DRESDEN, East Germany -- They live in the 'valley of the unaware,' and some of them want to leave. But East Germany hopes a steady diet of crime, unemployment and 'Dallas' will convince the people of Dresden to stay home.
Although 85 percent of East Germany's 17 million people have been picking up West Germany's two television networks for about 15 years, Dresden, a city nestled on the Elbe River, is just out of reach of the signal from the West.
Government spokesman Siegfried Seibt said the lack of reception leaves residents of the 'valley of the unaware,' as it is called, to imagine a rosy life in the West -- a situation that has led to Dresden's higher-than-average number of applications to emigrate to West Germany.
Some say that when an East German emigrates or escapes across the border, West German officials can tell after two minutes of talking to him if he comes from Dresden.
'The problem is that residents of Erfurt or Leipzig have fewer illusions about life in West Germany than do people in Dresden,' said Seibt. 'Only a man living in the valley of the unaware can have these illusions.'
But now, communist officials who have always insisted on controlling the flow of information seem to have embraced Western-style entertainment in a bid to tarnish the luster of the West. There is a belief that no one can report the evils of capitalism -- crime, unemployment, inflation, scandals -- like the capitalists themselves.
'We don't mind receiving the West German news. On the contrary, it supplements our news programming and it is the best information for our people,' Seibt said.
The problem of bringing Western television to the area, although politically awkward, is basically technical and economic. Dresden county is in a low-lying area too far south to be reached by transmitters in West Berlin and too far east for those in West Germany. But a relay station or dish would solve the problem.
There are persistent rumors that the government has already laid costly underground cables to aid reception.
Seibt said the issue of cable for Dresden would be on East German leader Erich Honecker's agenda when he makes his historic trip to Bonn Sept. 7-11 to meet with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
'I am convinced it will be a topic of discussion between Kohl and Honecker. It is not a problem that a region can decide,' Seibt said.
Have the cables been laid, as a West German newspaper reported two years ago?
'No comment,' said Seibt, using what he said were his only two words of English before slipping back into German. 'We are sure the problem of cabling Dresden will be solved, but at present there are no agreements.'
The relaxed atmosphere is a far cry from the days when East German school teachers quizzed their students about the shape of the clock on television. The clock on East German television is square, the one on West German TV is round; parents of students who answered 'round' were singled out for punishment.
The change in attitude does not mean that East Germany will allow its news media to report social problems at home. The official ideological line remains rigid despite some reforms and more in-depth reporting of problems in other East Bloc countries since the rise of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
As recently as 1984, West German television was denounced for its anti-social stance and accused of disrupting relations between the two Germanys.
But after a cultural accord was signed in May 1986, the East and West German television networks began to negotiate agreements regulating the exchange of cultural, entertainment and sports broadcasts. Kohl and Honecker are expected to sign a cultural agreement during the first official visit by an East German leader to Bonn.
The East German government, which for years has produced special television sets capable of picking up the different systems used by the two Germanys, is also selling antennae costing between 2,000 to 3,000 marks, or $1,125 to $1,700 -- two to three times the average monthly salary.
'I have mine in the garden,' said Seibt.
So, while a few well-connected residents of Dresden have been watching such Western programs as the U.S. soap opera 'Dallas,' the average citizen is still waiting.
They do have some idea about what they will be getting.
'I hope that I, too, will soon be watching 'Dallas,'' said a middle-aged man with a smile. 'They tell me it's really terrible, but good for putting you to sleep.'
