Saving Nature in Socialism: East Germany's Official And
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“Saving Nature in Socialism: East Germany’s Official and Independent Environmentalism, 1968-1990” JULIA ELIZABETH AULT A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of the Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2015 Approved by: Konrad H. Jarausch Christopher Browning Chad Bryant Susan Pennybacker Donald J. Raleigh © 2015 Julia Elizabeth Ault ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Julia Elizabeth Ault: “Saving Nature in Socialism: East Germany’s Official and Oppositional Environmentalism, 1968-1990” (Under the direction of Konrad H. Jarausch) This dissertation explores the social, political, and environmental implications at home and abroad of East Germany’s (German Democratic Republic, GDR) mounting pollution problem. Placing the rise of environmental consciousness in East Germany in conversation with developments in West Germany and Poland, my project examines how the communist dictatorship and the small but growing opposition each grappled with the mounting pollution problem. Specifically, the dissertation considers why the dictatorship embraced environmental protection—even codifying the right to a clean environment in its 1968 constitution—and how it implemented this mandate. Yet, as the new environmental regulation and social policies raised East Germans’ expectations for a cleaner environment and a higher quality of life, their failures became increasingly manifest. As a result, a protest movement formed in the only institution not controlled by the communist party, the Protestant Church. I argue that Christian activists formulated a critique that challenged not only official environmental practices, but ultimately, the system as a whole. Although this criticism figured prominently in the Round Table discussions leading to reunification in 1990, our understanding of the connections between the environment and communism as well as their legacies remain as yet understudied. This examination of pollution, policy, and protest challenges traditional narratives about environmentalism. First, within the GDR, studying the interactions between institutions, politics, and society illuminates the complex negotiations between state and society under communism. iii Because environmentalism was not strictly viewed as oppositional, actors engaged in a range of activities for a common cause. Second, I argue that environmental consciousness arose for a variety of domestic and international reasons under communism, neither simply borrowing from western, liberal democracies nor developing in isolation from them. In fact, environmentalism in the GDR drew on a multitude of outside influences, such as western green movements, Christian texts, Soviet rhetoric, and Eastern European dissidents, to respond to serious, local degradation. This broadens the accepted narratives of environmentalism as originating solely in western, liberal democracies and highlights how both Germanys engaged with the environment to support their claims to legitimacy. Environmentalism in the GDR bridged the Iron Curtain, demonstrating the limitations of bipolar understandings of Europe during the Cold War. Its largest success, perhaps, was how uncontentious environmental cleanup proved to be during the unification process in the 1990s. Both East and West Germans had accepted its importance. iv PREFACE This dissertation project is eight—if not many more—years in the making. As a college junior, in 2007, I spent a semester abroad in Freiburg, Germany’s “eco-capital,” where I became fascinated with the idea of a successful Green Party. My German roommates, being good environmentalists, were more than happy to discuss such topics with their tag-along “Ami.” Upon returning to Grinnell for my senior year, I knew two things: that I wanted to write a senior thesis on the development of the Greens in West Germany from social movement to political party and that I wanted to return to Germany. Questions about German history still floated around in my head a year later when I returned as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. My assigned school, however, was in that God-forsaken place that Freiburgers referred to as “the wild East.” Despite knowing very little about the former East Germany, and having a distinctly western attitude about it when I arrived, I quickly grew to love Jena and the Thuringian countryside. More than anything, though, I enjoyed spending time in the teachers’ lounge at my school, listening to the teachers’ stories. Most of them had been born, educated, begun their teaching careers, and started families before the transition of 1989-90. Without fail, within five minutes of being in the room, one or more teachers (some of whom I hardly knew) would approach me and begin to tell me about their lives “before.” It was almost as if they felt obligated to share their stories with the outsider, to clarify, justify, or defend some earlier action, and I was a more than willing listener. Eventually, I wanted to find a way