Carrier company

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Supporting companies were called publicly owned companies (VEB) and state administrations in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), which, as cultural-political institutions, supported cultural and sporting events, but in particular cultural groups, sports communities, central pioneer camps and comparable facilities, primarily intended for recreational activities. In addition, competitive sports (see state amateurs ) and culturally demanding facilities were financed by sponsoring companies

The sponsoring companies support their respective institution or event financially and logistically. The initiators even before the founding of the GDR were the Free German Trade Union Federation and the Kulturbund with the aim of promoting cultural development and supporting working-class artists, as well as the German Sports Committee in the field of physical culture , which in the Soviet occupation zone managed the communally organized sports system through operational and to replace workers' sport based on the Soviet model. Many larger companies were already sponsoring cultural and sports groups before 1948. Unlike in formerly localized clubs, the members of a cultural group or sports community no longer necessarily lived in the same place or district, but were from then on often working in one and the same company. The fact that a cultural group or sports community was not assigned to a VEB sponsoring company already became an exception in the early 1950s. The name of the company sports associations (BSG) goes back to the name of the sports association , which in turn was usually based on the respective union division of the sponsoring company. Because the companies in the GDR were repeatedly subject to state-ordered restructuring, the name of the BSG could also change. In addition, in many cases several smaller sponsoring companies were responsible for supporting a cultural or sports facility. If the sponsoring company was financially strong and supported the athletes and artists well, this had a direct impact on their performance and success in a national, but also in an international comparison.

When many companies ran into major financial difficulties after the fall of the Wall , they quickly parted with the cultural and sporting facilities they supported. The company sports system of the GDR, the cultural centers of the companies with their cultural ensembles, but also the facilities of the pioneer organization Ernst Thälmann were dissolved very quickly for this reason.

Schools and universities (e.g. Sports Association Science), the internal security organs of the GDR (e.g. Sports Association Dynamo ), the National were also sponsors of sport and cultural institutions in the GDR, but not actually sponsoring "companies" People's Army (e.g. Army Sports Association Forward ) or other municipal and state institutions.

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