Welcome money

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Payment slip 1989 from Berliner Bank AG - front and back

The welcome money was a support that was granted in the Federal Republic of Germany to every citizen of the German Democratic Republic and the then People's Republic of Poland , insofar as German ancestry could be proven, from funds of the federal budget . It was introduced in 1970 in the amount of 30  German marks and could be used twice a year. In 1988 it was increased to 100 DM, but limited to a one-off annual claim. The welcome money acquired particular political and economic importance following the opening of the inner-German border on November 9, 1989.

Political occasion

The welcome money was issued in the Friedland camp in May 1982

After the Berlin Wall was erected on August 13, 1961, the border between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany was finally closed and the flow of refugees to the West was decidedly curbed. Visitors from the GDR could only get to the West on the basis of a special exit permit, which, however, was extremely rarely issued. Due to the Eastern Treaties , which were concluded under Willy Brandt's chancellorship from 1969, travel was also made easier for residents of the GDR, which enabled pensioners in particular to visit the Federal Republic. Those who were leaving were only allowed to take 70  GDR marks with them. In order to improve the conditions for the entry of visitors from the GDR, the Federal Government introduced the payment of a welcome fee of DM 30 from 1970, which was paid to every visitor on presentation of their identification papers. Up to 1984, 40,000 to 60,000 visitors were able to enjoy the welcome fee every year, from 1985 onwards their number rose sharply due to the agreed expansion of visitor permissions and reached 1.3 million in 1987. On August 26, 1987, the federal government decided to increase the welcome fee to DM 100, but at the same time to limit it to a one-time payment per person per year. As of July 1, the GDR reduced the permitted exchange for its citizens traveling to the West from 70 to 15 marks (which could be exchanged 1: 1 for DM), which was to be offset by the increase in the welcome fee. In 1988 a total of DM 260 million was paid out as welcome money, and the budget also provided this amount for 1989.

Procedure

The welcome money could be applied for at the city and municipal administrations in the Federal Republic of Germany on presentation of the identity card or passport and was paid there. The payout was noted in the papers in order to avoid inadmissible repeated claims. This regulation could be circumvented by reporting loss and applying for new ID documents.

After the fall of the wall

Modalities and implementation

The payment of the welcome money was originally only aimed at the lower number of visitors, which resulted from the largely restricted freedom of travel for its citizens by the GDR , but had adapted to the number of visitors, which had risen sharply since 1985.

When all GDR citizens were able to travel to the Federal Republic and West Berlin after the fall of the Wall , this led to considerable logistical problems. There were briefly chaotic scenes, for example on the first Monday after the fall of the Wall in front of the Sparkasse in Badstrasse in Berlin-Gesundbrunnen , at Moritzplatz in Berlin-Kreuzberg or at the Zoological Garden in Berlin-Tiergarten , when up to 10,000 GDR citizens were present at the same time There were queues at the payment offices , the traffic totally collapsed and the police , fire brigade and rescue services came in to bring the situation under control.

On the night of November 10th, the Governing Mayor of Berlin Walter Momper ordered the payment of the welcome money by banks and savings banks , which kept their offices open even during the night. The payment method by banks and savings banks was adopted throughout the Federal Republic in the following days. The payment requirements were simplified and were limited to the mere presentation of an identity card or passport, repeated claims were hardly controllable.

The receipt of the welcome money was noted in the GDR identity card. On the right-hand side you can see the two payments: once the 100 DM and then the 40 DM, which Bavaria paid a second time.

By November 11, more than three million residents of the GDR had visited the West. Between November 9 and 13, the GDR issued 4.5 million visas to visit West Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany. By November 20, eleven million visitors had come from the GDR.

Some federal states, such as Bavaria , which granted an increase of DM 40 per person, and municipalities, such as Munich , paid surcharges on top of the welcome fee, which presumably influenced the travel behavior of GDR citizens.

The payment of the welcome money was stopped on Friday, December 29, 1989 and replaced by the foreign exchange fund agreed between the Federal Republic and the Council of Ministers of the GDR , into which both states paid. Every GDR citizen could use it to exchange 100 GDR marks at a ratio of 1: 1 and another 100 GDR marks at a ratio of 1: 5 for D-Mark.

