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Main articles: History of the German Democratic Republic, History of Germany

The 'German Democratic Republic' ('GDR'; , '''DDR''', or '''Ostdeutschland'''; known in English as 'East Germany') was a socialist country which existed from 1949 to 1990. The German Democratic Republic was established in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany on October 7, 1949, following the creation in May 1949 of the Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany") in the zones occupied by the United States, United Kingdom, and France (excluding Saarland). East Berlin was the capital of East Germany.
It consisted of the current German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Saxony and the eastern part of Berlin.
In 1955 the Republic was declared by the Soviet Union to be fully sovereign; however, Soviet troops remained, based on the four-power Potsdam agreement. As NATO troops remained in West Berlin and West Germany, the GDR and Berlin in particular became focal points of Cold War tensions. East Germany was a member of the Warsaw Pact and a close ally of the Soviet Union. Following the initial opening of sections of the Berlin Wall on November 9 1989, new elections were held on March 18 1990, and the governing party, the SED, lost its majority in the Volkskammer (the East German parliament) soon after. On August 23, the Volkskammer decided that the territory of the Republic would accede to the ambit of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany on October 3 1990. As a result of the unification on that date, the German Democratic Republic officially ceased to exist.

Contents

History

Politics

Political organisation

Persons of note in East Germany

Political representatives

Other notable East Germans

Administrative divisions

Economy

Culture

Music

Theatre

Cinema

Sports

Holidays

See also

References

Notes

External links

History

During the post-Roman migration period, many of these populations left for other lands, and Slavic Wends settled in their wake. German imperial rulers conquered the area during the Middle Ages. The newly acquired land was organised in margravates, German feudal states on the land of Slavs. Consequent waves of German settlements, which in subsequent centuries later included French Hugenots and Jews, gradually modified the originally Slavic composition of the land, except for the small community of Sorbs in Lusatia, and eventually most of what is now East Germany formed a large part of the historical Kingdom of Prussia.
In Imperial Germany and later during the time of the Weimar Republic, territory that would become East Germany was situated in the center of the state. This territory was known as "Mitteldeutschland" (Middle Germany), while the designation "East" was reserved for provinces such as eastern Pomerania, eastern Brandenburg, Silesia and East and West Prussia. During WWII, Allied leaders decided at the Yalta Conference that post-war borders of Poland would be moved westward to the Oder-Neisse line, just as Soviet borders were also moved westward into formerly Polish territory.
Discussions at Yalta and Potsdam also outlined the planned occupation and administration of post-war Germany under a four-power Allied Control Council, or ACC (composed of the United States, United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union). At the end of World War II, at the Potsdam Conference in 1945, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union decided to divide Germany into four occupation zones. Each country would control a part of Germany until its sovereignty was restored.
The ''Länder'' (states) of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and the eastern sector of Greater Berlin fell in the Soviet Zone of Germany (in German: ''Sowjetische Besatzungszone'', or SBZ). Soviet objections to economic and political changes in western (US, UK, and French) occupation zones led to Soviet withdrawal from the ACC in 1948 and subsequent evolution of the SBZ into East Germany. Concurrently, the Western occupation zones consolidated to form West Germany (or the ''Federal Republic of Germany'', FRG).

