Dederon – The wonder silk from Schwarza

Documentary of the series “Der Osten – entdecke wo du lebst” of the MDR

The fabric socialist dreams are made of comes from Schwarza in Thuringia: Dederon. Easy to clean, water-repellent, non-iron. 1800 working men and women produced the famous GDR-artificial silk in the chemical combine “Wilhelm Pieck” around the clock. Everything that keeps the socialist everyday life together is produced from this material: shirts, fishing nets, tights, drapes, summer dresses. The apron dresses and and carrier bags are legendary.

“Dederon – The wonder silk from Schwarza” is a film about the life at a place that was the pivot of one of the most important chemical combines of the GDR. The 30-minute documentary seeks traces of this past: It travels back into the golden age of the GDR-Chemicals and tells stories of the workers who streamed every day through the factory gates. It spins the thread on into the present, because Dederon has survived in Schwarza: Nowadays the same silk is still spun in the same factory halls as in socialist times. The products are sold to the whole world – something the GDR never managed to do.