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.
