Inside Party Headquarters

Everyday life in the East German Socialist Unity Party revolved heavily around maintaining the party line in all areas of society, whether through direct authority or corruption. Spanning a long period of the GDRs history, from 1946 through 1989, Rdiger Bergien presents the first study that examines the complexities of the central partys communist apparatus. He focuses on their role as ideological watchdogs, as they fostered an underbelly and inner life for their employees to integrate the partys pillars throughout East German society. Inside Party Headquarters reviews not only the partys modes power and state interaction, but also the processes of negotiation and disputation preceding formal Politburo decisions, advancing the available detail and discourse surrounding this formative and volatile stretch of German history.