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The legitimacy of the rule of a socialist elite was essentially based on meeting the criteria of its own ideology, thus it is appropriate to define the congruity of the criteria of the system of conviction and the practice of its realization. Concerning power elites of the GDR this can particularly be done while looking at their involvement in the system of rule of National Socialism. Here, it is about the legitimatory core of the SED's power structure, as from its beginnings to its end anti-fascism was the most important ideologem of its ideology of power. There is ample empirical evidence that, in the respective birth cohorts, there was a considerable share of former NSDAP members among the First and Second Secretaries of the SED County Committees in the districts of Erfurt, Gera, and Suhl. The fact that their past during the NS regime was overwhelmingly characterized by collaboration and fellow travelling may be supposed to have even supported a kind of submissive loyalty towards a party centre which had the power to allocate positions and direct careers. However, functionaries with a National Socialist entanglement did not have much to offer to the 'governed -masses-', except maybe the impression of being similar to a population which, after all, did also not consist of antifascist resistance fighters or victims of persecution.

This article investigates the effects of an increase in paid parental leave — twelve months instead of six months — on children's long-term life satisfaction. The historical setting under study, namely the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), allows us to circumvent problems of selection of women into the labor market and an insufficient or heterogeneous non-parental child care supply, which are issues many other studies on parental leave reforms face. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) we analyze the birth cohorts from 1980 to 1989 at adult age, and apply a difference-in-difference design making use of the very specific timing of the GDR's parental leave reforms in 1976 and 1986. We find significant and robust positive parental leave effects on life satisfaction. We also analyze whether the increase in life satisfaction is driven by a positive development of personality, health factors, schooling or labor market outcomes. Our results suggest that the increase in life satisfaction might be partially explained by personality development for individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds and boys. For individuals from high socioeconomic backgrounds, it might be driven by a better health.

This article investigates the effects of an increase in paid parental leave - twelve months instead of six months - on children's long-term life satisfaction. The historical setting under study, namely the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), allows us to circumvent problems of selection of women into the labor market and an insufficient or heterogeneous non-parental child care supply, which are issues many other studies on parental leave reforms face. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) we analyze the birth cohorts from 1980 to 1989 at adult age, and apply a difference-in-difference design making use of the very specific timing of the GDR's parental leave reforms in 1976 and 1986. We find significant and robust positive parental leave effects on life satisfaction. We also analyze whether the increase in life satisfaction is driven by a positive development of personality, health factors, schooling or labor market outcomes. Our results suggest that the increase in life satisfaction might be partially explained by personality development for individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds and boys. For individuals from high socioeconomic backgrounds, it might be driven by a better health.

From all of the German literature distributed in Poland during the first half of the nineteen fifties, that of the GDR was the most strongly represented, because like the People's Republic, it was part of the Eastern Bloc. A substantial part of this literature touched upon the themes of the Second World War. As some prominent Eastern German authors had taken part in the Spanish Civil War in 1936-1939, this subject also couldn't be ignored.The introduction in 1949 of socialist realism as the most important criterion of art, and particulary strong political pressure, led to a great deal of confusion and insecurity, not only for Polish publishing houses, but also among the censors, whose task was to take decisions about what literature could be printed. Censors' opinions in this period often differed, not only in terms of detailed matter, but also in the final decisions about the eventual fate of the title submitted for evaluation. ; From all of the German literature distributed in Poland during the first half of the nineteen fifties, that of the GDR was the most strongly represented, because like the People's Republic, it was part of the Eastern Bloc. A substantial part of this literature touched upon the themes of the Second World War. As some prominent Eastern German authors had taken part in the Spanish Civil War in 1936-1939, this subject also couldn't be ignored.The introduction in 1949 of socialist realism as the most important criterion of art, and particulary strong political pressure, led to a great deal of confusion and insecurity, not only for Polish publishing houses, but also among the censors, whose task was to take decisions about what literature could be printed. Censors' opinions in this period often differed, not only in terms of detailed matter, but also in the final decisions about the eventual fate of the title submitted for evaluation.