Officially, both the western Allies and the Communists committed to maintaining a unified Germany after the war in the Potsdam Agreement, at least on paper. The 1952 Stalin Note proposed German unification and superpower disengagement from Central Europe but the United States and its allies rejected the offer. Stalin died in early 1953. Though powerful Soviet politician Lavrenty Beria briefly pursued the idea of German unification once more following Stalin's death, he was arrested and removed from office in a coup d'etat in mid-1953. His successor, Nikita Khrushchev, firmly rejected the idea of handing eastern Germany over to be annexed, marking the end of any serious consideration of the unification idea until the resignation of the East German government in 1989.
Just as Germany was divided after the war, Berlin, the former capital of Germany, was divided into four sectors. East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital of East Germany, although the legality of this was disputed by the western Allies, as the entire city was formally considered an occupied territory governed by martial law through the Allied Control Council. In practice, the Allied Control Council quickly became moot as the Cold War intensified, and the eastern government ignored the technical legal restrictions on how eastern Berlin could be used.
Conflict over the status of West Berlin led to the Berlin Blockade, when the East German government briefly prohibited overland transit between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the massive Berlin Airlift.
The first leader of East Germany was Wilhelm Pieck. He was the first (and last) President of the Republic. The 1974 East German Constitution defined the country as a "republic of workers and peasants."
On June 16, 1953, following a production quota increase of 10 percent for workers building East Berlin's new boulevard the Stalinallee, (today's Karl-Marx-Allee), demonstrations by disgruntled workers broke out in East Berlin. The next day the protests spread across East Germany with more than a million on strike and demonstrations in 700 communities. Fearing revolution the government requested the aid of Soviet occupation troops and on the morning of the 18th tanks and soldiers were dispatched who dealt harshly with protesters. The result was some fifty deaths and a wave of arrests and jail sentences numbering over 10,000. ^[1] Transit between West and East Berlin was relatively free at the time, meaning that the protests and the harsh Soviet reaction unfolded in full view of many western observers. ''See Uprising of 1953 in East Germany.''
During the early stages of the occupation, the Soviet army seized a great deal of industrial equipment from eastern Germany to be shipped back to the Soviet Union as war reparations, crippling the East German economy for years. The increasing economic prosperity of West Germany led large numbers of East Germans to flee to the West. Since the 1940s, East Germans had been leaving the Soviet zone of Germany to emigrate to the west. The ongoing emigration of East Germans further strained the East German economy. Although the German border between the two Germanies was largely closed by the mid-1950s (see Inner German border), the sector borders in Berlin were relatively easy to cross. Due to the lure of higher salaries in the West and political oppression in the East, many skilled workers (such as doctors) crossed into the West, causing a 'brain drain' in the East. However, on the night of August 13 1961, East German troops sealed the border between West and East Berlin and started to build the Berlin Wall, literally and physically enclosing West Berlin. Travel was greatly restricted into, and out of, East Germany. A highly effective security force called the ''Stasi'' monitored the lives of East German citizens to suppress dissenters through its network of informants and agents.
In 1971, Erich Honecker replaced Walter Ulbricht as head of state. East Germany was generally regarded as the most economically advanced member of the Warsaw Pact. Before the 1970s, the official position of West Germany was that of the Hallstein Doctrine which involved non-recognition of East Germany. In the early 1970s, Ostpolitik led by Willy Brandt led to a form of mutual recognition between East and West Germany. The Treaty of Moscow (August 1970), the Treaty of Warsaw (December 1970), the Four Power Agreement on Berlin (September 1971), the Transit Agreement (May 1972), and the Basic Treaty (December 1972) helped to normalise relations between East and West Germany and led to both Germanies joining the United Nations.

Competition with the West was also conducted on a sporting level. East German athletes dominated several Olympic disciplines. Of special interest was the only football match ever to occur between West and East Germany, a first round match during the 1974 World Cup. Though West Germany was the host and the eventual champion, East beat West 1-0.
In September 1989 Hungary removed its border restrictions and unsealed its border and more than 13,000 people left East Germany by crossing the "green" border via Czechoslovakia into Hungary and then on to Austria and West Germany.^[2] Many others demonstrated against the ruling party, especially in the city of Leipzig. Kurt Masur, the conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra led local negotiations with the government, and held town meetings in the concert hall.^[3] The demonstrations eventually led Erich Honecker to resign and in October he was replaced by Egon Krenz.
On November 9 1989 a few sections of the Berlin Wall were opened, resulting in thousands of East Germans crossing into West Berlin and West Germany for the first time. Soon, the governing party of East Germany resigned. Although there were some small attempts to create a permanent, democratic East Germany, these were soon overwhelmed by calls for unification with West Germany. After some negotiations (2+4 Talks, involving the two Germanies and the former Allied Powers United States, France, United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union), conditions for German unification were agreed upon. The East German territory was reorganized into five states. Thus, on October 3 1990 the five East German states plus East Berlin joined the Federal Republic of Germany.
To this day, there remain vast differences between the former East Germany and West Germany (for example, in lifestyle, wealth, political beliefs and other matters) and thus it is still common to speak of eastern and western Germany distinctly. The Eastern German economy has struggled since unification, and large subsidies are still transferred from west to east.

