Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0114/01146.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 37KB | 565 lines

$Unique_ID{COW01146}
$Pretitle{355}
$Title{German Democratic Republic (East Germany)
Chapter 2B.   Settlement Patterns}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Stephan R. Burant}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{german
east
germany
west
germans
socialist
national
population
language
policy}
$Date{1987}
$Log{}
Country:     German Democratic Republic (East Germany)
Book:        East Germany, A Country Study
Author:      Stephan R. Burant
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1987

Chapter 2B.   Settlement Patterns

    In 1985 East Germany had an average population density of 154 persons per
square kilometer. Densities ranged from 57 persons in the northern district of
Neubrandenburg to 312 in the southern industrial town of Karl-Marx-Stadt
(formerly Chemnitz). In the north, where soils are of generally poor quality
and few towns of historical significance are found, the population was rather
sparsely distributed. In the south, where rich loessial soils provide
attractive farmland and major mineral deposits are found, the population was
denser and was concentrated in and around urban-industrial centers.

      Major transportation routes bypass the northern third of the country.
There are few large industrial centers outside of newly developed coastal
ports, and the quality of the land is such as to favor forests, pastureland,
and mixed extensive-intensive agriculture. By far the most important port city
is Rostock, whose 1985 population was 244,444. Rostock was developed into a
major center after the war in order to compensate for the loss of
strategically located ports. Stralsund and Wismar were also developed into
port cities and in 1985 were sizable municipalities of 75,480 and 57,465,
respectively.

    In the central third of the country, East Berlin overshadows all other
cities in terms of its size and its political and economic significance. It
had a 1985 population of 1.2 million and an average density of 3,016 persons
per square kilometer. Over the years it has acted as a magnet, attracting
persons from all over East Germany. It has a higher proportion of the
economically active population than any of the other districts but a
relatively low proportion of the young. Other important urban centers in the
central section of the country include Potsdam, Brandenburg, Frankfurt am
Oder, and Magdeburg. Potsdam (139,467) lies to the southwest of Berlin and is
a center for light industry. Brandenburg is located west of Berlin and had a
1985 population of 94,862. Frankfurt am Oder lies near the Polish-German
border. Although after the war it suffered some loss of inhabitants because of
its location, the city's population in 1985 stood at 85,593. With the
exception of East Berlin, Magdeburg (population 288,965) is the largest city
in the central part of the country. It is located near the inter-German border
in a fertile agricultural region and is one of the oldest cities in the
country.

    The southern third is the most densely populated and the most
industrialized section of the country. It also contains the most fertile
agricultural land. The loessial soils of the Borderland make the region
attractive for farming. Intensive agriculture predominates, and the farm
population lives in nucleated village settlements. Most of East Germany's
mineral resources are also found in the south, and large cities developed
around the deposits. In 1985 the two largest cities were Leipzig (553,660) and
Dresden (519,769). Leipzig has lost population since the 1970s but in 1985 was
still the second largest city in East Germany. Surrounded by rich agricultural
land and easily accessible, it is well known as a publishing and printing
center but more particularly as the site of the semiannual Leipzig Fair.
Dresden, in the southeast, is a historic city noted for its impressive art
collections. In 1985 eight other cities in the south each had populations in
excess of 100,000. Cottbus (124,752) specializes in light industries. Dessau
(103,569) is the center of an important local food processing industry. Halle
(235,169) supports a variety of industrial activities. Farther south lie
Karl-Marx-Stadt and Zwickau, having populations of 315,452 and 120,206,
respectively. Several large cities are located in the southwest. Erfurt, the
largest, had 216,046 residents; also sizable were Gera (131,843) and Jena
(107,401).

      The urban population, i.e., those living in cities or towns of 2,000 or
more, constituted about 77 percent of the total populace in 1985. Only 26
percent of the population lived in cities or towns of 100,000 inhabitants.
Instead about 30 percent of the population made their homes in small and
medium-sized towns of 5,000 to 50,000. World War II greatly affected the rate
and direction of urbanization. Many of the more industrialized towns suffered
heavy damage during the war and were only slowly rebuilt. In the immediate
postwar period, there was also some internal migration away from towns located
along border areas. An exception was the city of Eisenhuttenstadt, near the
German-Polish border. Constructed in 1950 as a model socialist city, it
attracted a sizable population for employment in its iron and steel
industries.

    In keeping with the socialist pattern of urban planning, the state has
attempted to develop urban centers throughout the country, to encourage
uniform regional development, and to reduce disparities between rural and
urban areas. The government has encouraged the development of some industry in
the northern and central districts and fostered a diversification of industry
in the south in order to revitalize centers with diminished resources and to
redirect industrial activity toward priority sectors. In reality, planners
have not been successful in controlling and balancing growth between rural and
urban areas or among districts.

    There have been no official restrictions on the internal movement of the
population. However, a shortage of housing and difficulties related to
switching jobs has prevented large-scale internal migration. Movement has
taken place primarily within district boundaries, and residents have gone from
rural areas and small urban centers to medium- and large-sized municipalities.
In 1985, for example, about 16 persons per 1,000 inhabitants moved across
district boundaries.

The German People

    East Germany contains no minority groups of any significant size. Most
citizens identify themselves as Germans, culturally and linguistically. The
government, particularly since the early 1970s, has encouraged the development
among its citizens of an East German national consciousness distinct from that
of West Germans. It has adopted a "two-nation" policy and has pointed to
divergences in culture, language, and socioeconomic development as proof that
a single German nation no longer exists. Most East Germans, however, believe
that they share with their West German counterparts a German nationality that
is based on a common ethnic heritage and shared historical experiences.

Origins, Language, and Culture

    The Germans are the descendants of the Germanic peoples who settled in the
north-central plains of Europe sometime around the end of the sixth century
B.C. (see Early History, ch. 1). The Romans, who first encountered the
Germanic tribes in their conquest of Gaul, called the people of the area the
Germani, after certain tribes in Belgium and the Rhineland. Although the
Germanic people comprised many tribal groups, the name German has come to
describe the people who remained in central Europe.

      The Germanic people were originally organized into numerous small tribes
that gradually united into larger groups in order to increase their political
and military power as they spread across and conquered much of Europe. Many of
these peoples were the forefathers of present-day European populations. The
Franks and Burgundians were the ancestors of the French; the Lombards
conquered northern Italy; and the Angles, Saxons, and Danes moved into England
and De