to blend these two seemingly unrelated and yet thoroughly entangled histories. Why was the Green Party an established fixture in the West, but v people rarely spoke of it—even in progressive Jena—in the East? Why was it that I had spent so much time in Germany by the time I was twenty-two, and yet I knew next to nothing about East Germany until I landed in it? More than anything, the intersection of environmentalism and East Germany posed numerous questions I could not answer. These questions lie at the core of this dissertation. I am greatly indebted to the multitude of people who have supported me, personally and professionally, throughout this long process. Three undergraduate professors—Jenny Michaels, Dan Kaiser, and Rob Lewis—fostered intellectual interests that wove their way into my dissertation, probably even more than I realize. Gudrun Keitel and Silke Schimmel warmly welcomed me into their homes in Jena and Nordhausen, and patiently answered my questions about Thuringia, the Harz, and life in East Germany over the course of countless hikes. Whenever I have felt alone in Germany, I’ve always known that a bed is waiting for me at Friedrich-Naumann-Straße. The research for this project would not have been possible without the support of a variety of grants and fellowships. FLAS grants from Indiana University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of North Carolina provided me with the language skills to make my first forays east of the Oder, while Columbia’s Council for European Studies offered the means to conduct research in Berlin, Magdeburg, and Wrocław. The Central European History Society also generously provided funds for research, but it was the Free University’s Berlin Program that truly made this project what it is today. Above all, Karin Goihl’s knowledge, care, and concern were invaluable in navigating German archives and academic culture. Additionally, the discussion and feedback from Paul Nolte and Martin Sabrow’s colloquia challenged me to approach the project from new directions. vi A slew of archivists helped me to find the material for this project, often providing the insight of those deeply engaged in their work. At the Robert Havemann Society’s Archiv der Opposition, Petra Söllner kindly welcomed me every day with a “Guten Morgen, Frau Ault,” and brought me innumerable files during the months I spent there. The Federal Archive in Berlin- Lichterfelde and the Federal Commission for the Records of the State Security Service (BStU) also provided a wealth of sources about the functioning of the East German party-state. In particular, Julia Spohr at the BStU helped me to explore the many different ways the Stasi viewed the environment. At the Böll Foundation’s Archiv Grünes Gedächtnis, Robert Camp and Christoph Becker-Schaum guided me in finding material about the Greens’ stance on the East. But it was the work at the smallest archives that often proved most rewarding. Saskia Paul at the Archiv Bürgerwegung Leipzig helped in every way she could, even when that meant leaving me alone for hours on end to read files. It was in the Lusatian hinterland, at Großhennersdorf’s Environmental Library, that I had the opportunity not only to access rarely- read files, but also to meet and talk with locals who had been active in the environmental movement. Andreas Schönfelder, who runs the library today, generously spent hours relating his experiences and connecting dots of the former opposition movement. Since beginning graduate school, I have been incredibly fortunate to find friends and colleagues who have motivated and practically aided me in writing a better dissertation. Scott Krause and Scott Harrison have devoted countless hours listening to half-baked concepts, and then, improving them greatly. During a sometimes trying year of research, these two, along with Adam Blackler, sparked a new passion for this project and academic life. Their company on adventures into Brandenburg and Poland not only broke up the monotony of the archives, but also brought to life communism’s lasting mark on the landscape. vii Colleagues and friends in Chapel Hill, too, have made the burden of graduate school lighter. Derek Holmgren and Sarah Lowry have plied me with excellent food on many occasions, while Adam Domby and Jennifer Kosmin have provided unstinting moral support. All of my historian and nonhistorian teammates on Rainbow’s mighty Baklava deserve credit for keeping me sane over the years. Lars Stiglich, Caroline Nilsen, and Aaron Hale-Dorrell have accommodated my desire to go kick the ball around more times than I can count. The interweaving of collegiality and friendship has made my time at UNC both intellectually stimulating and socially enjoyable. I owe a particular debt of gratitude for the friends and colleagues from a number of institutions who read and edited chapters in the finals months, many stepping outside of their comfort zone to do. Lars Stiglich, Caroline Nilsen, Alex Ruble, Scott Harrison, Scott Krause, Aaron Hale-Dorrell, and Adam Blackler all deserve a lifetime of cookies and beer for their help.