Workers' and Peasants' Inspection of East Germany
| Arbeiter-und-Bauern-Inspektion | |
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 14 May 1963 |
| Preceding agency |
|
| Dissolved | 4 January 1990 |
| Superseding agency |
|
| Jurisdiction | East Germany |
| Headquarters | Altes Stadthaus, East Berlin |
| Employees | 677 (1969) |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent department | Central Committee of the SED Council of Ministers of East Germany |
The Workers' and Peasants' Inspection (German: Arbeiter-und-Bauern-Inspektion) (ABI) was a control organ in East Germany jointly subordinate to the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and the Council of Ministers of the GDR. Its purpose was to ensure the strict implementation of party decisions and laws, with particular emphasis always being placed on economic policy and economic plans.
History
[edit]The Workers' and Peasants' Inspection was established on 14 May 1963 as part of the Walter Ulbricht's New Economic System by a decision of the Central Committee of the SED and a resolution of the Council of Ministers. It was accountable to both.[1][2]
Though not a legal successor, it largely supplanted the concurrently dissolved Central Commission for State Control (German: Zentrale Kommission für Staatliche Kontrolle) (ZKSK), taking over part of its staff and structure. Its activities, like those of the preceding ZKSK, were based on the Soviet concept of joint control of economic and social developments by citizens and the government. More than the ZKSK, the ABI was intended to involve volunteers in its inspections.[1]
However, with the failure of the New Economic System, the ABI also lost influence. Walter Ulbricht's successor Erich Honecker limited the scope of the ABI. From then on, the ABI was only to ensure the fulfillment of the economic plan, by closely monitoring the implementation of SED decisions, adherence to production plans, the avoidance of bureaucratism and the improvement of organization and leadership.
During the Peaceful Revolution, the Presidium of the Volkskammer subordinated the Workers' and Farmers' Inspection to the Volkskammer and renamed it to "Committee for People's Control" (German: Komitee für Volkskontrolle) by resolution on 4 January 1990. It was supposed to now provide non-partisan public controls, but it soon became apparent that the structures and tasks of the ABI had outlived their usefulness. The newly elected de Maizière government decided to dissolve it in May 1990 and was liquidated from June to December of that year.[1]
Mission
[edit]
The Workers' and Peasants' Inspection's task was to monitor the implementation of national economic and perspective plans as well as various economic policy goals, enforce "state discipline" and hold state and economic institutions and social organizations accountable; "sloppiness, mismanagement, waste, heartless behavior, local narrow-mindedness, whitewashing, the misuse of official positions and the squandering or misappropriation of public property" were to be uncovered.[1]
The system was built on around 280,000 volunteer ABI staff members, known as "people's inspectors", who were employed in cooperatives, enterprises and combines, ministries and administrations. They monitored their colleagues and were authorized to issue directives and even impose disciplinary measures, though their actual influence was relatively limited. Nevertheless, newspapers often reported on the successes of the people's inspectors, especially in matters of supply shortages and poor service delivery, and particularly egregious cases were even analyzed on GDR television.
However, the leadership and boards of parties, mass organizations, certain ministries (especially the ministries of the so-called "armed organs" such as the Stasi), the public prosecutor's office and courts, as well as the press remained excluded from ABI controls.[1]
Structure
[edit]Bodies
[edit]The central leadership of the ABI was the Central Committee of the ABI (German: Zentrale Komitee der ABI).[1] The Central Committee had around 21.000 subordinate bodies in the GDR's ministries, Bezirke, districts, localities and industrial combines.[1][2][3] Later, ABI committees were also set up in large agricultural cooperatives and at universities.[1] All of these were additionally subordinate to the corresponding party leadership of the SED.[2]
The leading positions in the ABI Central Committee and in the Bezirk and district were filled exclusively with nomenclature cadres selected by the Central Committee of the SED, the Council of Ministers or the Bezirk SED leadership. In 1969, the ABI staff included 677 full-time employees, all members of the SED, of which at least 143 worked in the Central Committee.[1] At this time, the ABI additionally had 119,000 volunteers.[1] The number of volunteers grew to 180.000 in 1975, 200.000 in 1979[3] and as many as 280,000 in 1988.[1]
Leadership
[edit]The Central Committee of the ABI was led by a chairman who held ministerial rank.[1]
| Chairman | Tenure |
|---|---|
| Heinz Matthes | 15 May 1963–November 1977 |
| Albert Stief | December 1977–22 November 1989 |
Other important officials included the first deputy chairmen Günter Sieber (1963–1965) and Hans Albrecht (1965–1968) as well as the state secretaries Werner Greiner-Petter (1969–1971) and Albert Stief (1971–1977).[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Haker, Gisela, ed. (2013). "Komitee der Arbeiter- und Bauern-Inspektion". www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de (in German). Koblenz: German Federal Archives. Retrieved 2025-06-21.
- ^ a b c Kubina, Michael, ed. (2009). "Arbeiter- und Bauerninspektion (ABI)". library.fes.de. FDGB-Lexikon (in German). Berlin: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Retrieved 2025-06-21.
- ^ a b "Arbeiter-und-Bauern-Inspektion (ABI)". DDR Handbuch (in German) (2nd ed.). Köln: Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik. 1979. pp. 49–50. Retrieved 2025-06-21.