Politics

Main articles: Politics of East Germany

Political organisation

The ruling political party in East Germany was the ''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands'' (Socialist Unity Party of Germany, SED). It was created in 1946 through the Soviet-directed merger of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in the Soviet controlled zone. As the Potsdam Agreement had committed the Soviets to supporting a democratic form of government in Germany, other political parties were technically permitted, although in practice they had no political power and were not allowed to meaningfully question or oppose government policy. Along with other parties, the SED was part of the "National Front of Democratic Germany", ostensibly a united coalition of anti-fascist political parties.
The other political parties ran under the joint slate of the National Front, controlled by the SED, for elections to the Volkskammer, the East German Parliament. Elections took place, but were effectively controlled by the SED/state hierarchy, as Hans Modrow has noted.

★ ''Christlich-Demokratische Union Deutschlands'' (Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU), merged with the West-German CDU after reunification

★ ''Demokratische Bauernpartei Deutschlands'' (Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany, DBD). This party was of special importance because of farmers' role in the economy. The party merged with the West German CDU after reunification.

★ ''Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands'' (Liberal Democratic Party of Germany, LDPD), merged with the West German FDP after reunification

★ ''Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands'' (National Democratic Party of Germany, NDPD), merged with the West German FDP after reunification.
The Volkskammer also included representatives from the ''mass organisations'' like the Free German Youth (''Freie Deutsche Jugend'' or ''FDJ''), or the Free German Trade Union Federation. In an attempt to include women in the political life of East Germany, there was a Democratic Women's Federation of Germany, with seats in the Volkskammer.
Important non-parliamentary mass organisations in East German society included the German Gymnastics and Sports Association (''Deutscher Turn- und Sportbund'' or ''DTSB''), and People's Solidarity (''Volkssolidarität'', an organisation for the elderly). Another society of note (and very popular during the late 1980s) was the Society for German-Soviet Friendship.
A highly effective secret police force called the Stasi infiltrated and reported on most private activity in East Germany, limiting opportunity for non-sanctioned political organisation. All formal organisations except for churches were directly controlled by the East German government. Churches were permitted to operate more or less free from government control, as long as they abstained from political activity.
Following German reunification, the SED was renamed the "Party of Democratic Socialism" (PDS) and then the Left Party (''die Linke''). The Left Party continues to be a political force in Berlin and other areas of the former East Germany, albeit drastically less powerful than the SED.

Persons of note in East Germany

Political representatives

Main articles: Leaders of East Germany


★ Hermann Axen, editor-in-chief of the SED paper "''Neues Deutschland''" 1956-1978, SED secretary for international relations 1966-1989

★ Johannes R. Becher, first minister for culture 1954-1958, wrote the lyrics of the national anthem

★ Hilde Benjamin, vice president of the supreme court 1949-1953, minister for justice 1953-1967, dubbed "red guillotine" for her relentless persecution of political opponents

★ Otto Grotewohl, Chairman of the East German SPD 1945-1946; joint chairman of the SED 1946-54; Chairman of the Council of Ministers 1949-64

★ Erich Honecker, General Secretary of the SED 1971-89; Chairman of the Council of State 1976-89

★ Margot Honecker née Feist, minister for education 1963-1989

★ Heinz Keßler, minister for defence 1985-1989 (deputy minister since 1957)

★ Egon Krenz, General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party and chairman of Council of State October - December 1989, he had been Honnecker's deputy and "crown prince" since 1983

★ Erich Mielke, Stasi Minister 1957-1989

★ Günter Mittag, SED secretary for economics 1962-1973 1976-1989

★ Hans Modrow, SED district secretary for Dresden 1973-1989, last SED prime minister November 1989 - March 1990

★ Wilhelm Pieck, Chairman of the East German KPD 1945-1946; joint chairman of the SED 1946-54; State President 1949-60

★ Günter Schabowski, SED district secretary for Berlin 1985-1989; as party spokesperson he caused the fall of the Berlin wall

★ Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, head of the department of "commercial coordination" in the ministry of foreign trade.

