Liquidation of the East German Common Ownership - From Socialist Economic Planning to Market Economy

Abstract

The assassination of Detlev Karsten Rohwedder, the politician-businessman who managed East German privatisation, is one of the most mysterious and still unsolved crimes in recent German history. Rohwedder, a recognized Social Democratic politician and businessman, was appointed chairman of the Asset Management Agency (Treuhandanstalt, THA, Treuhand) on July 3, 1990. He held this position as commissioner from August 1990 and then as president from January 1, 1991. He was responsible for the privatization of state-owned plants of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The manager known for his unique approach was murdered at his house in Düsseldorf on Easter Monday, April 1991. The real motive of the case and the culprit is unknown to this day. The crime was claimed by the leftwing terrorist Red Army Faction (RAF), however, the investigation raised a number of questions that might suggest that former employees of the East German Stasi or the former East German party (the SED) could also be held responsible for the murder, although interestingly, there was nothing in the clues to suggest that they might lead to the eastern states. Rohwedder undertook to restore the economy of the former eastern provinces, to this end the management and reorganization of
East German assets, as well as the implementation and management of the privatization of publicly owned plants. In addition to the resolution of the East German economy and the privatization of nearly twelve thousand commonly owned plants in GDR, his responsibilities also included the rearrangement of land and real estate ownership. In a peculiar way, he completed his task by closing the plants and selling them out cheaply, and he was also responsible for cutting more than 3 million jobs.