East Germany   »   Horst Kaminsky
  • Overview
  • Archival Sources
  • Elite groups
    • Main page
    • Party
    • State Apparatus
    • Central and Investment Banks
    • Foreign Trade Organisations
    • Academia
  • ABOUT THIS MAP
  • Main map
  • Countries
    • Bulgaria
    • Czechoslovakia
    • East Germany
    • Hungary
    • Poland
    • Romania
    • Yugoslavia
  • PanEur1970s website
Dep f398e6024bc85e6d29a366c7650b00b9e84e93e571a6ead7791a22339e57cb38
Erc d0bfe6678f91cee684a763b5e3c2ff49b08c50231922d28b9331a383aa31803a 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)
← Back
Horst Kaminsky

(Markranstädt, 20/3/1927 - , 25/7/2019)

President - Central Bank (1974-1990)
Member - Working Group Balance of Payments (1976-1989)

Short bio

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 and their potential consequences. In the early 1980s, Kaminsky regarded bankruptcy as almost unavoidable.

Relations

Alfred Kleine

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...

Willi Stoph

It is hard to measure the Prime Minister’s influence on the East German economic policy and the GDR’s dealing with the West. He was personally involved in the early negotiations between East and West Germany, nevertheless, his infl...

Gerhard Schürer

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....

Werner Polze

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...

Günter Mittag

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...

Siegfried Böhm

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...

Key Documents

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

East Germany
9 fc8b2b310f88c5f8f8fa5015e0140fbbd7476f259e73319cf8c026d045e4f3db
Overview
  • Archival Sources
Elite Groups
  • Party
  • State Apparatus
  • Central and Investment Banks
  • Foreign Trade Organisations
  • Academia

© European University Institute 2020, Badia Fiesolana - Via dei Roccettini 9, I-50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) - Italy