for a West German industrial worker rose to 1.76 Mark from 1.65 Mark in 1954.

Work

The Exhausting Sleep Sunday

Steel workers facing relentless cycles of night and Sunday shifts coined their limited time off as Schlafsonntag, or sleep Sunday, to describe the exhaustion following their rotating schedules.

News and letters

Slow mail delivery in the 1950s

In the 1950s, mail delivery could be surprisingly slow, with some letters taking 2.5 to 3 days to travel between cities like Hamburg and Heidelberg, while registered mail sometimes took 14 days.

Around 1960–1960

Telegrams were often slow and expensive

By 1960, telegrams often took more than 12 hours to arrive, leading to complaints that they were no faster than regular letters despite being much more expensive.

During their lifetime

  1. 1961

    Berlin Wall separates nation in 1961

    The construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 ended free movement from East Germany and created a death strip that separated families for decades.

  2. 1992

    Record asylum applications in 1992

    In 1992, the number of asylum seekers in the Federal Republic reached a record high of over 438,000, following the collapse of the Eastern bloc.

Family

Spouses