★ Karl Schirdewan, SED secretary 1953-1958, dismissed for "faction building"

★ Horst Sindermann, Chairman of the Council of Ministers 1973-1976; president of parliament 1976-1989

★ Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler, telecaster on East German television, infamous for his propaganda programme "Der schwarze Kanal"

★ Willi Stoph, Chairman of the Council of Ministers 1964-73 1976-89; Chairman of the Council of State 1973-76

★ Harry Tisch, head of the Free German Trade Union Federation 1975-1989

★ Walter Ulbricht, General Secretary of the SED 1950-71; Chairman of the Council of State]] 1960-73)

★ Markus "Mischa" Wolf, head of the GDR's foreign intelligence department 1952-1986

Other notable East Germans

★ Uwe Ampler, racing cyclist

★ Manfred von Ardenne, physicist and inventor

★ Rudolf Bahro, journalist and politician

★ Michael Ballack, captain of Germany national football team

★ Jurek Becker, writer (''"Jacob the Liar"'')

★ Benno Besson, dramatist, actor and director, pupil of Bertolt Brecht and one of the most important directors of German language of this time

★ Frank Beyer, film director

★ Wolf Biermann, singer/songwriter and dissident, citizenship withdrawn in 1976 when he was on tour in West Germany

★ Ibrahim Böhme, first chairman of the East German Social Democrats in 1989-1990, resigned after being detected as a former Stasi informer

★ Bärbel Bohley, painter

★ Thomas Brasch, writer, poet and dramatist

★ Bertolt Brecht, dramatist, poet and director, reopened the "Berliner Ensemble" in 1949, important person of Communistic Exile and Resistance

★ Ernst Degner, Grand Prix motorcycle road racer

★ Hanns Eisler, composer

★ Rainer Eppelmann, Protestant pastor, minister for defence and disarmament March - October 1990

★ Klaus Fuchs, physicist

★ Erwin Geschonneck, actor

★ Gregor Gysi, lawyer to artists, chairman of the SED/PDS November 1989 - 1998

★ Nina Hagen, punk singer

★ Peter Hacks, dramatist

★ Wolfgang Harich, intellectual sentenced to prison for counterrevolutionary activities

★ Robert Havemann, chemist and intellectual critic of government, communistic resistance fighter in World War 2

★ John Heartfield, photographer

★ Bernhard Heisig, painter ("Leipziger Schule")

★ Uli Herzner, Fashion designer, Project Runway contestant

★ Henry Hübchen, actor

★ Sigmund Jähn, cosmonaut, first German in space

★ Walter Janka, publisher, sentenced to prison in 1957 for "counterrevolutionary activities", communistic resistance fighter in World War 2

★ Gustav Just, journalist

★ Walter Kaaden, engineer

★ Uwe Kraab, racing cyclist

★ Ernst Busch, famous singer, songwriter and musician

★ Manfred Krug, actor and jazz singer

★ Olaf Ludwig, racing cyclist

★ Lothar de Maizière, first (and only) freely elected prime minister April - October 1990

★ Kurt Masur, conductor and political activist

★ Wolfgang Mattheuer, painter ("Leipziger Schule")

★ Markus Meckel, Protestant pastor, deputy chairman of the East German Social Democrats 1989-1990, GDR foreign minister April - August 1990

★ Armin Mueller-Stahl, actor

★ Heiner Müller, writer and dramatist, worked with the director Benno Besson at Volksbühne

★ All 6 members of the industrial metal band Rammstein.

★ Wolfgang Schnur, lawyer to dissidents, opposition politician (Democratic Awakening in 1990 but resigned after being detected as a former Stasi informer

★ Erwin Strittmatter, writer ("Der Laden")

★ Werner Tübke, painter ("Leipziger Schule")

★ Jan Ullrich - professional cyclist, Tour de France winner 1997

★ Katarina Witt, figure skater

★ Christa Wolf, writer ("Kassandra")

★ Fritz Geißler, composer

★ Paul Van Dyk, trance music DJ and producer

★ Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany since 2005

Administrative divisions

Main articles: Subdivisions of the German Democratic Republic

In 1952, as part of the reforms designed to centralise power in the hands of the SED's ''Politbüro'', the five ''Länder'' of East Germany were abolished, and East Germany was divided into fifteen ''Bezirke'' (districts), each named after the largest city: the northern ''Land'' Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was divided between the ''Bezirke'' Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg; Brandenburg (surrounding Berlin) was reorganised into the ''Bezirke'' of Potsdam, Frankfurt (Oder) and Cottbus; Saxony-Anhalt split into the ''Bezirke'' of Halle and Magdeburg; the south-western ''Land'' Thuringia became the ''Bezirke'' of Erfurt, Gera and Suhl; finally, the south-eastern ''Land'' Saxony was divided between Leipzig, Dresden and Karl-Marx-Stadt (formerly and following the GDR's collapse again known as Chemnitz). The GDR capital, East Berlin formed the 15th ''Bezirk'', though it retained a special legal status in the GDR until 1968, when East Berliners voted with the rest of the GDR to approve the draft of the new constitution. From this point onwards, irrespective of the Four Power Status and the western allies' objections that East Berlin was merely the Soviet occupied sector of the German capital, East Berlin was treated as a ''Bezirk'' like any other.

