Name/Title
Rudotel (medazepam) tablets, boxed with bottleEntry/Object ID
2025.1.136Description
An East German pharmaceutical export package: a cardboard box and its amber glass bottle of "Rudotel" (medazepam) tablets, a daytime tranquilizer. The box, printed in black on a white-and-orange ground, carries the "GERMED" maker's roundel and reads "50 tablets / 50 comprimés / 50 tabletas" and "Rudotel® (Medazepam)," with multilingual panels: (English) "Tranquilizer for Day-Time Use / Each tablet contains 10 mg of medazepam / See leaflet inside / Preserve from light"; (French) "Tranquillisant du jour / Chaque comprimé contient 10 mg de médazépam / Voir le prospectus ci-inclus / Protéger contre la lumière"; and the maker line "VEB ARZNEIMITTELWERK DRESDEN / Produced in the GDR / Produit en RDA." The amber bottle bears a label with the "GERMED" logo, "Rudotel® (Medazepam) / Calmante diurno / Cada tableta contiene 10 mg de medazepam / Según la prescripción médica / Proteger contra la luz / VEB ARZNEIMITTELWERK DRESDEN / Producido en la RDA," and "50 tablets"; it retains a cork/composition stopper and contains tablets. The box is heavily aged, foxed, water-stained, and worn at the edges; the bottle is intact with toned label.Use
Medical supplies of Leopoldo Arús GálvezCollection
The Cabrera Arús family collection, Leopoldo Arús Gálvez collectionMade/Created
Manufacturer
VEB Arzneimittelwerk DresdenPlace
City
Dresden* Untyped Place
G.D.R.Region
Central EuropeContinent
EuropeEdition
"GERMED" trademarkNotes
Maker
VEB Arzneimittelwerk Dresden, German Democratic Republic (East Germany), under the "GERMED" trademark (the GDR pharmaceutical combine's export brand, "GERman MEDicaments").
Date
Circa 1970s–1980s (tentative; inferred). The "GERMED" export branding and the trilingual export packaging are consistent with the 1970s–1980s, the period of the plant's combine status and active export trade; medazepam itself was introduced in the late 1960s. No printed manufacture/expiry date is legible.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Notes
Box: "GERMED" roundel logo; "50 tablets / 50 comprimés / 50 tabletas"; "Rudotel® (Medazepam)"; "Tranquilizer for Day-Time Use / Each tablet contains 10 mg of medazepam / See leaflet inside / Preserve from light"; "Tranquillisant du jour / Chaque comprimé contient 10 mg de médazépam / Voir le prospectus ci-inclus / Protéger contre la lumière"; "VEB ARZNEIMITTELWERK DRESDEN / Produced in the GDR / Produit en RDA."
Bottle label: "GERMED" logo; "Rudotel® (Medazepam) / Calmante diurno / Cada tableta contiene 10 mg de medazepam / Según la prescripción médica / Proteger contra la luz / VEB ARZNEIMITTELWERK DRESDEN / Producido en la RDA"; "50 tablets."Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Leopoldo Arús GálvezNotes
ownerRelated Places
Place
City
HavanaCountry
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaNotes
acquisition, usePlace
City
Dresden* Untyped Place
G.D.R.Region
Central EuropeContinent
EuropeNotes
productionResearch Notes
Notes
Rudotel is the GERMED/Arzneimittelwerk Dresden brand of medazepam, a benzodiazepine marketed as a "daytime tranquilizer" (calmante diurno) for anxiety, taken to calm without strong sedation.
The maker, VEB Arzneimittelwerk Dresden, was the GDR's leading pharmaceutical research and production enterprise and a specialist in psychopharmaceuticals; its "GERMED" mark ("GERman MEDicaments") was the trademark under which the East German pharmaceutical combine exported.
The trilingual English/French/Spanish packaging is itself evidence of the export trade, and the Spanish-language bottle label ("calmante diurno… según la prescripción médica… producido en la RDA") indicates a package prepared for Spanish-speaking markets such as Cuba.
The GDR was a significant COMECON trading partner of Cuba, and pharmaceuticals were among the goods supplied; this item documents that medical-supply dimension of socialist-bloc trade, complementing the collection's other Eastern-bloc imports.Created By
María A. Cabrera ArúsCreate Date
February 25, 2026Updated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsUpdate Date
June 14, 2026
