East Germany was, by comparison, one of the richer Communist nations and although it was a failure in comparison to the economic powerhouse that was the Federal Republic, its citizens did not live in abject poverty or anything of the sort. Far from it, in fact. East Germans could boast several, at least perceived, advantages over the West. Full employment, greater gender equality (abortion, for example was a right in the East, but not in the West), guaranteed housing, less materialism, and a greater sense of family were but a few things your typical regime supporting East German might say were better in the East.

After the fall of the wall, a sort of reminiscing culture developed around the former DDR affectionately called Ostalgie (a portmanteau of the German for "east" and "nostalgia"). So you have people who look back fondly on certain brands or TV shows or other aspects of life in the former DDR. Perhaps more obvious to tourists in Berlin are the Trabant cars you can see or the old Ampelmann street crossing signs, but there are lots and lots of other examples. Popular culture has even made fun of this tendency, with movies like Goodbye Lenin, which was nominated for several awards, including a BAFTA and a Golden Globe.

One of the best books I've read about this is actually by an anthropologist. Where the World Ended by Daphne Berdahl looks at reunification in a single German border town. While it doesn't focus specifically on Ostalgie, the concept does play a significant role in the monograph.