This paper focuses on design research in the GDR. There, the Board of Industrial Design (Amt für industrielle Formgestaltung, AIF), a commission reporting directly to the government, promoted and subsidized design research that was adequate to the policy of the board. Besides, the (state-owned) industry, universities as well as art and design schools closely cooperated on design research projects. The economic design policy of the GDR has largely been developed in the PhD thesis of the board's head Martin Kelm, who pursued his functionalist approach to design at different levels. On the other hand, there was critique and a public debate about the design approach in the GDR and in the Soviet bloc in general, accompanied by constant exchange between designers and design researchers of the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany. With the recurring interest in functionalism, the East German design approach is getting more attention. Furthermore, teachers and academic approaches of design research survived the political (and economic) turnaround of 1990 and are now part of the pan-German design landscape.

The article discusses results of recent research on practices of law enforcement by justice and the Ministry of State Security against East German suspects of Nazi crimes. These findings challenge the classical image of a relatively consistent and strong 'antifascist' prosecution policy. Although denazification and law enforcement in the Soviet Zone of Occupation and early GDR were harsh, almost all sentenced Nazi perpetrators were granted amnesty up to 1956 (with the exception of those who were executed or died in prison). In the following period systematic prosecution had to take second place behind campaigns against West Germany's poor performance in this field. During the seventies, Stasi investigators located in East Germany several hundred members of police battalions and other units involved in the Holocaust. But due to extremely strict standards of 'process maturity' for law suits (which should 'guarantee' long-term sentences) and hesitant investigations, only a few cases where brought to conviction. This look behind the scenes of secret East German investigation policy shows a post-fascist society where the 'ordinary men' who enforced the Nazi genocide could well find their place.

Following the fall of the Iron Curtain it was important for the acceptance of the new economic and political system that the former Communist elites did not maintain their privileges, and that protesters, who helped to overturn the old system, improved their situation. With newly available panel data on East Germany's socialist past, the German Democratic Republic, we analyze how former Communist elites, dissidents, and the "silent majority" were affected by the transition from socialism into today's market-based democracy. Applying random effects models, the results reveal that the transition reduced economic outcomes for former Communist elites in terms of life satisfaction, income, and employment. The transition had a positive impact on political dissidents and victims of repression. The transition success of the "silent majority" depended on the inner support of the system, that is, low support of the GDR predicts better outcomes in capitalism. Individual preferences for economic liberalism, risk, and trust in others can partly explain selection into Communist elites and dissidents, as well as differences in outcomes of the change from socialism to capitalism for these two groups.

Scientific Colloquium in Weimar from 5 to 7 July 1983 at the University of Architecture and Construction on: "The Bauhaus heritage and the current evolution of architecture: at 100. Birthday of Walter Gropius' ; Wissenschaftliches Kolloquium vom 5. bis 7. Juli 1983 in Weimar an der Hochschule für Architektur und Bauwesen zum Thema: 'Das Bauhauserbe und die gegenwärtige Entwicklung der Architektur : zum 100. Geburtstag von Walter Gropius'

Karrieresequenzen sozialistischer Eliten sind auf unterschiedliche Weise untersucht worden. In diesem Artikel steht die kulturelle Einbettung ehemaliger Industriemanager im DDR-Sozialismus im Zentrum. Die Transformation dieser kulturellen Einbettung wird am Bürgerschaftlichen Engagement der Manager im wiedervereinten Deutschland abgelesen. Anhand von biographischen Fallanalysen wird die These geprüft, ob die Entscheidung für eine Managerlaufbahn in der DDR von kulturellen Bindungen beeinflusst war, die auf vor-sozialistische Milieulagen (Arbeiter-Aristokratie, technokratische Bewegung, selbstständiges Handwerk) zurückverweisen. Dieses Ergebnis wird außerdem gestützt durch eine stärker standardisierte Vergleichsbetrachtung von Karrieresequenzen ehemals sozialistischer Industriemanager mit einem freiwilligen Engagement nach der Wiedervereinigung und anderen Gruppen der gleichen Geburtskohorten. Der Einfluss vor-sozialistischer Kulturmilieus auf die sozio-moralische Bindung in Managerlaufbahnen der DDR lässt sich als Beispiel von historisch-kultureller Überdetermination und multi-linearer gesellschaftlicher Entwicklung deuten. ; Career sequences of socialist elites have been examined in different ways. This article will focus on the cultural embeddedness of former 'socialist industrial managers', indicated by their volunteer work in reunited German society. Case analysis of biographical developments show evidence for the thesis that their decisions for managerial careers in GDR-socialism were motivated by cultural bonds leading back to traditional industrial milieus-worker aristocracy, technocratic movement, and small entrepreneurship. This result is supported also by a more standardized quantitative comparison of the career sequences of 'socialist industrial managers' (cohort: 1928-48) with a volunteer engagement after reunification and other groups of this birth cohort. Therefore, the emergence of socialist elites can be interpreted as an example of over-determination and as a multi-lined development.

