Sport in East Germany

The German Democratic Republic (GDR), or Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), had about 17 million inhabitants. East Germany in the 1980s ranked first in the world in winter sports and achieved the number three ranking in the Summer Olympics. In official documents not only the elite sports system was well developed (winning more than 200 Olympic gold medals), but also general sports and women’s sports were highly regarded.

History

From 1945 on East Germany was the western part of the Eastern Bloc, thereby especially dominated by the Soviet Union, as were the other satellite states. This was a consequence of the Nazi aggression: at the end of World War II (1939–1945) Germany was divided.The eastern state had to take the name “German Democratic Republic,” and the capital was—against international regulations—the Soviet-controlled part of Berlin. In reality the GDR was a Communist dictatorship, based on Soviet power and guided by Communists in the predominant Socialistic Unity Party (“Sozialistische Einheits-Partei Deutschlands,” “SED”), which was even controlling the umbrella organization for physical culture: the Deutscher Turn-und Sportbund (German Gymnasts and Sport Association, DTSB) enforced an uncompromising monopoly on sports, as well as steady political control of the members. Development of the subdisciplines like the athletic associations that followed the will of their members was not possible. Following a crisis in economy and society and after opening the Iron Curtain between Hungary and Austria in October 1989, giving a way to escape the totalitarian system, a great “Friendly Revolution” surprisingly ended the existence of the state in November 1989—without any violence. From 1990 on the process of democratic reunification of West and East Germany started, bringing new structures and a much higher degree of voluntary work for coaches or functionaries.

In the GDR, as the geographical middle-eastern part of the former “Deutsches Reich,” all traditional sports disciplines were practiced, but the trend was to concentrate on medal-intensive Olympic events. The emphasis on female swimming (no GDR tradition) and cutting off water polo (even if the GDR was a leading power in this sport) was a symbol for that decision.

Indigenous sports like German Turnen (enjoyed by versatile healthy men and especially women, but beyond any goal of medals or records), Faustball (fist ball), the more modern German Feldhandball (field handball), or the very strong left-wing worker sports clubs of the years before the Nazi dictatorship could not be maintained in their old forms because the new system banned all democratic forms of sport organization. The only viable imported sport was volleyball, which was imported by the Red Army of the Soviet Union and became known as the “sport of socialism,” especially for the younger generation. In fact, volleyball’s popularity grew over the years, leaving the traditional fist ball and field handball behind, a situation that continues until today, more than in the former West Germany.

Governmental support for sports opened a scissor that divided the chance of participation in sports for girls and women, boys and men. First priority was the political correctness of active sports people (witnesses say that that was a great reason to avoid getting into organized sports and instead to have informal sports activities, like in the Nazi era). Second, there was restriction on participation. The main element of the GDR system since 1950 was a politically dominated professional sport without free access and with lifelong employment guarantee. This sector was dominating amateur forms of sport engagement, by attempting to dominate world sports by seeking of “new blood” through the selection of the top 3 percent of each GDR generation.

Sport was organized following the principles of an army: following all “orders” and “commands” from everybody above the athlete. Besides that, the athletes were victims of a rigorous control, because the Secret Service (Stasi) used about 3,000 volunteers, named “IM” (“unofficial supporters” of the State Security) to generate confidential information about athletes’ politics and private life, in addition to the absolute control of sports by the SED. More than 4,700 professional trainers and about 1,000 medical doctors or helpers as well as 5,000 administrators were involved in highlevel sport. Nearly 1,500 persons were active in “research” or “application” of doping means; about 10,000 athletes were doped and are suffering today from severe side effects. That was the result of the GDR goals; internal plans for 1984 and 1988 saw the ranking of “number one” as realistic. This shows that the rulers hoped that the GDR, a state with a population of 17 million, would dominate world sport.

Participant and Spectator Sports

As shown above, elite sports were actively abused to construct a national identity.The most accepted spectator sports were, for male viewers, soccer and cycling; for female spectators, figure skating, horse riding, gymnastics; for both genders, the Olympics. Under the GDR dictatorship there was more freedom to act outside societal norms in attending sports events than in other activities; this was abused by fascist “fans” or hooligans in soccer stadiums, who were a growing problem in the 1980s.

Because of fear of political demonstrations the international matches were attended by State Security: 80 to 90 percent of the spectators were agents who had the task to play “good” fans.This was a symbol of dictatorship in GDR sports.

Women and Sport

In theory and at international congresses women’s participation in sports was a great goal. But in reality girls and women had few chances. Stories like that of a member of the Democratic Women’s Organization were often reported: “Because society is not able to give me a temporary nurse for my child, I have to miss the next assembly of our organization for the rights of women.”

