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This is What Life was Like in Communist East Germany

Tim Flight December 18, 2019 25 min

Berlin Wall - Checkpoint Charlie — A man peers over the newly-built Berlin Wall in August 1961. The Guardian

7. Agriculture was collectivized

Forestry workers in Uckermark, 1987. BJP

The SED took an interest in all economic areas, and made no exception for farming. They collectivized farms – that is, turned smaller autonomous interests into large-scale enterprises. The State even owned its own farms, known as Volkseigenes Gut (‘People-Owned Property’), which a director ran autocratically. Private farms were also collectivised and known as Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaften (‘Agricultural Production Cooperatives’). Though privately owned, these farms belonged to their owners only as long as they worked them. Along with State ownership, this measure ensured food production met the needs of the population. However, even with State-run agriculture food was often scarce.

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk