East Germany

The German Democratic Republic (GDR) was a state in Central Europe that existed from 1949 to 1990. The GDR emerged from the division of Germany after 1945, after the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) had established a dictatorial regime at the instigation of the Soviet occupying power, which existed until the peaceful revolution in the autumn of 1989. The official state ideology was Marxism-Leninism. In contemporary historical research, the system of rule in the GDR is sometimes referred to as real socialist, sometimes as communist. Those in power called the GDR a "socialist state of workers and peasants" and a German peace state, and claimed that the GDR had eliminated the roots of war and fascism. Anti-fascism became a state doctrine of the GDR.

Emerging from the Soviet Occupation Zone (SBZ), which had been created with the division of defeated Germany, the GDR and its leadership, like the other real-socialist Eastern Bloc countries, remained largely dependent on the Soviet Union throughout the four decades of its existence.

The prevailing political and economic conditions met with rejection in some cases, but only rarely with active resistance among the population. However, this was unmistakable in the early phase of the popular uprising of 17 June 1953, which was put down by Soviet troops. Clear rejection was also signaled by the emigration movement, which threatened the existence of the state and was drastically curbed by the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. The Ministry for State Security (MfS or colloquially "Stasi") was expanded into an organ of surveillance and targeted disruption of opposition activities and groups that permeated the entire society. The state education system, from kindergarten to university, was geared towards "education for the socialist personality" in accordance with the ideology of Marxism-Leninism. Block parties and mass organizations in the GDR were subject to the SED's claim to leadership, not only in the elections to the People's Chamber, which were held on a single list, but also through an extensive system of control when filling leadership positions of all kinds within the framework of cadre policy.

The undemocratic political system and economic weaknesses led to an increasingly dissident attitude among the population, especially since the first Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (1973). This conference made it possible for people to apply to leave the country, but the state was unable to stop this despite a variety of harassment measures. In the final phase, Erich Honecker's refusal to allow the reform process initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union to take effect in the GDR intensified both the need to leave the country and the willingness to protest. Even within the power structures of the GDR, support for the system waned; the peaceful protests of many citizens that broke out openly in 1989 were no longer put down. These protests and a wave of emigration via Hungary and Czechoslovakia were essential components of the turnaround and peaceful revolution in the GDR, which culminated in the unexpected fall of the Wall on 9 November 1989 and ultimately paved the way for the end of the GDR and German reunification.

Geography

The territory of the German Democratic Republic consisted of the present-day German states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia as well as the Amt Neuhaus and Bleckede-Wendischthun in Lower Saxony; the inclusion of East Berlin was disputed. In terms of natural space, the GDR extended on average about 450 kilometers in a north-south direction, the average east-west extension was about 250 kilometers. The northernmost point of the GDR was Gellort on the island of Rügen, northwest of Cape Arkona, and the southernmost point was Schönberg on the Kapellenberg (Vogtland). The westernmost point was near the village of Reinhards in the Rhön, the easternmost near Zentendorf between Rothenburg and Görlitz.

In the north, the Baltic Sea formed a natural border, with the territorial waters of the GDR partly bordering those of the Federal Republic of Germany, Denmark and the People's Republic of Poland (seen from north-west to north-east). To Poland there was the Oder-Neisse border in the east and the border with Czechoslovakia in the southeast. In the west and southwest of the GDR ran the inner-German border with the Federal Republic. In its center, the GDR enclosed the territory of West Berlin.

The north and centre of the GDR were part of the glacial North German Plain and covered three-fifths of the country's total area. There, undulating ground or terminal moraine landscapes such as the Northern and Southern Land Ridge alternate with flat outwash plains and glacial valleys (Mecklenburg Lake District, Märkische Seen). Most of the GDR's lakes are to be found in these lowlands, including the largest inland lakes, the Müritz, Schwerin and Plauer lakes. The south of the country, on the other hand, is occupied by the low mountain ranges (Harz, Thuringian Forest, Rhön, Ore Mountains, Elbe Sandstone Mountains, Saxon Switzerland, Lusatian Mountains, Zittau Mountains), into which distinct basin landscapes project from the north (Leipzig Lowland Bay, Thuringian Basin). The highest elevations of the GDR were the Fichtelberg with 1214.79 meters, followed by the Brocken (1141.2 m) and the Auersberg (1019 m).

