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Documents - Culture: Appropriate Expressions in East Germany
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1.   From the 69th Program of the "Cultural League for the Democratic Renewal of Germany" (June 1945)
In June 1945, the Soviet military administration in the Soviet occupation zone founded the “Cultural League for the Democratic Renewal of Germany” [Kulturbundes zur demokratischen Erneuerung Deutschlands].....
2.   Stefan Heymann, "Cosmopolitanism and Formalism" (December 1, 1949)
In the GDR, the state and the party put art and literature in the service of building up Socialism. Art and literature were to reflect the reality of the new society. At the end of 1949, the head....
3.   Resolution by the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, adopted at the Fifth Session (March 15-17, 1951)
In March 1951, the SED stepped up its campaign for a “radical turnaround in all areas of cultural life” and articulated basic principles of Stalinist cultural policy. Western art forms were rejected....
4.   Neues Deutschland Report on a Discussion about Realism and Formalism in the School of Applied Arts in Magdeburg (April 24, 1951)
This report on a discussion of certain works of art at the School of Applied Arts in Magdeburg, published in Neues Deutschland in April 1951, showed the concrete repercussions of Stalinist....
5.   Poem by Johannes R. Becher on the Death of Stalin (1953)
Johannes R. Becher was a member of the SED Party Executive Committee and the SED Central Committee from 1946 on; he served as GDR Minister of Culture from 1954 until his death in 1958. He composed....
6.   "The Cultural League at Ten" – Lead Article in Neues Deutschland (July 2, 1955)
On the tenth anniversary of the Cultural League for the Democratic Renewal of Germany, the SED’s central organ Neues Deutschland celebrated the unity of the working class and the intelligentsia....
7.   Walter Ulbricht: The Second Five-Year Plan and the Building Up of Socialism in the German Democratic Republic (1956)
On the occasion of the Second Five-Year Plan of the GDR in 1956, SED party chairman Walter Ulbricht celebrated the successes of the state’s cultural policy. As evidence of that success, he pointed....
8.   Report of the Central Party Control Commission of the SED on the Emergence and Goals of the "Harich Group" (March 26, 1957)
In the 1950s, Communist intellectuals who did not follow the line of the SED came under increasing political pressure in the GDR. On December 1, 1956, Wolfgang....
9.   Directive on Programming for Light Music and Dance Music (January 2, 1958)
In January 1958, the GDR government issued a directive on light music and dance music programming for the radio and live performances. The guidelines stipulated that at least 60% of the pieces performed....
10.   "To the Base – against Self-Satisfaction": Erwin Strittmatter’s Contribution to the Discussion at the Bitterfeld Conference [Excerpt] (April 24, 1959)
In April 1959, a literary conference was held at the cultural palace of the Bitterfeld Electrochemical Kombinat [combine] in the GDR. At the end of the conference, writers were given two demands:....
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