Ministry of Light Industry

The first Minister for Light Industry, Wilhelm Feldmann (right) in October 1954

The Ministry of Light Industry ( MfL ) was a ministry of the GDR Council of Ministers established by law of November 8, 1950 .

history

The Council of Ministers of the GDR had a large number of individual "industry ministries". From the Ministry of Industry , which was set up in 1949, the Ministry of Heavy Industry and the Ministry of Mechanical Engineering emerged together with the Ministry of Light Industry . At the same time, a State Secretariat for the food and luxury food industry was established. In 1955, after further splits, there were already eight industry ministries.

The ministries of industry have been coordinated and controlled by the State Planning Commission since 1950 . The State Planning Commission itself emerged from the Ministry of Planning in 1950 and was equal to the rank of a ministry, but in the actual planning organization it was higher than the individual industrial ministries. The Ministry of Light Industry (MfL) was one of the industrial ministries supervised by the Planning Commission.

In 1958, all industry ministries, including the MfL, were dissolved as independent authorities and in 1961 merged into the newly established National Economic Council (VWR). However, this "overall industry ministry" did not prove itself, so that in 1965 the individual ministries were set up again. Thus the MfL was again directly subordinate to the State Planning Commission.

At the beginning of the 1970s, individual areas of responsibility were separated and the ministry was then responsible for the clothing, leather, shoe and tobacco industry. In 1988 it was responsible for 18 combines . With the dissolution of the Ministry for District Industry and Food Industry in 1989, the MfL also took over its division.

The Ministry of Light Industry existed until March 1990 when it was incorporated into the newly created Ministry of Economy. The reason for this was the alignment of the government structure of the GDR with that of the Federal Republic with regard to the German reunification by Prime Minister Lothar de Maizière from April 1990.

(see de Maizière government ).

tasks

The MfL fulfilled functions regarding

• operational and financial planning as well as reporting to the State Planning Commission ;
• the development and structuring of the combines and large companies;
• the development in the districts and district-run industry;
• the supply of the population with consumer goods ;
• the development of the performance of the food industry , shoe industry, textile industry

• by means of automation and rationalization,
• to avoid supply bottlenecks;

• the use of foreign workers;
• international cooperation within Comecon .

minister

The first minister was Wilhelm Feldmann from the NDPD from 1950 to 1958 . Feldmann switched to the State Planning Commission as a department head in 1958 . The deputy minister, SED member Johann Wittik , became chairman of the district economic council in Gera . With the establishment of the National Economic Council in 1961, Wittik became 1st deputy chairman of the VWR. After the dissolution of the VWR, he was appointed Minister for Light Industry in 1965.

The next Minister for Light Industry from 1972 to 1978 was Karl Bettin . Bettin (SED) had previously been Deputy Minister and State Secretary for Light Industry. He was deposed in 1978. Werner Buschmann (SED) was a minister until the fall of the Berlin Wall (1978–1989) . Buschmann changed from a post as State Secretary and First Deputy Minister for District Industry and Food Industry to the direction of the Ministry of Light Industry. The last minister was Gunter Halm from the NDPD. Halm had been deputy minister since 1984. After the ministry was dissolved, he became State Secretary in the newly formed Ministry of Economic Affairs. From late 1990 to 1991 he was a board member of the Treuhandanstalt .

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Hellmut Heuer: On the organization of operational planning in the state-owned industry of the Soviet occupation area . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1958, pp. 67-69.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} History of the GDR authorities . ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 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. In: The Federal Archives . April 13, 2010; Retrieved October 11, 2011. 
3. ^ ^{A b} Basic organization of the SED - Ministry for Light Industry of the GDR . ( Memento of the original from May 29, 2006 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. State Archives Berlin. Retrieved October 12, 2011 
4. ^ Helmut Müller-Enbergs :  Feldmann, Wilhelm . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
5. ↑ Andreas Herbst :  Wittik, Johann . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
6. ↑ Andreas Herbst:  Bettin, Karl . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
7. ^ Andreas Herbst, Helmut Müller-Enbergs:  Buschmann, Werner . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .