Research Council of the GDR

The Research Council of the GDR was founded in 1957 and was the highest advisory body of the GDR Council of Ministers for all questions of research and development as well as science and technology in the GDR . The establishment was connected with the return of the nuclear and aviation specialists who had been brought to the Soviet Union after the end of the war, as well as with the establishment of the NVA . The Research Council of the GDR corresponded to the West German Science Council , which was also founded in 1957 with an almost identical structure and function.

Prehistory 1956

The research policy of the GDR in the first few years was characterized by a shortage economy and political patronage. On the 3rd Party Conference of the SED in the spring of 1956 were unplanned, the Stalinist crimes and the cult of personality to the language in the previous month on the XX. Party congress of the CPSU were criticized. The academics represented took the opportunity and in their speeches they openly criticized the previous research policy and the then influential Central Office for Research and Technology as a "large vaulted cellar for collecting research requests and for the final disappearance of research results and multi-columned report forms" (Minutes of the 3rd party conference , P. 474.)

This criticism was explosive insofar as the second five-year plan 1956-1960 was the central theme of the party conference, which called for the construction of new, modern and expensive industries and was directly related to the decision to found the NVA in January 1956 under the direction of Willi Stoph . Aeronautics , radio technology, semiconductors and especially nuclear research were at the center of these new industries after the atomic ministry headed by Franz Josef Strauss had already been founded in the Federal Republic of Germany .

The GDR's early research and industrial policy was thus dominated by rearming from the very beginning and had a good starting position with the specialists who had returned from the Soviet Union .

Founded in 1957

The establishment of the Advisory Council for Scientific and Technical Research and Development at the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic , or Research Council of the GDR for short, was decided on June 6, 1957 by the Council of Ministers. The establishment itself took place at a meeting in the People's Chamber on August 23, 1957, the participants of which were scientists, managers of numerous large companies, economic experts and representatives of state bodies.

The tasks of the research council were:

To set up perspectives for scientific and technical research and development of "new technology";
Bring existing research capacities in line with economic requirements;
To direct and coordinate basic measures for the introduction of the "new technology".

With "new technology" the mentioned areas of nuclear research, aviation , radio technology and semiconductors were meant. In the 1960s, the coordination of the research and development work taken over within the framework of the Comecon was added.

However, the tasks did not only extend to advisory functions. The Research Council

also determined the direction and perspective of the research,
likewise the development of research capacities and their tasks
and decided on the use of state funds.

The existing "Central Office for Research and Technology" was revived as the executive body of the Research Council. From 1964 on, this task was taken over by the State Secretariat for Research and Technology, whose head was also First Deputy Chairman of the Research Council and therefore had extensive research policy authority.

In the ordinance on the statute of the Research Council of the German Democratic Republic of January 7, 1965 (Journal of Laws of II, p. 177 f), the Research Council was assigned:

The Research Council submits proposals to the state planning commission or other state organs to improve the planning and management of research and technology
Elaboration of proposals for the design of the system of economic levers in the field of research and technology
Elaboration of proposals for the planned development and concentration of research and development capacities as well as for the comprehensive use and rapid introduction of the results of research and development into practice.

The Research Council was dissolved with German reunification on October 3, 1990 ( Unification Treaty ( Art. 38 Para. 7).

Founding members

literature

Matthias Wagner: The Research Council of the GDR. In the area of conflict between professional competence and ideological demands 1954 - April 1962 . Diss. HU Berlin, Department of Economics, July 1992.
Manfred Rexin , The Development of Science Policy in the GDR , in: Science and Society in the GDR, ed. by Peter Christian Ludz , Munich 1971, pp. 78–121.

swell

Fritz Selbmann : Measures to improve work in the field of scientific and technical research and development and the introduction of new technology. In: The technology. 12. 1957, pp. 660-668.
Max Steenbeck: Basics, tasks and working methods of the research council of the GDR. In: The technology. 19. 1964, pp. 656-659.
Minutes of the negotiations of the 3rd party conference of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. March 24 to March 30, 1956 in the Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle in Berlin.

Legislation

Regulation on the statute of the Research Council of the GDR from 7 January 1965 ( GBl II 1965 No. 22 p. 177)
Regulation on groups and working groups for research and technology of August 7, 1967 (Journal of Laws of II 1967 No. 77 p. 551)