Club Cola is a German

cola Cola is a Carbonation, carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus essential oil, oils, and other flavorings. Cola became popular worldwide after the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a trademarked br ...

soft drink A soft drink (see #Terminology, § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) Carbonated water, carbonated, and typically including added Sweetness, sweetener. Flavors used to be Natural flav ...

. Originally manufactured at the request of the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Mar ...

and other governmental organizations, Club Cola was created in order for

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

to have its own cola soft drink that was similar in taste and appearance to those sold in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

. The government announced a project to create the drink at the 1966 Leipzig Spring Fair. On 19 April 1967 the first Club Cola was bottled in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

. This soft drink was so popular with East German citizens that Club Cola was awarded with ''gold in the category soft drinks'' at the 1972

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

spring fair.

Club Cola today

In 1992, ''Club Cola'' was reintroduced to the German market under the new management of Spreequell Mineralbrunnen GmbH and is now available all over the country. It benefited from ''

Ostalgie In German culture, ''Ostalgie'' () is nostalgia for aspects of life in Communist East Germany. It is a portmanteau of the German words '' Ost'' (east) and '' Nostalgie'' (nostalgia). Its anglicised equivalent, ostalgia (rhyming with "nostalgi ...

'', nostalgia for East Germany, but is also being promoted as a youthful brand today.

References

External links

New Club Cola producer's official website
{{Colas Cola brands Products introduced in 1967 German drinks Ostalgie Goods manufactured in East Germany Soft drinks