> But this one is made in West Germany so at least 33 years old and almost daily in use.

It was made at some point before they got around to changing the dies on the production line from "Made in West Germany" to "Made in Germany".

It is absolutely not apparent when that time point was for any given product.

But yes, I get your point. A while ago I found a bike marked "Made in Yugoslavia". It was a piece of shit, but I lovingly made it roadworthy again.