This project has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
(Grant Agreement n. 669194)
(Zwickau, 14/4/1921 - Berlin, 22/12/2010)
Member - "Small Circle" (1971-1989)Member - Working Group Balance of Payments (1974-1989)
Member - Working Group FRG (1976-1989)
As Chairman of the East German State Planning Commission Gerhard Schürer was always part of the inner circle of the GDR’s economic elite. However, his power was limited and Honecker never promoted him to membership in the Politburo. Soon after the introduction of the “Unity of Economic and Social Policy” in 1971, he warned about the potential consequences regarding the balance of payments and growing indebtment in the West. Schürer occasionally renewed his warnings; once in 1977 Günter Mittag joined him and advocated price raises, but their proposal was harshly rejected by Honecker. Later he also tried to channel his criticism via the Ministry of State Security (Horst Roigk). Despite being frustrated with unfulfillable plan figures imposed by the party and constant criticism on the work of the State Planning Commission, Schürer never gave up his position. He did not directly shape the East German economic relations with the West, but he was among those who clearly foresaw their potential repercussions on the East German financial situation. In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s he was permanently involved in the GDR’s emergency measures to stay solvent.
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While the Minister of Foreign Trade, Horst Sölle, was a rather colorless person in the GDR’s Western Trade, State Secretary and later Deputy Minister Gerhard Beil executed a great deal of the ministerial day-to day business. He was ... |
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As Minister of Finance Siegfried Böhm was among the first who warned about the potential consequences of growing indebtedness to the West. He was a member of the Working Group Balance of Payments. At the end of the 1970s, Böhm was am... |
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As head of the SED’s Department of Planning and Finance, Günter Ehrensperger, was the party’s counterpart of the head of the East German State Planning Commission. However, the actual economic planning was carried out by the S... |
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As Secretary General of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Erich Honecker shaped the East German economic and foreign policy most. It was him who took the final decisions. By introducing and pursuing the concept of “Unity of Economic a... |
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As head of the Department (XVIII) of the Ministry of State Security he oversaw the work of experts like Horst Roigk and forwarded it to his superiors. His department provided unfiltered expertise on the East German economy and advocated to red... |
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As Deputy Chairman of the East German State Planning Commission Heinz Klopfer collaborated closely with the head of the State Planning Commission, Gerhard Schürer. He attended the meetings of the extended “Small Circle” and of... |
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From 1973 to 1976 Werner Krolikowski replaced Günter Mittag as Secretary of the Central Committee for Economics. He had no professional or academic experience in this field, nevertheless, initially he aimed at learning the ropes. However,... |
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Günter Mittag was the economic mastermind of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. Within the provisions set by Erich Honecker he executed control over the East German economy. He served as Secretary of the Central Committee for Economics... |
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As head of the Department (XVIII/4) of the Ministry of State Security, Horst Roigk, was among those officials who were entrusted with providing crude facts about the state of the East German economy. They had full access to all information and... |
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As longstanding economic expert and President of the East German Central Bank until her death in 1974, Margarete Wittkowski, belonged to those who voiced early warnings about the potential consequences of growing debts. |
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He was one of the main creators of economic policies of the normalization regime. |
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The President of the East German Central Bank belonged to those economic experts who were permanently aware of the worsening economic and financial situation of the GDR. In the late 1970s he contributed to analyses warning about rising debts a... |
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Without having direct influence on East German economic and foreign policy, the President of the German Foreign Trade Bank Werner Polze was fully aware of the GDR’s financial situation and played a certain role during the debt crisis, es... |
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Current status of the GDR’s balance of payments with the West in 1978/79
BArch-DDR, DL 226/1248 | Bl. 220–238,
This assessment of the GDR's balance of payments produced by the Chairman of the State Planning commission, the Minister of Finance and the country's leading bankers analyzed the causes and consequences of East Germany's growing indebtedness since the early 1970s. Their conclusion stated the obvious: “This spiral cannot be prolonged.” It was entirely clear that “without the willingness of foreign, and especially capitalist banks to provide further loans in the amount needed, the planned imports and the due payment obligations cannot be realized.” Without a fundamental turnaround in the GDR’s trade balance with the West, debt was expected to skyrocket until the mid-1980s. - Available only in the archive: https://www.bundesarchiv.de |
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Memorandum on the discussion of the draft of the five-year plan 1976–1980 presided by Honecker
BArch-DDR, DE 1/58633
In this meeting of the “small circle” in November 1976 dealing with the next five-year plan the Chairman of the State Planning commission, Gerhard Schürer, stated: “The gap between imports and exports has widened further but it has to be closed by all means. That is a fateful question for the GDR.” In the following discussion some thought about rigorous import cuts, others reasoned about the causes within the CMEA and problems on the Western sales markets. Nevertheless, Günter Mittag and Erich Honecker also highlighted positive examples of trade relations with the West and the growing Western acceptance of countertrades. Honecker concluded that the plan 1976–1980 is shaped by the enforcement of the “Unity of Economic and Social Policy,” which he did not intend to change. Honecker did not expect any progress in CMEA integration, expressed his worries about the balance of payments, and advocated increasing exports to the West and developing countries as well as cooperation on third markets if they earned hard currency. - Available only in the archive: https://www.bundesarchiv.de |