Total amount of payments

In the first three weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall alone, the Federal Republic paid out the welcome money to 18 million visitors. In a conversation in Brussels on December 3, 1989 , Chancellor Helmut Kohl put the total amount of welcome money paid to American President George Bush since the opening of the borders at 1.8 billion DM. Strangely, most of the other published figures are based on mere estimates. In connection with the foreign exchange fund, which came into force on January 1, 1990, the Federal Government declared that 1.4 billion DM were also flowing into this fund, which would otherwise be expected as payments of welcome money in 1990, Federal Minister Rudolf Seiters quantified the expected amount Expenses for the welcome money during a conversation with the Chairman of the State Council Egon Krenz on November 20, 1989, amounting to 1.6 billion DM. This is less than Kohl has stated for the first three weeks since the borders were opened. In view of the uninterrupted flow of visitors in December 1989, it can be assumed that this month roughly the same amount was incurred as in November. We can therefore assume a total of three to four billion DM, which were paid out as welcome money in November and December 1989.

Economic importance for the citizens of the GDR

Until 1987, an average of 4 GDR marks had to be paid for 1 DM, in 1988 the exchange ratio on the free market rose to 1:10 and finally reached 1:20 after the borders were removed. In addition to the direct purpose of an invitation to buy consumer goods in the West, the welcome money also acquired a financial significance, which Chancellor Kohl pointed out to US President Bush in his conversation on December 3, 1989:

“One of the most pressing issues is the replacement of the welcome money. The payments to the GDR residents who come to visit the Federal Republic now amount to around 1.8 billion DM. It cannot go on like this. The welcome money was introduced at a time when only pensioners were allowed to travel to Germany. If, for example, a married couple with three children travels to the West, they will receive a welcome fee of DM 500. If he buys goods from us for 200 DM and exchanges 300 DM again for GDR marks at a rate of 1:20, he brings back practically 6 average salaries from this trip ... On December 31, 1989, the payment of the welcome money is stopped. "

- Helmut Kohl : Quote from the minutes of the interview

This shows that the welcome money for the visitors from the GDR was of far greater economic importance than originally assumed from the perspective of the Federal Republic of Germany, which granted it as a kind of guest gift. Due to the monetary, economic and social union between the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR, which came into force only six months later on July 1, 1990 , the corresponding GDR mark credits could then largely be in a ratio of 1: 1 or more Can be exchanged 1: 2. Surveys from the first days of the opening of the border had shown that the welcome money was immediately converted into food such as coffee , chocolate and tropical fruits .

GDR citizens standing in line for the welcome money at Post Office Berlin 36, November 11, 1989

Political importance

The political significance and effects of the welcome money payments after the borders have been opened are controversial. While some go so far as to complain that the GDR citizens had even sold their order for money, others point out that in today's times with changes and transitions in state and society, questions of economic well-being, income, savings and Consumption, trade and economics become far more important than those of sovereignty and political dogmatics.

The turning point of the turning point: Changed objectives

With the opening of the borders to the West, the political objectives of the majority of the population of the GDR changed. The number of participants in the Monday demonstrations , which reached its peak on November 6th in Leipzig at almost 500,000, had fallen to around 150,000 by the end of December. The demands originally aimed at an improvement of the state and socialism were now directed towards an adjustment to the living conditions existing in the West, the reputation We are the people was increasingly being replaced by the reputation We are one people , which also included West Germany . The desire for economic improvements became a major driving force on the road to reunification. What some called the turn of the turn happened . Many who had visited the West felt that their government had betrayed them. However, in December 1989 there was still no majority in the GDR for reunification , only 27 percent were in favor, while 89 percent called for reforms in the GDR. According to another survey carried out on December 17, 1989, 73 percent were in favor of a sovereign GDR and 71 percent supported socialism, but 39 percent wanted a Western economic system. But the mood changed noticeably. On February 6, 1990, Chancellor Kohl offered to replace the GDR mark with the DM, and in the Volkskammer election on March 18, 1990 , the parties opposed to reunification received less than 25 percent of the votes, the parties and movements invited to the round table , who must be regarded as the bearers of the early Monday demonstrations, now united in Alliance 90 , only received 2.9 percent of the vote. The opening up to the Federal Republic and the experiences made during their visits had not failed to have an effect.

