page_title: Christian W. Staudinger
section_title: Childhood in Waltershausen (1952–1968)
hierarchical_section_title: Christian W. Staudinger / Life / Childhood in Waltershausen (1952–1968)
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Christian W. Staudinger als kleiner Junge mit Filmkamera English: Christian W. Staudinger as a little boy with filmcamera
context_page_description: Christian W. Staudinger is a German artist who became involved in art after his escape from the GDR and the trial of a civil life. He is dedicated to the visual arts, performance and conceptual art, poetry and political arts, is a video artist and arranges installation art.
context_section_description: Staudinger was the son of a hotel and restaurant manager, Gerhard Staudinger (b. April 20, 1923, in Erfurt, d. February 3, 1988, in Waltershausen), and his wife Edeltraut (b. January 30, 1927, in Wandersleben, d. December 11, 2011, in Waltershausen). He grew up in the village of Schmira near Erfurt and from 1956 in Waltershausen, where his parents ran the Bayerischer Hof restaurant, a member of the state-controlled Restaurant Trade Organisation (German: HO). In Schirma they ran the Hotel Welcome, a private, independent business, but in 1956, about the time when Christian's brother Ulrich was born, they moved to the state-controlled hotel in Waltershausen, as they had to give up their independent operators' license. Staudiger had a happy childhood although there were arguments with his parents about politics. His parents were still influenced by the politics of the Nazi era, and were extremely critical of the GDR. The national flag was not flown when it was required to be and his parents never voted in GDR elections, although these were both officially required duties in the GDR. However, members of the Stasi hierarchy visited his parents' restaurant because of the good food. Christian Staudinger was an enthusiastic communist, avidly read communist literature, and was a keen drummer in the local marching band in Waltershausen, guided by his teacher Otto Müller.
  His paternal grandfather, Wilhelm Staudinger, was a German nationalist, who ran Hotel Welcome with his wife Paula, before his son took over. During the Nazi period he gave extra bread and milk to forced labourers. The village teacher betrayed him. He was arrested, tortured at Petersberg Citadel in Erfurt and died a few days later as result. Staudiger's maternal grandfather, Phillip Orth, worked for the German Railways and co-founded the Communist Party of Germany in Neudietendorf shortly after the First World War. To protect the family, he sent his daughter to the League of German Girls, a Nazi organisation. He was not bothered by the Nazis and died when Staudinger was 16 years old. His uncle, Sigmar Orth, was a liaison officer between the police and the Stasi, who encouraged Staudiger's interest in history and enthusiasm for the developing communist German state.
caption: Staudinger as a child, with his father's camera
exif: {"Image ExifOffset": "26", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "672", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "512"}