Society for the Promotion of the Olympic Thought in the GDR

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The Society for the Promotion of the Olympic Thought in the GDR (DFOG) was the second official Olympic organization of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) alongside the National Olympic Committee (NOK ). It was founded on February 1, 1960 and officially had the objective of promoting the Olympic values. After the collapse of the GDR, the company was incorporated into the German Olympic Society (DOG), the parallel organization from the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), on January 1, 1991 .

Foundation and emergence

The Society for the Promotion of the Olympic Idea in the GDR was founded on February 1, 1960 on the initiative of the German Gymnastics and Sports Association (DTSB). The German Olympic Society from the Federal Republic of Germany played an important role in the establishment of the company, as this organization has already proven itself in the first few years since it was founded, in particular for financing the Olympic team. But the fact that the National Olympic Committee of the GDR was still striving for international recognition, since the model of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) provided for the independence of sports organizations from the interests of the state, promoted the establishment of an organization independent of the IOC, the NOK and could also support the DTSB.

Goals and fields of activity

The official objective of the organization was to promote the humanistic idea, friendship between athletes and the consolidation of the Olympic peace. Thus the DFOG was an organization subordinate to the NOK. However, due to its independence from the IOC, it temporarily held a higher position and functioned in its real area of ​​responsibility as a sports-political instrument of the GDR. The most important goal was that the NOK of the GDR was accepted as a full member of the IOC and thus the claim of the FRG to participate as the sole representative of Germany in the Olympic Games could be prevented. In addition to these agitation and propaganda tasks on an international and domestic German level, the organization also had a material area of ​​responsibility. This consisted of making an important contribution to the financing of the Olympic activities.

Agitation and propaganda

In the Eastern Bloc - and thus also in the GDR - sport was an important part of overall social development policy. As early as the 1950s, sports policy departments were formed in all important state, party and sport organizations, which were interspersed with a cadre policy typical of a socialist state. On the one hand, sport offered the opportunity to demonstrate the efficiency of the socialist social system of the GDR in comparison to the western FRG. On the other hand, sport in the GDR received a supporting role in the development and implementation of international recognition. Accordingly, especially in the early years of its existence up to the 1972 Summer Olympics , the DFOG increasingly carried out political persuasion in the form of agitation and propaganda . The primary goal was the complete recognition and autonomy of the GDR's NOK by the IOC. As a sport-political instrument, the DFOG acted in the three areas of foreign propaganda, agitation in West Germany and work in the GDR. For example, the DFOG held various lectures, forums and exhibitions and was also responsible for the production of numerous documentaries, brochures, pamphlets, wall newspapers, slide series and journalistic articles in the press, radio and TV. Finally, in the spring of 1965, the DFOG achieved its primary sporting policy goal when the IOC recognized the GDR's NOK at the IOC session in Madrid.

Political Economy

In addition to its sports policy mandate, the DFOG also played an important economic role in sport in the GDR. While in the 1960s the agitation and propaganda tasks were the main focus of activities, in the 1970s and 1980s the acquisition of financial means to secure the Olympic activities of the GDR was an essential part of the DFOG's areas of responsibility. This also enabled the DFOG to finance itself. The DFOG earned the money for this by publishing standard works on the Olympic Games as well as by selling and distributing Olympic pins, picture postcards, medals, pennants, banners and other souvenirs. There were also competitions and finally donations were also accepted. In addition, there were gradually other economic measures. For example, 1.65 million marks were handed over to the NOK in 1964 . In the 1972 Munich Olympic year it was already around 1.8 million marks. In 1980 the DFOG's contribution to the NOK was 3 million marks and in 1988 even 4 million marks. The planned contributions that were supposed to be transferred to the NOK were often exceeded. From 1980 onwards, the financial expenses for equipping and deploying the GDR Olympic teams could be borne solely by the profit generated by the DFOG.

resolution

After the fall of the GDR, the DFOG tried to secure an autonomous continued existence. After German reunification in 1990, however, the two German NOKs were initially united into a common organization. The general political developments finally forced the DFOG to merge with the West German parallel organization. With a resolution of January 1, 1991, the DFOG was integrated into its West German counterpart - the DOG.

literature

  • Andreas Höfer: From the Propaganda Department of GDR Sports: The Society for the Promotion of the Olympic Idea. In: Giselher Spitzer, Harald Braun (Ed.): The divided German sport. Conference of the dvs section on sports history from 24.-26. March 1995 in Potsdam . Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-89001-307-4 , pp. 169-193.
  • Andreas Höfer: "Serving peace, respecting life!" The Society for the Promotion of the Olympic Idea in the GDR. In: Stadium. International magazine for the history of sport . Volume 21/22, 1996, pp. 267-331.
  • Wolfgang Buss: The "Society for the Promotion of the Olympic Thought". A political and ideological instrument in the struggle for recognition of the GDR on an international level in the 1960s. In: SportZeiten. Sport in history, culture and society . Volume 1, 2014, pp. 37-49.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Buss, Society for the Promotion of the Olympic Thought, p. 37.
  2. ↑ Höfer, Serving Peace, Respecting Life !, pp. 271–272.
  3. ↑ Buss, Society for the Promotion of the Olympic Thought, pp. 38, 42.
  4. ^ Höfer, From the Propaganda Department of GDR Sports, pp. 180-181.
  5. ↑ Buss, Society for the Promotion of the Olympic Thought, pp. 41–42.
  6. ^ Höfer, From the Propaganda Department of GDR Sports, pp. 180–182.
  7. ↑ Buss, Society for the Promotion of the Olympic Thought, p. 43.
  8. ↑ Buss, Society for the Promotion of the Olympic Thought, p. 39.
  9. ↑ Höfer, Serving Peace, Respecting Life !, pp. 292–293.
  10. ^ Höfer, From the Propaganda Department of GDR Sports, p. 186.
  11. ^ Höfer, From the Propaganda Department of GDR Sports, pp. 192–193.