This article is about the former East German retail stores. For the e-commerce company, see Intershop Communications.
Intershop's logoThe Intershop in Berlin Friedrichstraße underground train station, accessible from West Berlin only, c.1990, the only one with shop windows. East German books, as on display here, were not sold in normal Intershop stores.
Intershop was a chain of government-owned and operated retail stores in the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) in which only hard currencies (and later Forum checks) could be used to purchase high-quality goods, usually from or associated with Western countries. The East German mark was not accepted as payment. Intershop was originally oriented towards visitors from Western countries, and later became an outlet where East Germans could purchase goods they could not otherwise obtain. An unintended consequence was that ordinary East Germans had some insight into the selection of goods available in the West, which they could then compare with the rather limited offerings available in their own country.[1]
Intershops sold imported products such as cigarettes, liquor, appliances and even car accessories.[2] It even sold quality East German products that were exported and then re-imported. Those items were sometimes sold at a lower price than the same product, as sold in domestic shops.[2]
History
Intershop was founded on 14 December 1962 as a publicly owned company (Volkseigener Betrieb - VEB). Its purpose was to increase the flow of hard currency into the GDR. There was such a lack of foreign currency that even small amounts were welcome. The groups targeted were mainly tourists and other foreigners in transit from the West. The first mobile carts were in the Berlin Friedrichstraße station, where tax-free cigarettes were sold for much less than in West Berlin. Little by little, alcohol and other goods were gradually added. By 1962, annual sales totalled more than one million Deutsche Marks (DM).
Originally, Intershop was organised as a division of Mitropa, the company that provided catering services to the Deutsche Reichsbahn. With the arrival of the first Interhotels, which were intended to house Western tourists, Intershops also began appearing in these Western-oriented hotels. One could also purchase items in one's room (via room service) with hard currency. Over time, these hotel-based Intershops grew as well.
Later, Intershops were opened at border crossings, rest stops and transit stops on the GDR Autobahns, railway stations, bus stations, ferry terminals and airports. As an example of the GDR regime's desire for hard currency, in the 1980s, in the Berlin Friedrichstraße underground (U-Bahn) station, there was an Intershop kiosk on the platform of the U6 line created specifically for travellers from West Berlin who may not have wanted to pass through the GDR border controls. One could disembark from the underground train, make a purchase, and then get back on the next train, and go back to West Berlin, all without passing through the GDR border controls. Purchases could be paid for with any fully convertible currency, such as US dollars, Pounds Sterling, Swiss francs, and especially West German marks.
Until 1974, GDR citizens were not allowed to hold foreign currency. By decree of the Council of Ministers of the GDR (Ministerrat der DDR), this ban was relaxed in that year, and East Germans were then allowed to shop in most Intershops. The Intershops at Autobahn rest stops (so-called "Transitshops"), which were sometimes self-service, were still only for travellers from non-socialist countries and required travel documents for entry. Additionally, certain duty-free items such as tobacco, spirits, coffee, perfume, brand name clothing, watches and jewellery required a foreign passport. The prices for these goods were significantly lower than in West Germany or West Berlin, while the other goods that would have interested East Germans were relatively expensive. East Germans could not legally exchange East German marks for hard currency. The only legal ways for East Germans to acquire hard currency were either as gifts from relatives living in the West or wages earned for work in Western countries.
For East Germans without hard currency, there were 300 Exquisit shops (which sold higher priced clothing, shoes, and cosmetics) from 1962 onwards and 550 Delikat shops (which sold high end and gourmet food items) from 1976 onwards. Most of the goods sold in Exquisit and Delikat shops were of East German origin but were normally unavailable in the regular state-run stores. These shops were intended to give East Germans access to high-quality goods and to absorb surplus purchasing power.[1]
In 1977, Erich Honecker said, "These shops obviously aren't permanent companions of socialism. But we can't ignore the fact that the rising number of visitors is bringing more such currency among us than before." Honecker made these remarks in response to criticism that Intershops were a key driver of inequality. In the same speech, Honecker defended trade with capitalist countries. He said, "Naturally, we haven't overlooked the fact that the citizens of the German Democratic Republic who have no such funds are at a disadvantage, in a certain sense, compared to those who have such currency at their disposal." Honecker said the 9.5 million yearly visitors from capitalist countries "who eat with us, usually spend the night and obviously also have money in their pockets. Through the Intershops, we have created the possibility that these funds stay with us in the country."[1]
Starting in April 1979, East Germans were required to convert hard currency at the East German state bank (Staatsbank der DDR) into the so-called forum check. A forum check mark had a value of one West German mark. The Forum Außenhandelsgesellschaft mbH was responsible for the management of Intershops and had 900 employees.