Economy

Main articles: Economy of the German Democratic Republic


Like other East European socialist states, East Germany had a centrally planned economy (CPE), similar to the one in the former Soviet Union, in contrast to the market economies or mixed economies of most Western states. The state established production targets and prices and allocated resources, codifying these decisions in a comprehensive plan or set of plans. The means of production were almost entirely state owned. In 1985, for example, state-owned enterprises or collectives earned 96.7 percent of total net national income. To secure constant prices for inhabitants, the state bore 80% of costs of basic supplies, from bread to housing.
The ultimate directing force in the economy, as in every aspect of the society, was the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands''--SED), particularly its top leadership. The party exercised its leadership role formally during the party congress, when it accepted the report of the general secretary, and when it adopted the draft plan for the upcoming five-year period.
The private sector of the economy was small but not entirely insignificant. In 1985 about 2.8 percent of the net national product came from private enterprises. The private sector included private farmers and gardeners; independent craftsmen, wholesalers, and retailers; and individuals employed in so-called free-lance activities (artist, writers, and others). Although self-employed, such individuals were strictly regulated; in some cases the tax rate exceeded 90 %. In 1985, for the first time in many years, the number of individuals working in the private sector increased slightly. According to East German statistics, in 1985 there were about 176,800 private entrepreneurs, an increase of about 500 over 1984. Certain private sector activities were quite important to the system because those craftsmen provided rare, specially made spare parts.

Culture

Music

For ideological reasons artists were expected to sing songs only in German at first, which changed with the end of the sixties. This seemed a logical constraint by the Party leaders but it was rather unpopular among young people. There were strict rules that regulated that all artistic activity ought to be censored for any open or implied anti-socialist tendencies. The band Renft, for example, was prone to political misbehaviour, which eventually led to its split.
The Puhdys and Karat were some of the most popular mainstream bands, managing to hint at critical thoughts in their lyrics without being explicit. Like most mainstream acts, they appeared in popular youth magazines such as ''Neues Leben'' and ''Magazin''. Other popular rock bands were Wir, Dean Reed, City and Pankow. Most of these artists recorded on the state-owned label.
Influences from the West were heard everywhere, because TV and radio that came from the ''Klassenfeind'' (class enemy, meaning "enemy of the working class") could be received in many parts of the East, too (a notorious exception being Dresden, with its geographically disadvantageous position in the Elbe valley, giving it the nickname of “Valley of the Clueless”). The Western influence led to the formation of more "underground" groups with a decisively western-oriented sound. A few of these bands were Die Skeptiker, as well as Feeling B.
Classical music was highly supported, so that there existed over 50 classical symphony orchestras in a country with a population about 16 million.
See also:

★ Thomanerchor Leipzig

★ Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden

★ Berliner Sinfonie Orchester

★ Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in East German territory and his birthplace in Eisenach was turned into a museum of his life, which, among other things, included more than 300 instruments from Bach's life. In 1980 this museum was receiving more than 70,000 visitors annually.
In Leipzig, an enormous archive with recordings of all of Bach's music was compiled, along with many historical documents and letters both to and from him.
Every other year, school children from across East Germany gathered for a Bach competition held in East Berlin. Every four years an international Bach competition for keyboard and strings was held.