Consumer orientation and GDR politics

The welcome money was an invitation to a test of the consumption standards of the West German economy and a large number of GDR residents accepted the invitation. The view of the West German consumer landscape always played a special role in the political reality of the GDR. In the 1950s, Walter Ulbricht announced that the West German consumer standards would be overtaken for a short period of time and, when this failed to materialize, he announced the seven-year plan for peace, prosperity and happiness in 1959 . When Ulbricht was disempowered by Erich Honecker , the question of neglecting the consumer interests of the population played a special role. Honecker's unity of social and economic policy aimed at increased economic growth through an increase in social welfare and prosperity; communism had to promote a society of consumption and a generous welfare state. During his era, consumer spending increased sharply and was almost twice as high as the investment costs, the subsidies for consumer spending increased sixfold from 1971 to 1988. In fact, however, the gap to the West grew larger and larger due to the neglect of investment in favor of consumption Debt, the servicing of which in turn restricted consumption. The Stasi resulted in the grounds of the Monday demonstrations, therefore, from the beginning the discontent of the protesters with the supply situation at. It therefore seems imperative that after the opening of the western border and the possibility of testing the West German consumption standard, the assessment of one's own unfortunate supply situation became increasingly important in the political decisions of the population. The DM became a symbol for the desired better standard of living, which is reflected in banners like "If the D-Mark comes, we'll stay - if it doesn't come, let's go to it!" Or a demonstration on January 21, 1990 at the Duderstadt border crossing - Worbis , where about 20,000 residents of the GDR demonstrated, equipped with suitcases for the introduction of the DM, expressed a symbolic power that had become reality for a short time through the welcome money.

repayment

Reimbursements of the welcome money are absolute rarities, but possible. A picture reporter from Stralsund, who had received 100 DM in Berlin in December 1989, had the option to transfer the equivalent of 51.13 euros to the financial senate in 2014.

literature

  • Hannes Bahrmann-Christoph Left: Chronicle of the turning point. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-86153-187-9 .
  • Federal Ministry of the Interior: German Unity, special edition from the files of the Federal Chancellery 1989/90. R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-486-56360-2 .
  • Eberhard Czichon / Heinz Marohn: The present: the GDR in perestroika sell-out. Payrossa Verlag, Cologne 2nd edition 1999, ISBN 3-89438-171-X .
  • Rainer Eckart, Wolfgang Küttler , Gustav Seeber (eds.): Crisis-upheaval-new beginning. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-608-91368-8 .
  • Dieter Grosser: The risk of monetary, economic and social union. (History of German Unity, Volume 2). Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-421-05091-0 .
  • Andreas Grünberg: We are the people, the GDR's path to German unity. Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-12-490360-9 .
  • Günther Heydermann, Gunther Mai, Werner Müller (eds.): Revolution and transformation in the GDR 1989/1990. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-10003-4 .
  • Hans-Herrman Hertle: The Fall of the Wall. 2nd Edition. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen / Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-531-32927-8 , pp. 77-79.
  • Wolfgang Jäger: Overcoming the division. (History of German Unity, Volume 3). Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-421-05092-9 .
  • Annette Kaminsky: prosperity, beauty, happiness, a short history of consumption in the GDR. C. H. Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-45950-1 .
  • Hans Joas, Martin Kohli (ed.): The collapse of the GDR , sociological analyzes. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1993, ISBN 3-518-11777-7 .
  • Hans-Joachim Maaz: The emotional blockage. Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Th. Knaur Nachf. , Munich 1992
  • Charles S. Maier: The Disappearance of the GDR and the Fall of Communism. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2000, ISBN 3-596-14965-7 .
  • Wolfgang Schluchter u. a. (Ed.): The union shock. Velbrück Wissenschaft, Weilerswist 2001, ISBN 3-934730-44-2 .
  • Klaus Schroeder: The price of unity, a balance sheet. Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich / Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-446-19940-3 .
  • Heiner Timmermann (Ed.): The GDR memory of a lost state. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-09821-8 .

