Experts discuss monument protection for GDR agriculture

Agriculture enjoyed a special status in the workers' and peasants' state. At a three-day meeting in Altenburger Land, experts from the federal states are discussing whether important GDR agricultural facilities should be placed under monument protection almost 35 years after the fall of communism.

The establishment of the agricultural production cooperatives (LPG), which were created through forced collectivization, led to the development of industrial agricultural facilities, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, said Sabine Guzowski, specialist for industrial monuments at the Thuringian State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology. "Such sites were also sold abroad to earn foreign currency," the expert continued. The GDR thus played a pioneering role in the development of industrialized agriculture, as can be found in many places today.

Excursion to the Altenburg feed mill

The three-day meeting of the expert group of the Association of Monument Authorities is taking place at the invitation of Thuringia. According to Guzowski, the aim is to reach a "nationwide opinion" on whether innovative and representative facilities that were developed during this period should be protected as industrial monuments. As an example, Guzowski cited the compound feed plant in the north of Altenburg, which the conservationists will visit on Tuesday as part of an excursion. Formerly used by the "VEAB Getreidewirtschaft Altenburg", the plant now produces concentrated feed for pig fattening, among other things, as Altenburger Kraftfutterwerk und Getreidehandel GmbH with 50 employees. A visit to the German Agricultural Museum in Blankenhain Castle in Saxony is also on the agenda, according to the Altenburger Land District Office.

Due to its age, the GDR heritage is increasingly attracting the attention of heritage conservationists. This year's Open Monument Day also focused on objects of so-called Eastern Modernism. The best example: the location of this year's opening ceremony - the listed cultural and congress center in Gera, which opened in 1981.