Theatre

East German theatre was originally dominated by Bertolt Brecht, who brought back many artists out of exile and reopened the ''Theater am Schiffbauerdamm'' with his Berliner Ensemble. Alternatively, other influences tried to establish a "Working Class Theatre", played for the working class by the working class.
After Brecht's death, conflicts began to arise between his family (around Helene Weigel) and other artists about Brecht's heritage. Heinz Kahlau, Slatan Dudow, Erwin Geschonneck, Erwin Strittmatter, Peter Hacks, Benno Besson, Peter Palitzsch and Ekkehard Schall were considered to be among Bertolt Brecht's scholars and followers.
In the 1950s the Swiss director Benno Besson with the Deutsches Theater successfully toured Europe and Asia including Japan with "The Dragon" by Jewgenij Schwarz. In the 1960s, he became the Intendant of the Volksbühne often working with Heiner Müller.
After 1975 many artists left the GDR due to increasing censorship. A parallel theatre scene grew up, creating theatre "outside of Berlin" in which artists played at provincial theatres. For example Peter Sodann founded the neues theater in Halle/Saale and Frank Castorf at the theater Anklam.
Theatre and Cabaret had high status in the GDR, which allowed it to be very pro-active. This often brought it into confrontation with the State. Benno Besson once said: ''"At least they took us seriously, we had a bearing."''
Important theatres:

★ Deutsches Theater [1]

★ Berliner Ensemble [2]

★ Volksbühne [3]

★ Maxim Gorki Theater [4]

Cinema

In the GDR, the movie industry was very active. The head-group for film-productions was the DEFA [5], ''Deutsche Film AG'', which was subdivided in different local groups, for example ''Gruppe Berlin'', ''Gruppe Babelsberg'' or ''Gruppe Johannisthal'', where the local teams shot and produced films. Besides folksy movies, the movie-industry became known worldwide for its productions, especially children's movies ("Das kalte Herz", film versions of the Grimm brothers fairy-tales and modern productions such as "Das Schulgespenst").
Frank Beyer's "Jakob der Lügner" (about persecution of Jews in Third Reich) and, "Fünf Patronenhülsen"(Five Bullet Shells) about resistance against fascism, became internationally famous.
Movies about problems of everyday life such as "Die Legende von Paul und Paula" (directed by Heiner Carow) and "Solo Sunny" (directed by Konrad Wolf and Wolfgang Kohlhaase) were also very popular.
The film industry was remarkable for its production of ''Ostern'', or Western-like movies. Indians in these films often took the role of displaced people who fight for their rights, in contrast to the American westerns of the time, where Indians were often either not mentioned at all or are portrayed as the villains. Yugoslavians were often cast as the Indians, due to the small number of American Indians in eastern Europe. Gojko Mitić was well-known in these roles, often playing the righteous, kindhearted and charming chief ("Die Söhne der großen Bärin" directed by Josef Mach). He became an honorary Sioux chief when he visited the United States of America in the 90s and the television crew accompanying him showed the tribe one of his movies. American actor and singer Dean Reed, an expatriate who lived in East Germany, also starred in several films. These films were part of the phenomenon of Europe producing alternative films about the colonization of America. ''See also Spaghetti Western and the West German Winnetou films (adaptations of novels of Karl May).''
Because of censorship a certain number of very remarkable movies were forbidden at this time and reissued after the Wende in 1990. Examples are "Spur der Steine" (directed by Frank Beyer) and "Der geteilte Himmel" (directed by Konrad Wolf).
Cinemas in the GDR also showed some foreign films. Czechoslovak and Polish productions were more common, but also certain western movies were shown, but the numbers were limited because it cost foreign exchange to buy the licences. Further, movies representing or glorifying capitalistic ideology were not bought. Comedies enjoyed great popularity, such as the Danish "Olsen Gang" or movies with the French comedian Louis de Funès.

Sports

For a small country, the people of East Germany achieved some remarkable results in many sports including cycling, weightlifting, swimming, track and field, boxing, skating and other winter sports.
One reason for the success was started with late 1960s leadership of Dr. Manfred Hoeppner, when his policy of anabolic steroid administration to many athletes was established. This program allowed East Germany, with its small population, to become a world leader in the following two decades, winning a large number of Olympic and world gold medals and records. This success continued even after the international steroid testing policy was established. (See Doping (sport)).
Another factor for success was the furtherance-system for young people in GDR. When some children were aged around 6 until 10 years old (or older) sport-teachers at school were encouraged to look for certain talents in every pupil. For older pupils it was possible to attend grammar-schools with a focus on sports (for example sailing, football and swimming). This policy was also used for talented pupils with regard to music or mathematics.
Sports clubs were highly subsidised, especially sports in which it was possible to get international fame. For example, the major leagues for ice hockey and basketball just included each 2 teams (excluding the school and university sport). Football (soccer) was the most popular sport after team handball, although the national team was rarely successful in comparison to the West German national team, which won the World Cup three times before reunification. Club football sides like Dynamo Dresden, 1. FC Magdeburg, FC Carl Zeiss Jena and 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig did have some success in European competition. Many East German players became integral parts of the reunified national football team, for example Matthias Sammer. Other sports enjoyed great popularity like figure skating, especially because of sportswomen like Katharina Witt.
East Germans patriotically supported their athletes to success in international competitions for similar reasons as those in other countries, and this no doubt played its part in the success that state enjoyed. However, as with other Soviet states, a widely held perception existed that international athletic success advertised their political and economic system to a worldwide audience. In the special case of East Germany, being the minority section of the divided Cold War era Germany, the particular success of that state was considered to foster international acceptance of the GDR as a state in its own right.