By 1978, there were reportedly 100 Intershops in operation across East Germany.[2] It was noted that Intershop gave an opportunity for West German companies, as well as companies based in the West, to sell consumer goods to a communist bloc country.[2] The rise of Intershop was noted to have created a visibly separate social class in East Germany, where people who had access to an Intershop, as well as the means to shop there, were seen consuming items offered by the chain. Consumerism promoted by the existence of Intershop also caused labour disputes in some areas, with workers demanding part of their salary to be paid in hard currency so that they could shop at Intershop.[3]
The Ministry of State Security (Stasi) monitored the Intershops very closely, with relatives of Stasi employees or officials often working as cashiers. In some stores, security cameras were present, and in the beginning, passports were even checked. The transport of these goods was closely monitored as well. Even so, there were numerous thefts and even some armed robberies of Intershop stores. The investigations of these crimes always involved the Stasi as well as the regular police. In many cases, store managers and employees were involved in the crimes.[citation needed] Beginning in the 1980s, a portion of the salary of Intershop workers was paid in hard currency and additionally employees had to surrender their tips, according to regulations, in order to curb these problems.
Because photographing in Intershops was not allowed, there are few photographs of the inside of the stores. Most of those that do exist are from the Stasi archives. A West German photographer, Günter Schneider, collected numerous photos of Intershops while working on a larger report about the transit corridors in East Germany.[4]
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic, was a country in Central Europe that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally viewed as a communist state, and it described itself as a socialist "workers' and peasants' state". Before its establishment, the country's territory was administered and occupied by Soviet forces with the autonomy of the native communists following the Berlin Declaration abolishing German sovereignty in World War II; when the Potsdam Agreement established the Soviet-occupied zone, bounded on the east by the Oder–Neisse line. The GDR was dominated by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), a communist party from 1949 to 1989, before being democratized and liberalized under the impact of the Revolutions of 1989 against the communist states, helping East Germany be united with the West. Unlike West Germany, SED did not see its state as the successor of the German Reich (1871–1945) and abolished the goal of unification in the constitution (1974). Under the SED rule, GDR was often judged as a Soviet satellite state; most scholars and academics described it as a totalitarian regime.
The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the Stasi, an abbreviation of Staatssicherheit, was the state security-service of East Germany from 1950 to 1990.
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany, informally known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic from the country's foundation in October 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Marxist–Leninist communist party, established in April 1946 as a merger between the East German branches of the Communist Party of Germany and Social Democratic Party of Germany.
The East German mark, commonly called the eastern mark in West Germany and after reunification), in East Germany only Mark, was the currency of the German Democratic Republic. Its ISO 4217 currency code was DDM. The currency was known officially as the Deutsche Mark from 1948 to 1964, Mark der Deutschen Notenbank from 1964 to 1967, and from 1968 to 1990 as the Mark der DDR. The mark (M) was divided into 100 Pfennig (pf).
The Palace of the Republic was a building in Berlin that hosted the Volkskammer, the parliament of East Germany, from 1976 to 1990.
Articles related to East Germany include:
Forum checks were a form of hard currency in East Germany. From April 1979, all East Germans were required by law to convert any Deutsche Marks they possessed into Forum checks at a branch of the Staatsbank der DDR immediately. A Forum check mark was worth 1 West German Deutsche Mark, the smallest denomination was 50 Pfennigs and the highest was for 500 West German Deutsche Mark. Forum checks were accepted in Intershops as payment for western consumer goods and other products which were available in these shops only. Foreign citizens could use western currencies in these shops.
