Ministry of Ore Mining, Metallurgy and Potash

The GDR Ministry of Ore Mining, Metallurgy and Potash ( MEMK ) existed between 1965 and 1989.

history

Already in the first years of the GDR there was a ministry for metallurgy and ore mining , which was created in November 1951 by splitting up the ministry for heavy engineering. The Ministry of Mining and Metallurgy was created through a new division in November 1955 , which lasted until February 1958 before it was incorporated into the National Economic Council .

The MEMK was founded after the National Economic Council was dissolved in December 1965. Since 1966, the MEMK has served as the central guidance and control body for the ore mining economic group , the metallurgy industry and the potash industry .

The MEMK was dissolved in November 1989. Its duties were taken over by the newly formed Ministry of Heavy Industry , to which on January 1, 1990 the Ministry of Ore Mining, Metallurgy and Potash was incorporated into the Ministry of Heavy Industry. On April 13, 1990, the ministries for heavy industry, light industry and mechanical engineering were reorganized to form the Ministry of Economics, which existed until October 3, 1990.

tasks

The duties of the Ministry included the

• Implementation of the economic policy goals of the State Planning Commission set out in the annual and five-year plans as well as long-term plans
• Increase in production through intensification,
• Development of science and technology,
• Planning and preparation of investments,
• Guarantee of cooperative relationships,
• Development of specialization and division of labor
• Deepening economic integration
• accelerated development of the production of component parts and spare parts
• maximum use of domestic raw materials and material savings.

Subordinate combines, institutes and educational institutions

The following nine combines were subordinate to the MEMK :

• VEB strip steel combine "Hermann Matern" , Eisenhüttenstadt (EKO)
• VEB Berg- und Hüttenkombinat "Albert Funk" , Freiberg
• Hennigsdorf steel and rolling mill
• VEB Kombinat Kali , Sondershausen
• VEB Combine Metal Processing, Halle (Saale)
• VEB Kombinat Central industrial plant construction of metallurgy, Berlin
• VEB Mansfeldkombinat "Wilhelm Pieck" , Eisleben
• VEB quality and stainless steel combine , Brandenburg an der Havel
• VEB Rohrkombinat, Riesa

The MEMK also had the steel advice center in Freiberg (Saxony), the engineering school for automation and materials technology in Hennigsdorf , the engineering school for rolling mill and steel mill technology in Riesa, as well as the Central Institute of Metallurgy and VE Metallhandel - the state's own foreign and domestic trade company.

minister

• Fritz Selbmann (SED, 1950–1955), Minister for Metallurgy and Ore Mining
• Rudolf Steinwand (SED, 1955–1958), Minister for Mining and Metallurgy
• Kurt Fichtner (SED, 1965–1967)
• Kurt Singhuber (SED, 1967–1989)

Deputy Minister

• Hugo Meiser (SED from 1971)
• Karl Döring (SED, 1979–1985)

literature

• Federal Ministry of the Interior (ed.): GDR manual . 3rd and exp. Edition. Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, Cologne 1984, pp. 901f.
• Andreas Herbst , Winfried Ranke and Jürgen Winkler (eds.): This is how the GDR worked . Volume 2: Lexicon of Organizations and Institutions . Reinbek near Hamburg, Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag 1994, pp. 668f.