By way of introduction, the article describes the historical lines of the development of social work in Germany. It then focuses on two historical phases in which a dictatorship ruled. The de-professionalisation and political subservience of Social Work in the period of the National Socialists `Third Reich' (1933-1945) and the development in the eastern part, the German Democratic Republic, GDR (1949-1990) were traced. The National Socialists were a right-wing extremist movement that came to power in Germany under Adolf Hitler, destroying the democracy that had only existed since 1918 and establishing a fascist regime. After the assertion and development of power, a radical dynamic from discrimination to exclusion and finally to the extermination of allegedly inferior people set in. The discipline and profession of social work were involved in the implementation of the eugenic policy and the enforcement of the associated new ideals of the unequal worth of human beings in many forms. In view of the uniqueness of the Holocaust and the other crimes of the Nazis, one cannot really make a comparison with one of the successive governments in Germany. The Nazi period was incomparable in its human rights violations to those of the GDR. But part of the ideology of this time was not only carried on in the West Zone of Germany, but also and again differently in the Russian-occupied East Zone. The GDR suffered from the ideologic continuity especially in the treatment of the so-called 'asocial' clients of social work. Finally, an attempt is made to understand the common ground of the regimes with the modernisation theory of Zygmunt Bauman. ; A modo de introducción, el artículo describe las líneas históricas del desarrollo del trabajo social en Alemania. A continuación, se centra en dos fases históricas en las que gobernó una dictadura. Se traza la desprofesionalización y el servilismo político del Trabajo Social en el periodo del "Tercer Reich" nacionalsocialista (1933-1945) y el desarrollo en la parte oriental, la República ...

peer-reviewed ; Following the ideological co-option of German folk music by the Nazi regime during the Third Reich (1933-1945), the genre's performative practice was highly marginalized. Revivalists in both German post-war states initially recast German folk music in a recourse to the soundscape and song themes of Irish vernacular music, before reconnecting with a 19th century oppositional German folk song repertoire. In the GDR, songs of the 1848 Revolution were curated as the state's 'democratic' cultural heritage and could not be readily censored. This allowed artists to perform historical folk songs to metaphorically critique circumstances existing in East Germany. Drawing upon fieldwork conducted among former GDR folk musicians, this paper explores their encounters in relation to established post-war German folk music discourses on the relationship between artists and state authorities. Concrete analysis of a 19th century emigration song uncovers how folk musicians could subversively pass comment on state-imposed travel restrictions to the West.

Die vorliegende Dissertationsschrift untersucht die Mentalitäten der Verwaltungstätigen und die Verwaltungssysteme der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. Der erste Teil dieser Arbeit untersucht die Auswirkungen des jeweiligen Verwaltungssystems auf die Mentalitäten der Verwaltungstätigen. Im Kapitel drei und Kapitel vier werden die Verwaltungsorganisationen und die jeweilige Personalverwaltung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik neben der Entstehung und der Entwicklung des Verwaltungsfeldes behandelt. Im Kapitel fünf wird anhand der Ergebnisse einer Interviewanalyse die Mentalität der Verwaltungstätigen mit dem jeweiligen Verwaltungsfeld verknüpft. Diese Untersuchungsanordnung soll die Ergebnisse des Kapitels drei und Kapitels vier bestätigen. Die Ergebnisse der Interviewanalyse lassen sich wie folgt zusammenfassen. Die vertikale Abhängigkeit der Staatsfunktionäre ist für die Mentalität der DDR-Verwaltungstätigen zentral. Das vertikale Abhängigkeitsverhältnis schwächte die Abhängigkeit des DDR-Verwaltungsfeldes vom Recht. Die Kontrolle der DDR-Verwaltungstätigen, der Staatfunktionäre erfolgte durch die Planerfüllung. In Angrenzung hierzu hat das BRD- Verwaltungsfeld relativ horizontale Verhältnisse. Dies spiegelt sich in der Mentalität der BRD-Verwaltungstätigen, den Beamten wider. Der Begriff des Rechtsstaates und die individuelle Arbeitskultur trugen dazu bei, das Verwaltungsfeld dezentral aufzubauen. ; This study examines the Mentality of civil servants as well as the system of public administration in the German Democratic Republic and in the Federal Republic of Germany. The study uses two theories, 'New Institutionalism' and 'Practice Theory' which were created by French sociologist Bourdieu. In chapter 2, if how die mutual relation between the mentality of civil servant and the public administrative System was connected, according this the public administrative system as a external System could be expressed through the statements of ...

