Government hospital of the GDR
The government hospital of the GDR was a health facility for the nomenklatura of the German Democratic Republic in East Berlin . It was dissolved in 1990 after the reunification in the GDR .
building
The buildings at Scharnhorststraße 36 in Berlin-Mitte housed the Kaiser Wilhelms Academy for military medical education from 1911 . When the academy had to be dissolved after the Treaty of Versailles , the building was used to supply prostheses to war invalids . After the Second World War, the Red Army used the building as a central hospital in the Soviet occupation zone . After the GDR was founded, the inconspicuous house was rebuilt. In October 1950, it opened as a government hospital. Today the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy has its headquarters here.
Patient
Who could be treated as a patient was precisely determined by the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic : the Prime Minister and his deputies, ministers, state secretaries and deputy ministers, the members of the Central Committee of the SED and its Politburo , the Chairman of the Council of State and the members of the Council of State GDR , members of the Presidium (not the other MPs ) of the People's Chamber , the members of the leadership bodies of the bloc parties and mass organizations , the ambassadors and embassy councilors of their own embassies and the embassies of the Eastern bloc countries accredited in East Berlin . Prominent artists and scholars who were devoted to communism were also included, as well as established party veterans, members of the Supreme Court of the GDR and the public prosecutor's office, chairmen of the district councils and the secretaries of the district leaderships of the SED , as well as prominent figures from the Communist Party of Germany, which is banned in the Federal Republic , Representatives of the other western communist parties and the wives of these functionaries with their children up to 18 years of age.
Furnishing
The hospital had five units for internal medicine , two for surgery , one for gynecology and one for children . On average, each ward had ten single rooms. Telephones were in all rooms. West television could be received in the apartments . In addition to the GDR press, there were also West German newspapers.
The meal was excellent. With a polyclinic , modern laboratories and X-ray machines, pharmacy , baths and massage facilities, the house was excellently equipped. There was everything that wasn't available in the district hospitals, including “all imaginable pharmaceutical preparations from western companies in sufficient quantities” - although western medicines were otherwise often inaccessible.
The pharmacy of the government hospital also served as the central pharmacy of the Ministry of Health for special supplies. She got antibiotics , chemotherapy drugs and cardiovascular drugs that were not available in the GDR. Doctors were free to choose specific medications. If they were not in stock, they procured staff from the Ministry for State Security (MfS) in West Berlin.
Servants
Helga Mucke-Wittbrodt managed the house as medical director from 1950 to 1988, her successor was Lothar Kant . Full-time doctors were available in large numbers. In an emergency, every specialist from the GDR and other Eastern Bloc countries, sometimes also from the Federal Republic and West Berlin, was available . With modern technology and the unlimited treatment options, the doctors found excellent working conditions. However, their behavior towards one another was characterized by uncertainty, fear and mistrust. The required collegiality was lived, but there were no friendships. It was valued who did not question the vassalage . The doctors had special options for their daily shopping, e.g. B. in the building of the Soviet embassy . The building minister or the state reserve helped with the procurement of building materials. It was not the management department of the house that decided on recruitment , but the MfS. Salaries were 20-25% higher than elsewhere. In the 40 years of the government hospital, Uwe-Jens Jürgensen , arrested in 1981, was the only “deviator” among the doctors.
Vehicle fleet
The government hospital's fleet consisted of Tatra 603 . The ambulances were converted Soviet chaikas that attracted even more attention than the government vehicles .
safety
A permanent representative of the MfS provided the necessary information about the individual employees. Everyone knew him, almost nobody knew his name. Spies sat in all departments and stations . The laboratory was a particularly sensitive area because all the findings and diagnoses came together there.
Despite careful surveillance and secretive staff, the SED's top officials did not feel safe in the government hospital. That is why a separate station with two apartments was created for the members of the Politburo - the actual center of power in the GDR - station 3 A. They were subject to special security regulations. She offered living and sleeping arrangements for the bodyguard of the Stasi. Only selected nursing staff had access. The sickroom could only be entered when accompanied by a bodyguard.
Tripartite
Although guarded by the Feliks Dzierzynski Guard Regiment , the government hospital soon no longer seemed safe enough for those in power; the border with West Berlin was too close. Therefore, in 1976 the “Special Clinic” was established in Berlin-Buch . It had the name not because of special medical possibilities, but because of special patients - only the "very highest" management level was allowed. A nuclear shelter was kept for them. This made Buch the Government Hospital No. I , while the old house on Scharnhorststrasse became the Government Hospital No. II . The veterans of the party and former fighters against fascism were treated there alongside former members of the government and selected cultural workers, artists, scientists and athletes such as Helene Weigel , Greta Kuckhoff , Rita Schober , Anna Seghers and Manfred von Brauchitsch . In the event of illness, Max Reimann was also cared for . The buildings in Buch have been empty since 2001.
A polyclinic and a clinic for diplomats , Government Hospital No. III , were also built at Scharnhorststrasse 37 .
Solutions
"The best prophylaxis is socialism."
"Maintaining the health of Comrade Walter Ulbricht and the other Politburo members is our top priority."
"Our work serves the health of the entire German people."
"Always keep in mind that you are watching over the health of the best part of the German people."
literature
- Uwe-Jens Jürgensen, Elke Jürgensen, Volker Ebers: In the Stasi network, first betrayed - then sold. Haag + Herchen, Frankfurt am Main 2008. ISBN 978-3864400261 .
Web links
- More pictures from the government hospital of the GDR, on a private homepage
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Uwe-Jens Juergensen
- ↑ Mysterious House in East Berlin (Die Zeit, 1962)
- ↑ Berlin-Buch Clinic (GDR Lexicon)
- ↑ Luxury Clinic for the MDR nomenclature , September 17, 2013
Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '46.1 " N , 13 ° 22' 28.4" E