The Elbe and Oder, connected by various navigable canals (Oder-Havel-Kanal, Oder-Spree-Kanal), were the two largest river basins on GDR territory; they were of great importance for inland navigation. The Elbe with its numerous direct and indirect tributaries from the Saale, Havel, Mulde and Spree drained most of the territory of the GDR into the North Sea. The Oder, with the Lausitzer Neiße as its largest tributary, was the second largest river basin; it drains into the Baltic Sea, as do the Peene and Warnow.

The largest islands in terms of area belonging to the GDR were Rügen, Usedom, Poel and Hiddensee, as well as the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula.

The districts of the GDR (borders and designations from the GDR point of view, 1989)

Population

Inhabitants

In 1950, 18.388 million people lived in the GDR and East Berlin. At the end of the state in 1990, there were 16.028 million people. The decrease had several reasons:

1. the permanent flight from the Soviet occupation zone and the GDR or the transfer from the SBZ/DDR to West Germany;
2. in the early years, the onward movement of displaced persons across the zonal border into the western zones;
3. the reduction in the birth rate, in particular due to the introduction of the contraceptive pill and as a result of the legalisation of abortion ("birth kink", "pill kink"); in addition, as in other developed countries, there was a trend away from larger families towards families with one or two children;
4. the increase in the death rate due to adjustment to a normalised demographic development, after this had shown serious differences in the respective population groups due to the war in the early years of the SBZ and the GDR.

Due to international agreements, there were two small but still clearly defined foreign populations, the Vietnamese contract workers and the 15,000 contract workers from Mozambique, also called Madgermanes.

Residents and professionals of the GDR Year Inhabitants (million) Employed persons (excluding apprentices, million) 1950 18,388 7,196 1960 17,188 7,686 1970 17,068 7,769 1980 16,740 8,225 1988 16,675 8,594

Languages

The territory on which the GDR was located belongs to the German-speaking area. In some districts of Dresden and Cottbus, the West Slavic languages Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian, which were native to the area, were also recognised by the state (→ protection of minorities).

The Benrath Line divides the country from west to east at the level of the districts of Magdeburg, Potsdam and Frankfurt (Oder), respectively on a line between Nordhausen and Frankfurt (Oder). North of it, the East Low German dialects of Mecklenburg-Vorpommersch and Mark-Brandenburgisch or Märkisch are spoken. They are parts of the Low German language (Plattdeutsch). On the border with Lower Saxony, Eastphalian or Brunswick-Lüneburg dialects such as Elbostfälisch and Heideplatt are also common. South of the Benrath line, where about 60 percent of the GDR population lived, one of the East Central German dialects is spoken. This group includes the Lusatian-Neumark dialects and the Thuringian-Upper Saxon dialect group. The area south of the Rennsteig in the district of Suhl belongs to the East Franconian language area. In the south of the Vogtland (district of Oelsnitz and district of Klingenthal) the Upper German dialect North Bavarian is spoken, besides the Upper German dialects Vogtländisch and further east Erzgebirgisch are common. In the area around Görlitz, which belonged to the province of Lower Silesia until 1945, the Silesian dialect has survived.