Historiography on the development of agriculture and rural society in the Soviet Zone of Occupation and the GDR has largely concentrated on certain aspects of the profound change enforced by Soviet officers as well as German party and state officials, respectively. Contrary to this approach, the contribution places the agrarian policies initiated in the late 1940s und early 1950s into their wider historical context. In this perspective, continuities coalesced with ruptures. Whereas state direction of agricultural production after 1945 was closely tied to interventionist policies in Germany since the late 1870s, the rulers in the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) abolished private land property. Thus, the foundations of the free agricultural enterprise which had emerged from the liberal reform of the early nineteenth century were also destroyed. Although it did not completely vanish, the traditional peasant culture was finally undermined by collectivization in the 1950s. Nevertheless, the agrarian policies of the leading functionaries were mitigated by the resilience of traditional values and social relations in village communities. By extending its analytical scope, historical scholarship contributes to an overall assessment of the impact of the agrarian policies pursued by the SED on the long-term development of agriculture and rural society in Germany. ; Historiography on the development of agriculture and rural society in the Soviet Zone of Occupation and the GDR has largely concentrated on certain aspects of the profound change enforced by Soviet officers as well as German party and state officials, respectively. Contrary to this approach, the contribution places the agrarian policies initiated in the late 1940s und early 1950s into their wider historical context. In this perspective, continuities coalesced with ruptures. Whereas state direction of agricultural production after 1945 was closely tied to interventionist policies in Germany since the late 1870s, the rulers in the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) abolished private land property. Thus, the foundations of the free agricultural enterprise which had emerged from the liberal reform of the early nineteenth century were also destroyed. Although it did not completely vanish, the traditional peasant culture was finally undermined by collectivization in the 1950s. Nevertheless, the agrarian policies of the leading functionaries were mitigated by the resilience of traditional values and social relations in village communities. By extending its analytical scope, historical scholarship contributes to an overall assessment of the impact of the agrarian policies pursued by the SED on the long-term development of agriculture and rural society in Germany.

During the 1970s architects and planners began to doubt about the principles of modern urbanism according to the 'Charta of Athens' not only in West Germany (FRG), but also in the socialist East Germany (GDR) (Urban, 2007). Although first renovations of 19th century districts (Arnimplatz, Berlin) were carried out mainly for economic reasons, soon the socialist government in 1976 ordered redesign of the historic city centre of Berlin (Sophienstraße, Gendarmenmarkt, Nikolaiviertel) respecting the history of the place. Its motives were, on one hand, propagandistic ones - exploiting the German history, culture and tradition for the legitimation as the true German nation - and on the other hand, indeed, the growing belief in the economic and social value of the compact city. The contribute describes and analyses the treatment of the historic fabric and weighs role and values that were attached to it by planners in the 70s and 80s. Further, it focusses on the question to what extent concrete slab/ panel buildings complete historic urban fabric or are in continuity with it. Especially in the 1980s the formerly rigid prefabrication systems were more and more adapted to the urban fabric of the 19th century (Berlin, Jena), of Baroque times (Potsdam, Greifswald) or even Medieval times (Rostock, Stralsund) assuming an angular geometry, and an appropriate subdivision and dimension of building corps. Also in the architectural language was tried to create a relation to historic architecture by attaching bricks on the concrete panels, introducing specially formed panels for slope roofs, gables or entrances. Günter Stahn, the architect of the Nikolaiviertel said: "The concrete panel simply was the brick of our times." (Krüger, 1986)