Laundry Day in the City

I can't really answer for all parts but the town I was in seemed to be quite poor. There were lots of empty/abandoned buildings and I saw mostly elderly people. The rail line from Berlin out to that town was dotted with abandoned factories and other buildings. I have heard that, in general, it's been a difficult transition for former East Germany. The parts East Germany I've seen all seemed to be quite poor...but I've really not done much travelling there.

That's interesting, Hedwig! Thank you for sharing! How is life for people in what was then East Germany?

Yes, very interesting!
This past summer, I was the guest of an elderly lady living in a small town in what was East Germany. Her apartment was in a lovely old building and her kitchen windows opened up onto a common courtyard shared by everyone in her building. The 2 sides and back of the courtyard were formed by a communal summer kitchen, tool shed/garden area and laundry 'house' that must have operated much as you described. Things looked disused but nearly intact and it was easy to see the residents using it. This, however, was not a tenement but a nice apartment building...

Oh, I wish there's an image of the communal wash tubs. I'd love to see that!

Now I can kind of understand why everyone did it on the same day -so the neighborhood could look comparatively pristine on other days. Where I grew up, clotheslines were all in the back yard, and the only ones who saw them much were kids. Thanks, Stephen.