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: Welcome money  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
  • 100 Westmark , a 1989 collection project with the aim of creating an archive of items that citizens of the former GDR acquired from their first 100 DM welcome money

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dieter Grosser: The risk of monetary, economic and social union. (History of German Unity, Volume 2). Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt , Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-421-05091-0 , p. 133.
  2. ↑ Hans-Herrman Hertle: The fall of the wall. 2nd Edition. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen / Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-531-32927-8 , pp. 77-79; see. also Klaus Schroeder: The price of unity, a balance sheet. Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich / Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-446-19940-3 , p. 102.
  3. ^ Deutsches Historisches Museum: Chronik 1987 , accessed on August 25, 2009.
  4. ^ Federal Ministry of the Interior (ed.): German Unity. Special edition from the files of the Federal Chancellery 1989/90, Document 74, Meeting of State Secretaries, November 6, 1989, R. Oldenbourg Verlag , Munich 1998, ISBN 3-486-56360-2 , p. 484.
  5. ^ Bonn: Also in the future 100 marks for every GDR citizen - 'There is money for everyone' . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , November 13, 1989, p. 6. Accessed August 24, 2011. 
  6. ↑ Hannes Bahrmann, Christoph Links: Chronicle of the turn. Ch. Links Verlag , Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-86153-187-9 , p. 73.
  7. ↑ Hans-Herrman Hertle: The fall of the wall. 2nd Edition. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen / Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-531-32927-8 , p. 193.
  8. ↑ Hans-Herrman Hertle: The fall of the wall. 2nd Edition. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen / Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-531-32927-8 , p. 291.
  9. ↑ Andreas Grünberg: We are the people, The way of the GDR to German unity. Ernst Klett Verlag , Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-12-490360-9 , p. 65.
  10. ↑ Hans-Herrman Hertle: The fall of the wall. 2nd Edition. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen / Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-531-32927-8 , p. 292; at Klaus Schroeder: The price of unity, a balance sheet. Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich, Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-446-19940-3 , p. 111, only eight million visitors are counted
  11. ↑ Dieter Grosser: The risk of monetary, economic and social union. (History of German Unity, Volume 2). Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-421-05091-0 , p. 140; Play money for the meal . In: Der Spiegel . No. 1 , 1990, p. 23-24 ( online ).
  12. ↑ a b Federal Ministry of the Interior: Documents on Germany Policy. German Unity, Document No. 109, Conversation between the Chancellor and President Bush in Laeken near Brussels on December 3, 1989, pp. 601–602.
  13. ↑ Play money for food . In: Der Spiegel . No. 1 , 1990, p. 23-24 ( online ).
  14. ^ Federal Ministry of the Interior: Documents on Germany Policy. German unity, p. 59.
  15. ↑ Charles S. Maier: The disappearance of the GDR and the fall of communism. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2000, ISBN 3-596-14965-7 , p. 357; Hannes Bahrmann, Christoph Left: Chronicle of the turning point. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-86153-187-9 , p. 82.
  16. ↑ Annette Kaminsky: Consumer wishes and consumer behavior of the GDR population. In: Günther Heydermann u. a. (Ed.): Revolution and Transformation in the GDR 1989/1990. Duncker & Humblot , Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-10003-4 , p. 106.
  17. ↑ Hans-Joachim Maaz : The emotional stagnation. Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Th. Knaur Nachf., Munich 1992, pp. 152–157; see. also Dirk Schindelbeck: Everyone brings one more. Forum Schulstiftung, p. 48 (PDF file; 871 kB) ( Memento from October 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ↑ Charles S. Maier: The disappearance of the GDR and the fall of communism. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 2000, ISBN 3-596-14965-7 , p. 369, also against Jürgen Habermas , who criticized republican unscrupulousness