On the one hand women were the main part in the Olympic medal statistic of the GDR and, as a result, were the bigger part in recruiting “new blood.” An overall analysis of the entire East German youth population brought approximately 60,000 children of both sexes into the 1,800 state-run “training centers”—selected against their own will. Rigorous selection of 10,000 athletes led into the second level: the “sport clubs” for training. These “SCs” were combined with “child and youth sport schools.” Twenty percent of this group could rise to the 2,000 top athletes of the real national teams—as “pros” in high-performance training. In reality GDR athletes were exceptionally well-paid civil servants, soldiers, policemen, or officers of the Stasi with guaranteed careers and the obligation to withhold information about the day-to-day course of athletic life, including practices that are identified today as massive doping.

Girls and women were the basis for the medals— they won most of them. But, the higher the position of women in the elite sports, the lower was the representation of them, which proves the strong conservative tendencies in the male-dominated GDR world of sports. Girls’ and women’s soccer may have been a positive development, compared with other nations who had tendencies to hinder women from kicking the ball.Women’s sports in general followed the hierarchy of gender, contrary to the propaganda, which claimed the emancipation of women in the GDR.

Youth Sports

The nature of youth participation in sport followed the principle of steady screening for world mastery: seeking (Sichtung) youngsters for the elite sector.This group of about 80,000 children had good chances for practice and education in sports; those who had to leave lost these chances again. Interviews prove that the loss of an elite-sport position resulted in a very bad life crisis.

Near the end of the GDR there was a growing sector of voluntary sports activities for pupils at school facilities, organized by teachers in their free time: Schul- Sportgemeinschaften. But in general the youth had in comparison to those of other nations very few chances to practice sports in sport organizations on a lower or medium level.

Organizations

The GDR sport organization DTSB integrated officially independent national organizations in disciplines, such as Deutscher Fussball-Verband. Democracy in electing the governing bodies was just for show. All organizations had to have the suffix der DDR (of the GDR), and all were subjected to the SED-controlled DTSB. Even above the umbrella organization DTSB and the National Olympic Committee the highest organizing body was a secret SED commission that controlled and decided, named Leistungssportkommission der DDR (Central Sport Commission of the GDR). The president was controlled by the Secretary of Youth and Security in the central committee of the SED. He wrote internal orders like doping or training plans as “staterun secrets,” which were given by a Secret Service officer to the clubs. Following the International Olympic Committee rules a National Olympic Committee of the GDR existed, but in reality it was not independent.

The biggest regular events were the Deutsche Turnund Sportfeste at Leipzig with a political focus and the Zentrale Jugend-Spartakiade, focusing on elite sport and mastery of junior cadres. Other most accepted sport events were soccer leagues and cycling competitions, and there was a growing reception of TV shows on elite sports.

As a consequence in a society with limited economic power, a very small sum of money was given to the sports activities of the majority outside that elite sports army of 90,000. Estimates of critical research go in the same direction: more than 80 percent (maybe 90 percent, integrating “secret” money for state-run doping) was given to elite sports, not to the wide majority outside the national team. Even this “rest” was divided: “Sport 2” consisted of achievement sports without participation in the international competition system of European championships or the Olympics (for instance, basketball). Sport 2 got more money than “sports for all” (Volkssport or Freizeit-und Erholungssport) or sport of the handicapped. That is one reason why organized sport in the former East Germany after reunification is until now on a level equivalent to that of West Germany in the 1950s.

As a consequence of GDR politics, new disciplines were not allowed to be integrated. So karate, windsurfing, and triathlon had to find a way to develop self-organized and outside of organizations, with many restrictions.

Sports in Society

Elite sports in society had an extraordinary high value—it had become virtually the only sector of society where the GDR had reached an international level, producing the biggest part of positive identification with state and society by that “achievement” of young athletes. But today we see behind the curtain of Communist propaganda and disinformation, even though the GDR Secret Service has tried to hide information about drug abuse and violating amateur ideals. For example, we could show that the State Secretary of Sports had to resign at once by political decision when he tried to make Volkssport stronger.

The status of elite athletes in society was extremely high because of the high level of identification of the GDR with their achievement. But in the last decade that tendency changed, because the pattern of cheating by doping was known and openly discussed and the huge expenditures in that sector were criticized in a society that was going down economically and where it was nearly impossible to buy sports shoes.

The Future

Today there is a controversy about the future of sport in the former GDR. Sports-for-all as well as school education is a negative model; in comparison this sector was poor, lacking money, gymnastic or swimming halls, sport dresses and shoes.This underdevelopment led to a very low participation in sport-for-all: even today—one and a half decades after the end of Communist East Germany—it is only a fraction, compared with the Democratic Western part. In contrary the high-level sector is discussed from different perspectives. Scientists or politicians who like the “straight” model (of central decisions of the political system and with literally unlimited resources and salaries) tend to ignore the systemic elements like damaging health, cheating by doping and money, and giving inappropriate pressure and transforming the minds and bodies of children and youngsters.

That system lives on in the perception that organized sport is connected with money or employment, so it is a problem to organize truly amateur sports in now democratic East Germany, in contrast to other industrial societies. Even the personal influence of former agents of Stasi as well as doping criminals and the undemocratic structures are discussed now, one and a half decades after the fall of the BerlinWall.

Giselher Spitzer