Ministry for Inner German Trade, Foreign Trade and Material Supply

Ministry for Foreign Trade and Internal German Trade, Unter den Linden 50 (photo 1965)

Ministry for Inner German Trade, Foreign Trade and Material Supply was a later changed name for one of the 14 first specialist ministries of the German Democratic Republic . The organization of domestic and international trade in the GDR was, like trade itself, an important instrument for the recognition of this former German state under international law . The ministry existed from 1949 until the new states joined the Federation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990 . It was housed in today's Otto-Wels-Haus in Berlin-Mitte .

history

The first institution for the cross-border exchange of goods in the Soviet zone of occupation was called the German Central Administration for Interzonal and Foreign Trade at the German Economic Commission . With the founding of the GDR in 1949, the Ministry for Foreign Trade and Material Supply emerged from the existing organizational structure of this central administration . The office of head of the ministry was that of a minister and, like in many other countries, meant being a member of the government at the same time . In the case of Minister Georg Ulrich Handke , this was initially the Provisional Government of the GDR .

By law of November 11, 1949, the ministry was named: Ministry for Inner German Trade, Foreign Trade and Material Supply . Less than a year later, the name changed again to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Internal German Trade. In 1967 it was renamed the Ministry of Foreign Trade. The last name from 1973 was Ministry of Foreign Trade.

Visit of the last minister, Gerhard Beil, at the Hanover Fair in 1988 . To his right: Wilhelm Schneider from the board of directors of what was then Friedrich Krupp AG .

German-German encounter at the Leipzig Spring Fair 1987 - from left: KoKo boss Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski (in the background), Gerold Tandler , Günter Mittag , Franz Josef Strauss , Theo Waigel and Erich Honecker

From 1967, the Commercial Coordination Department , headed by the Deputy Minister (from 1975: State Secretary) for foreign trade, Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski , appointed in the same year, procured foreign exchange and embargo goods for the GDR. The Ministry for State Security , which was also helped with the financing of the SED sister parties DKP and SEW in the Federal Republic and West Berlin , was based on trust . Schalck-Golodkowski was also an officer in the special operations of the MfS.

minister

• Georg Ulrich Handke (1949–1952)
• Kurt Gregor (1952–1954)
• Heinrich Rau (1955–1961)
• Julius Balkow (1961-1965)
• Horst Sölle (1965–1986)
• Gerhard Beil (1986–1990)

State Secretaries

• Hans-Paul Ganter-Gilmans (1949 to 1955)
• Kurt Gregor (1956 to 1962)
• Willy Hüttenrauch (1956 to 1962)
• Horst Sölle (1962 to 1965)
• Wolfgang Rauchfuß (1965)
• Dieter Albrecht (1965)
• Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski (since 1975)

Institutions

• Chamber of Foreign Trade

Foreign missions

1950s

In addition to the commercial agencies in socialist countries, the ministry opened:

• a commercial agency in Egypt
• a representation of the chamber for foreign trade or commercial representation in Burma / Myanmar
• a commercial agency in Finland
• a commercial agency and branches in India , Bombay / Mumbai , New Delhi , Madras / Chennai and Calcutta / Kolkata
• a representation of the Chamber of Foreign Trade or commercial agency in Iceland
• a commercial agency in Sweden
• a commercial agency in Sudan
• a commercial agency in Syria
• an office for intra-German trade in Frankfurt am Main and in Düsseldorf

See also

• intra-German trade

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Law on the change in the name of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Material Supply of November 11, 1949 Online publication documentarchiv.de , accessed on August 13, 2013
2. ↑ Law on the Government of the German Democratic Republic of November 8, 1950 Online publication documentarchiv.de , accessed on August 13, 2013
3. ↑ Announcement on the formation of ministries in GBl II of the GDR No. 81 from August 23, 1967. Can be viewed in the SAPMO files of the Federal Archives "ZB 20049 a /" SAPMO ( Memento of the original from August 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info : The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Announcement about the renaming of the Ministry of Foreign Trade to Ministry of Foreign Trade in GBl I of the GDR No. 55 of December 6, 1973. Can be viewed in the SAPMO files of the Federal Archives "ZB 20049 a /" SAPMO ( Memento of the original of August 13 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '1.6 "  N , 13 ° 23' 5.3"  E