The Peaceful Revolution, as a part of the Revolutions of 1989, was the process of sociopolitical change that led to the opening of East Germany's borders with the West, the end of the ruling of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in the German Democratic Republic in 1989 and the transition to a parliamentary democracy, which later enabled the reunification of Germany in October 1990. This happened through non-violent initiatives and demonstrations. This period of change is referred to in German as Die Wende.
Tourism in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was organised through the state via Reisebüro der DDR (Travel Bureau of the GDR).
Pewex was a chain of hard-currency shops founded in 1972, during the Communist era in Poland that accepted payment only in United States dollars and other hard currencies, instead of the country's indigenous currency, the Złoty.
Corecom was a chain of hard-currency stores during the Communist rule in Bulgaria. Goods were often priced cheaper than in the West, however, they were still inaccessible for most Bulgarians because the national currency, the lev, was not accepted at the stores. Apart from Western diplomats and visitors, access to hard currency was a privilege of the nomenklatura and a few other people who were authorised to travel abroad or do business with Westerners. Anyone purchasing goods at Corecom but not authorised to possess foreign currency ran the risk of investigation by the authorities.
The Berlin border crossings were border crossings created as a result of the post-World War II division of Germany. Prior to the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, travel between the Eastern and Western sectors of Berlin was completely uncontrolled, although restrictions were increasingly introduced by the Soviet and East German authorities at major crossings between the sectors. This free access, especially after the closure of the Inner German border, allowed the Eastern Bloc emigration and defection to occur. East German officials, humiliated by this mass defection, subsequently chose to erect the Berlin Wall in order to prevent residents from leaving East Germany.
The German Democratic Republic (GDR), German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), often known in English as East Germany, existed from 1949 to 1990. It covered the area of the present-day German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, and Thüringen. This area was occupied by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II excluding the former eastern lands annexed by Poland and the Soviet Union, with the remaining German territory to the west occupied by the British, American, and French armies. Following the economic and political unification of the three western occupation zones under a single administration and the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany in May 1949, the German Democratic Republic was founded on 7 October 1949 as a sovereign nation.
Waldsiedlung was the secure housing zone for the leaders of the German Democratic Republic in Bernau bei Berlin, Brandenburg from 1960 to 1989. Waldsiedlung housed the most senior party members of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in relative luxury near Wandlitz, 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of East Berlin, with surrounding areas off-limits to all ordinary citizens.
Berlin Friedrichstraße is a railway station in the German capital Berlin. It is located on the Friedrichstraße, a major north-south street in the Mitte district of Berlin, adjacent to the point where the street crosses the river Spree. Underneath the station is the U-Bahn station Friedrichstraße.
The State Bank of the GDR was the central bank of East Germany. It was established on 1 January 1968 from the Deutsche Notenbank and took over the majority of the same tasks.
Beriozka was the overall name applied to two chains of state-run retail stores in the Soviet Union that sold goods in exchange for foreign currency. Beriozkas sold luxury goods such as chocolate and caviar that were often unavailable or unaffordable in traditional Soviet markets and shops. In English-language advertisements and signs, the spelling was always "Beriozka" rather than the more conventional transliteration "Beryozka." Beryozka existed between 1964 and 1990 up to the point of the Soviet Union dissolution.
Although prostitution in the German Democratic Republic was outlawed in 1968, it was partially tolerated thereafter.
East Germany was one of the leading computer producers in the Eastern Bloc as purchases of higher technologies from the West were under various embargoes. A program of illegal purchases, copying and reverse engineering of Western examples was established, after which GDR sold these computers to COMECON countries. Under the rule of Erich Honecker, electronics, microelectronics and data processing industries grew at average 11.4% in the 1970s and 12.9% during the 1980s.
References
1 2 3 Miller, Stephen (12 October 1977). "Untitled". Associated Press. Berlin.
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