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Life in East Germany, 1949-85 - Coggle Diagram
Life in East Germany, 1949-85
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housing
new towns and estates
much of the accomplishment was poorly built with damp conditions, rubbish lifts - some 8-stprey had none at all
many of the new constructions throughout GDR were huge, often featureless concrete complexes with all the attendant problems of loneliness and isolation which residents experienced elsewhere in the developed world
in 3 new towns, 75-83% of residents worked in the massive new chemical and petrochemical factories
many needed to be built at the centre of new industrial development - the chemical industries around Frankfurt near the border with Poland, which also attracted Polish workers
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rents
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subsidies by the state were cheap, often no more than 4%
they were built at the rate of 11,000 to 12,000 a year and catered mainly for the wealthier citizens
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he took a personal interest in architectural design and the development of new satellite towns, he however did not like the 'barracks' nature of new large housing estates
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this was popular:
in a Leipzig survey of people's goals in Oct 1984, 53% said their priority was a decent home
in Dresden in 1980 a survey was of living standard satisfaction found that that only 35% were happy in older axiom while the figure rose to 76% of those living in newer housing
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where it had been renovated, by the 1970s it was often dilapidated and falling once more into disrepair
having said this, some would have welcomed any homes of their own
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by 1986 it was estimated that 7% of families still lacked their own homes and had to share with parents or others
adequate housing was a key idea of socialist state and Gdr faced critical housing problems since the beginning
healthcare
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GDR was immensely proud that its infant mortality rate fell as a result of better ante- and postnatal care
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1959 rate, when the GDR actually overtook the FRG rose slightly over the subsequent decades
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education
vocational training
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research discovered since German reunification found that many were shocked the the poor working conditions, inefficiency and drunkeness among the workforce
annual fairs 'Fairs of Tomorrow's Masters' were used to encouraged youth into science, tech, engineering
places were readily available and in theory, students had a plentiful choice of careers in industry
but were never enough spaces for skilled applicants and many hand to undertake work beneath the level of their qualification
for the less academic, there were links with industry which offered work placements
military training
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military also developed relationships with kindergartens coming in to talk to classes of children and show off military equipment
Sep 1973, students in Y9 & 10 had to undergo military instruction.
schools
more academic children left these in their final 2 years to attend 'Extended Upper Schools' where they took the final leading examination 'abtur' which + good political record via FDJ needed for uni
it helped if potential students belonged to political compliant families and showed little to no religious conviction
1959 - system of secondary schools called polytechnics was completed. accommodated children form ages 6-16 and were basic unit of secondary education in the GDR
needless to say, the Stasi heavily infiltrated the unis which would otherwise have been a breeding ground for dissidents
1950s schools were entirely reorganised into a comprehensive system, except for elite schools for athletes - also others gifted in forge in languages or mathematics
GDR also adopted an inform system whereby children would only be selected for EUS;s according to number of uni places available
1946 - Law for the Democrisation of German Schools had begun to remove the influence of religion and abolish privileges for wealthy children
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state sought to control the intake of all schools - based on equality of oppurtunity rather than a privilege
probloems in education
2 key p:
workforce became overqualifiwed, there simply weren't any skilled jobs for the numbers of skilled workers
other data, 20% workers doing jobs for which they were overqualified
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overall aim was conformity combined with intiatve and channelled creativity - which always led to tension
was crucial not only to give young people the necessary skills to flourish in a modern technological society but also for political indoctrination
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repression and control
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border troops
while they were ostensibly responsible for external threats tp security, in realist they day to day job was preventing escape
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there remains controversy whether there was in fact a shoot to kill policy, undoubtedly they could punished if any escapes were successgul in a sector that they were on duty
late 1980s - numbered 50,000, 30,000 policed the borer with West, 8,000 in Berlin and 12,000 elsewhere
repression
this preventive system of security was partly achieved through an extsensuive system of surveillance and informers
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generally, they worked harmoniously with the state and SED
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Police
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had a few bracnehs
special police
discrete units repsonsible for border protection, transport and security
criminal police
investigated robberies, violence etc
voluntary police
organised around the workplaces acted as auxiliary police when disorder threatened - there could have been at least 400,000
KVP
paramilitary responsible for internal security - they had been called out in June 1953 and policed demonstartions
Social Security Service
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role of the Stasi
had such a complex network of informers who enabled it by 19889 to keep files on 6 mill citizens - 33% of the population
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1958 to end of GDR their head was Erich Mielke who became one of the most feared people in the country
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