State Committee for Physical Culture and Sport

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The State Committee for Physical Culture and Sport was with the foundation in 1952, as a central organ of the GDR , which should be the highest authority on questions of physical culture and sport.

founding

With the establishment of the State Committee in 1952 by the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED , the German Sports Committee lost its leading role because, in the opinion of the SED , it did too little ideological work. The State Committee was formed at the request of General Secretary Walter Ulbricht and on behalf of the Politburo, in order to promote the “building of socialism” and to intensify the class struggle, in order to ultimately achieve alignment with the USSR and the Soviet sports system. With the introduction of the new sports structures, there was also a redistribution of tasks. The State Committee existed alongside the German Sports Committee and the DTSB, founded in 1957, as a central body in the form of a sports ministry in the GDR.

Restructuring 1970

After 18 years of activity, the State Committee was dissolved in 1970 without prior notice and the committee was transformed into a State Secretariat for Physical Culture and Sport. The SED demanded an increasing concentration of state power, which led to a renewed division and hierarchization of state and social organizations. The State Secretariat was given full powers and had the responsibility and decision-making authority for all state tasks in the field of physical culture and sport. The principle of centralization corresponded to the Leninist leadership style. This step consolidated the hierarchy of sport, in which the DTSB President is the sole authority in charge of sport. Below him in the hierarchy was the head of the sports department in the SED's central committee, Rudi Hellmann, and third was the State Secretary. This was Günter Erbach, previously rector of the DHfK and briefly president of the athletics association, who held his office as state secretary for 15 years. The State Secretariat was only formally the central body in matters of physical culture and sport, since the real task was to be perceived by the public as a state responsibility in matters of sport. In addition, the State Secretariat was given the task of instructing and controlling sports science, so that above all it should be ensured that sport in the GDR could exist under the best conditions. The State Secretariat thus also managed the investment funds for sports science and sports medicine.

Areas of responsibility

Scientific advice

The State Committee, and previously the German Sports Committee , was responsible for the Scientific Council based at the German University of Physical Culture in Leipzig . The council consisted of sports science experts who decided on the coordination and planning of sports science research. A distinction was made between plenary sessions, in which fundamental questions were discussed, and specialist commissions, such as history, the theory of physical education and sports medicine, in which subject-specific projects were discussed and decided. After 10 years of activity, the Scientific Council was converted into a Scientific and Methodological Council in order to better meet the requirement of merging theory and practice. With the formation of new sections and specialist commissions, the emphasis shifted increasingly to the requirements of sports practice and competitive sports research. From 1954, annual research plans were drawn up for medium and long-term planning and, from 1961, perspective framework research plans. With the restructuring of the State Committee into a State Secretariat, the powers of the Scientific and Methodological Council were significantly reduced in 1971. This was expressed in the renaming of the council and the deletion of the attribute "methodical", as well as the transfer of tasks to the Research Institute for Physical Culture and Sport established by the State Secretary in 1969.

German University of Physical Culture (DHfK)

The German University for Physical Culture served to train trainers and certified sports teachers for company sports communities and sports clubs. With the support of the SED , the DHfK was founded in 1950 and based on models such as the universities in Moscow and Leningrad. The university was initially controlled by the German Sports Committee , in 1952 by the State Committee for Physical Culture and Sport, from 1960 by the Committee and after 1970 by the State Secretariat. The teaching and research of the university was always based on the Marxist-Leninist ideology. The university comprised faculties and institutes and had a research center that was constantly being expanded. After 25 years of existence of the university, an average of 2,000 students studied at the university, who were taught by around 300 teachers and academic staff. With the "turnaround" and the fall of the Berlin Wall , the university tried to continue to exist despite "political legacy", with 90% of the staff being dismissed and the university being classified as a faculty of sports science in the University of Leipzig .

Research Institute for Physical Culture and Sport (FKS)

In addition to the DHfK and other sports science institutions, the Research Institute for Physical Culture and Sport (FKS), based in Leipzig , was subordinate to the State Committee and the State Secretariat. The research institute worked on the principle of practical effectiveness and effectiveness, which was required of sports science after the State Council decision in 1968. The institute employed 650 people and made it a priority to work closely with sports clubs, coaches and athletes. The focus was on research in the field of high-performance sports and active participation in competitive sports. However, due to ever closer specialization and a disengagement from basic research (also to keep doping research under wraps), the performance of the VCS declined in the last years of the GDR. In addition to a social science department that worked on methods of ideological motivation, the institute carried out doping research at the request of the Central Committee of the SED . After the political change and the unification treaty, the VCS was subordinated to the federal government and later converted into an Institute for Applied Training Science (IAT), whereby the facility was retained in a reduced form.

literature

  • Hajo Bernett : Physical culture and sport in the GDR. (= Texts, sources, documents on sports science. 27.) Verlag Hofmann, Schorndorf 1994, ISBN 3-778-06871-7 .
  • Wolfgang Buss, Christian Becker: The sport in the SBZ and early GDR. (= Series of publications by the Federal Institute for Sports Science. Volume 109.) Verlag Hofmann, Schorndorf 2001, ISBN 3-778-00909-5 .
  • Klaus Weise: Sport and sport politics in the GDR between aspiration and reality. Research and discussion group GDR history, Berlin 2006, OCLC 492541819 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hajo Bernett: Physical culture and sport in the GDR. Verlag Hofmann Schorndorf, Schorndorf 1994, p. 79.
  2. ↑ a b c Klaus Weise: Sport and sports politics in the GDR between claim and reality. Research and discussion group GDR history. (= Booklets on GDR history. 99.) Helle Panke, Berlin 2006, p. 28.
  3. ^ Hajo Bernett: Physical culture and sport in the GDR. Verlag Hofmann, Schorndorf 1994, p. 133.
  4. ^ Hajo Bernett: Physical culture and sport in the GDR. Verlag Hofmann, Schorndorf 1994, p. 93.
  5. ^ Hajo Bernett: Physical culture and sport in the GDR. Verlag Hofmann, Schorndorf 1994, p. 101.
  6. ↑ Arnd Krüger & Paul Kunath: The development of sports science in the Soviet zone and the GDR, in: W. BUSS, C. BECKER u. a. (Ed.): Sport in the Soviet Zone and the early GDR. Genesis - structures - conditions. Schorndorf: Hofmann 2001, pp. 351–366.
  7. ^ Hajo Bernett: Physical culture and sport in the GDR. Verlag Hofmann, Schorndorf 1994, p. 117.