Is it canned boiled-off nostalgia? Trivialization of GDR injustice? Or just a mixture of water, yellow peas, bockwurst and nitrite curing salt, which is slowly heated while stirring constantly? And maybe just a little bit too much? “Kelles NVA field soup”, which has been on the market for eleven years, is currently causing a stir because the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship just discovered the canned goods in the wholesaler Rewe’s range on East German shelves.
The director of the foundation, Anna Kaminsky, now complains about the downplaying of GDR injustice and brings out the heavy artillery. Tin cans with the GDR state coat of arms do not belong on the supermarket shelves, and the hammer and compass in the wreath of corn are the symbol of a dictatorship that the National People’s Army (NVA) used to secure the construction of the Wall. That’s irresponsible, Kaminsky scolds Rewe. The accused group refers to the wishes of the customers and points out that the packaging and product presentation are “the responsibility of the distributor”. Prohibited license plates are not on the labels, in fact it is allowed to show the GDR state coat of arms. Edeka and Norma have also had the product in East German branches for years.
“It’s really all about the soup.”
So call the “distributor”. Antje Mandelkow founded “Kelles Klädener Suppenmanufaktur” in 2011 with one euro of seed capital and cannot understand the criticism. “We really only care about the soup,” she says, “and that’s how it was cooked in the NVA. The people here still know it and like it.” Artificial aromas, colorings and flavor enhancers are not used in her cauldron, artificial excitement is just as far from her mind. Her family business has 28 employees, and she finances eight full-time jobs with the NVA soup. Nobody ever complained – on the contrary, there were television reports and customer approval. She also presented her bestseller at the Green Week 2018. In 2012, her business received an award for “successful integration of disabled people” and Mandelkow has just received a “Culinary Star” from the state of Saxony-Anhalt for her wedding soup. So why should she give up her recipe for success?
Rewe also refers to the “food culture identity” in the East when asked by SZ. “These are foods from an entire generation that have become rare and usually rely on the original packaging in order to be recognized on the full supermarket shelf,” says a spokesman: “Before the Federal Foundation’s mail, we never had any critical comments about the products votes reached.” The wholesaler MHV has listed other classics of the GDR cuisine in addition to the field soup. On the label of the school kitchen solyanka, a child with the red neckerchief advertises the Thälmann pioneers. Also on offer under the GDR coat of arms: “Tote Oma”, grützwurst with potatoes, advertising slogan “not only popular with pensioners”. Enjoying a plate of NVA soup is “like a journey into the past,” says the soup manufacturer Kelle’s website. Perhaps the displayed soup status is only logical: currently not available.