Holidays

Date	English Name	German Name	Remarks
January 1	New Year's Day	Neujahr
March 8	Women's Day	Internationaler Frauentag	Was not a day off.
''Moveable feast''	Good Friday	Karfreitag
''Moveable feast''	Easter Sunday	Ostersonntag
''Moveable feast''	Easter Monday	Ostermontag	Was not an official Holiday after 1967.
May 1	May Day	Tag der Arbeit	International Workers' Day
''Moveable feast''	Father's Day / Ascension Day	Vatertag / Christi Himmelfahrt	Thursday after the 5th Sunday after Easter. Was not an official holiday nor a day off, but still widely celebrated.
''Moveable feast''	Whitmonday	Pfingstmontag	50 days after Easter Sunday
October 7	Republic Day	Tag der Republik	National holiday
December 25	First Day of Christmas	1. Weihnachtsfeiertag
December 26	Second Day of Christmas	2. Weihnachtsfeiertag

See also

'Germany' ★ West Germany ★ History of Germany since 1945 ★ History of East Germany ★ Leaders of East Germany ★ Berlin ★ East Berlin ★ West Berlin ★ Ministerrat

'Forces' ★ National People's Army ★ Luftstreitkräfte der NVA ★ Stasi ★ Volkspolizei ★ Conscientious objection in East Germany

'Media' ★ Broadcasting in East Germany ★ Cold War propaganda in Germany ★ Aktuelle Kamera, GDR's main TV news show ★ Radio Berlin International ★ Der Tunnel, a film about a mass evacuation to West Berlin through a tunnel ★ Education in East Germany

'Transport' ★ Deutsche Reichsbahn - The railway company of the GDR ★ Interflug - The airline of the GDR ★ Trabant

'Other' ★ Iron Curtain ★ Tourism in East Germany ★ GDR jokes ★ Ostalgie ★ Palast der Republik ★ Dean Reed ★ Highest point: Fichtelberg (1,214 m) ★ SV Dynamo

References

★ Thomas A. Baylis, David Childs, and Marilyn Rueschemeyer, eds.; ''East Germany in Comparative Perspective'' Routledge. 1989

★ Fulbrook, Mary. ''The People's State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker'' Yale University Press, 2005. 352 pp. ISBN 0-300-10884-2.

★ Fulbrook; Mary. ''Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR, 1949-1989'' Oxford University Press, 1995

★ William Glenn Gray; ''Germany's Cold War: The Global Campaign to Isolate East Germany, 1949-1969'' University of North Carolina Press. 2003

★ Jonathan Grix; ''The Role of the Masses in the Collapse of the GDR'' Macmillan, 2000

★ Konrad H. Jarausch and Eve Duffy; ''Dictatorship as Experience: Towards a Socio-Cultural History of the GDR'' Berghahn Books, 1999

★ Andrew I. Port, ''Conflict and Stability in the German Democratic Republic'' Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Notes

1. East Berlin June 17, 1953: Stones Against Tanks, Deutsche Welle, Accessed 2007-05-16
2. The Berlin Wall (1961 - 1989) German Notes, Accessed 2006-10-24
3. Darnton, Robert, ''Berlin Journal'' (New York, 1992, W.W. Norton) pp.98-99

External links

★ AHF - Nationale Volksarmee (NVA)

★ ''Auferstanden aus Ruinen''

★ Translations of propaganda materials from the GDR.

★ DDR Museum Berlin - Culture of the GDR

★ East Berlin, Past and Present

★ The Lives of Others official website
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