Religions and religious substitutes

State Cult

In order to "shape the growing generations into socialist personalities" and to alienate them from the churches, the SED waged a cultural war against the Christian churches in the 1950s in order to introduce the atheistic ritual of consecration for young people, which was established from 1954. From the 1970s onwards, almost 99% of all 14-year-olds took part in this quasi-religious substitute act as a counter-event to confirmation and communion, combined with the vow to serve the GDR. In addition, individual celebrations, such as the Socialist name consecration (as a substitute for baptism), the Socialist marriage ceremony and funeral, arose as a substitute for religion, analogous to the corresponding Christian rites. In 1957 Ulbricht gave youth consecration a state character and made it a de facto compulsory event with various means of pressure. While several attempts to introduce a socialist workers' initiation failed, a distinct state cult developed, with socialist feast days, an almost cult-like veneration of personalities, and a ritualization of the military. In 1958, the socialist state religion, created by Walter Ulbricht as a substitute for ethics, postulated the Ten Commandments of socialist morality and ethics. As a substitute for pastoral offerings from the churches, the SED founded the Stasi-controlled Freethinkers' Association in 1988.

Church

Religion in the GDR, 1950
Faith			Percent
Protestantism		 	85%
Catholic Church		 	10%
Not connected		 	5%

 

Religion in the GDR, 1989
Faith			Percent
Protestantism		 	25%
Catholic Church		 	5%
Not connected		 	70%

In the GDR there were various religious communities. The largest were the Christian churches. In addition to the eight Protestant regional churches and the Roman Catholic Church, which had been united in the Federation of Protestant Churches in the GDR since 1969, there were the following free churches: the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in the GDR, the Federation of Free Evangelical Churches, the Evangelical Methodist Church, the Moravian Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), the Seventh-day Adventist Fellowship, the Mennonite Fellowship and the Quakers. In addition, there were the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church, the Evangelical Lutheran (Old Lutheran) Church and the Church Federation of Evangelical Reformed Congregations in the GDR.

In 1950, about 85 percent of GDR citizens belonged to a Protestant church and about 10 percent to the Catholic church. By 1989, the proportion of church members in the total population had declined significantly: 25 percent of the population were still Protestants and 5 percent Catholics. The proportion of non-denominational people in the total population rose from about 6 to about 70 percent in 1989. While most of the GDR was Protestant, there were also some traditionally Catholic areas: in Thuringia, the Eichsfeld, the Rhön around Geisa, the traditionally biconfessional city of Erfurt, and the Upper Sorbian core settlement area in the Kamenz/Bautzen area.

"Full freedom of faith and conscience" was indeed enshrined in Article 41 (1) of the GDR constitution in 1949. In constitutional reality, however, SED functionaries and officials attempted to restrict the undisturbed practice of religion, to push back the influence of the churches, and above all to withdraw young people from church influence. The prohibition of discrimination against Christians laid down in Article 42 of the GDR constitution was undermined by many simple-law provisions that prescribed an atheistic confession. The GDR's anti-church policy took its sharpest form in the early 1950s. It culminated in 1953 with the criminalization of the "Young Congregations." This led to relegations in schools and universities, also to arrests, which were however taken back in June 1953. Even after that, it remained difficult for professing Christians to study or pursue a state career. Until the end of the GDR, there were those who were required to attend school who were denied the opportunity to attend the EOS because they had not been consecrated.

Other religions

There were some Jewish communities whose membership was constantly shrinking. Jews in the GDR, however, were able to live in safety without open anti-Semitism. On the other hand, the GDR refused any compensation for Holocaust survivors because it saw itself as a successor state but not as the legal successor of the German Reich. Like all Eastern Bloc states, the GDR took a stand against the "Zionist imperialism" of the State of Israel. In the 1980s, the SED became more concerned with Jewish heritage and also invited Jewish organizations.

In addition, there were isolated Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim groups from the 1980s onwards. The handling of paranormal ideas and practices in the GDR was investigated from 2013 to 2016 in a DFG project on the sociology of knowledge. Such ideas were subject to strong reservations, especially in comparison with the Soviet Union. The anthroposophical movement was continued in the GDR primarily in the environment of the Christian Community. The esoteric Johannine Church had a special church-political role in the SED state.

Although the number of religiously bound people decreased considerably, the churches remained an independent social factor. From 1989/90 onwards, many people, some of them without being religious themselves, found themselves in the Protestant churches as semi-public meeting places and became the bearers of the peaceful revolution in the GDR.