  19. ^ Karl-Dieter Opp: GDR 89 - On the causes of a spontaneous revolution. In: Hans Joas, Martin Kohli (ed.): The collapse of the GDR. Sociological analyzes, Suhrkamp Verlag , Frankfurt am Main 1993, ISBN 3-518-11777-7 , p. 195; Dirk Schindelbeck: Everyone brings one more with them ... Forum Schulstiftung, p. 48. (PDF file; 871 kB) ( Memento from October 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  20. ↑ Eberhard Czichon, Heinz Marohn: The present: the GDR in perestroika sales. 2nd Edition. Papyrossa Verlag , Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-89438-171-X , p. 141; Jürgen Kocka: Revolution and Nation 1989. To the historical classification of the present event. In: Rainer Eckart u. a. (Ed.): Crisis-upheaval-new beginning. Klett-Cotta Verlag , Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-608-91368-8 , p. 92.
  21. ^ Rolf Reissig: The failure of the GDR and the real socialist system - some causes and consequences. In: Joas-Kohli, p. 60f; Schroeder, p. 140; Maier, p. 338.
  22. ↑ Claus Offe : Prosperity, Nation, Republic. Aspects of the German special path from socialism to capitalism. In: Joas-Kohli, p. 285; Schroeder, p. 211.
  23. ↑ Max Kaase: On the political culture and the living situation of the citizens in West and East Germany. In: Wolfgang Schluchter u. a. (Ed.): The union shock. Velbrück Wissenschaft , Weilerswist 2001, ISBN 3-934730-44-2 , pp. 121-122.
  24. ↑ Karl Langer: The north also broke up. In: Günther Heydemann u. a. (Ed.): Revolution and Transformation in the GDR 1989/1990. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-10003-4 , pp. 379-390.
  25. ↑ Jürgen Kocka: Revolution and Nation 1989, on the historical classification of current events. In: Rainer Eckelt u. a. (Ed.): Crisis-Change-New Beginning Klett-Cotta Verlag, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-608-91368-8 , p. 95; Annette Kaminsky: prosperity, beauty, happiness, a short history of consumption in the GDR. Verlag CH Beck , Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-45950-1 , p. 160; Karl-Dieter Opp: GDR 89 - On the causes of a spontaneous revolution. In: Joas-Kohli, p. 203.
  26. ↑ Eberhard Czichon, Heinz Marohn: The gift. The GDR in perestroika sell-out. 2nd Edition. Papyrossa Verlag, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-89438-171-X , p. 302.
  27. ↑ Hannes Bahrmann, Christoph Links: Chronicle of the turn. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-86153-187-9 , p. 136.
  28. ↑ Dieter Grosser: The risk of monetary, economic and social union. (History of German Unity, Volume 2). Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-421-05091-0 , pp. 183f.
  29. ↑ Klaus Schroeder: The price of the unit, a balance. Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich / Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-446-19940-3 , p. 118.
  30. ↑ Wolfgang Jäger: Overcoming the division. (History of German Unity, Volume 3). Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-421-05092-9 , p. 413.
  31. ↑ Annette Kaminsky: Brief history of consumption in the GDR. and rule history as a history of consumption. In: Heiner Timmermann: The GDR - memory of a lost state. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-09821-8 , pp. 50-51, 70, p. 125.
  32. ↑ Helmut Jenkis: The unity of economic and social policy - the failure of Erich Honecker. In: Heiner Timmermann: The GDR - memory of a lost state. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-09821-8 , 63-90, pp. 71-72; Annette Kaminsky: A short history of consumption in the GDR. P. 116f.
  33. ↑ Jenkis, In: Heiner Timmermann: The GDR - Remembrance of a fallen state. Pp. 76-77; Maier, p. 120.
  34. ↑ Helmut Jenkis: The unity of economic and social policy - the failure of Erich Honecker. In: Heiner Timmermann: The GDR - memory of a lost state. P. 81.
  35. ↑ Charles S. Maier: The disappearance of the GDR and the fall of communism. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 2000, ISBN 3-596-14965-7 , pp. 120–123.
  36. ↑ Charles S. Maier: The disappearance of the GDR and the fall of communism. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 2000, ISBN 3-596-14965-7 , p. 251.
  37. ↑ Charles S. Maier: The disappearance of the GDR and the fall of communism. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 2000, ISBN 3-596-14965-7 , pp. 360–361.
  38. ↑ Annette Kaminsky: Brief history of consumption in the GDR. P. 160.
  39. ↑ Dieter Grosser: The risk of monetary, economic and social union. (History of German Unity, Volume 2). Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-421-05091-0 , p. 109.
  40. ↑ http://www.bild.de/politik/inland/mauerfall/wuerde-gerne-mein-begruessungsgeld-zurueckzüge-38390544.bild.html