Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaft
Encyclopedia
The German expression Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaft (English
: Agricultural Production Comradeship or Community), or — more commonly — its acronym LPG was the official designation for large, collectivised farms
in the former East Germany, corresponding to Soviet Kolkhoz
.
The collectivisation of private and state owned agricultural land in East Germany was the progression of a policy of food security
(at the expense of large scale bourgeois
farmers). It began in the years of Soviet occupation (1945–48) as part of the need to govern resources in the Soviet Sector. Beginning with the forced expropriation
of all land holdings in excess of 100 ha
, land was redistributed in small packets of around 5 to 7 ha to incoming landless refugees driven off lost German territory to the east. These neubauern (new farmers) were given limited ownership rights to the land, meaning that they kept it as long as they worked it. In the early 1950s, remaining farmers with largish holdings (60 to 80 ha) were effectively driven out of business through means such as denying access to pooled machinery and by setting production targets that rose exponentially with amount of land owned to levels that were impossible to meet.
Alongside these coercive actions of expropriation, old and new farmers with smaller land holdings were increasingly encouraged to pool resources in a legally constituted cooperative form, the LPG, in which initially just land but later animals and machinery were shared and worked together. These were not "state-owned" farms (although a few of these did exist) - land, except as mentioned above, remained legally in private ownership and the LPG, although often dominated by communist party
cadres, was a distinct legal entity operating independently as far as was feasible within the constraints of a planned economy
. However, from the early 1960s, pressure mounted on remaining independent farmers to join the LPG and for existing LPGs to merge in more fully collectivised forms. This process, and a drive to increased industrialisation led in the 1970s to the separation of crop and animal production and the merging of each across villages to form much larger cooperative units in which, for example, one LPG for crop production with perhaps 3000 ha of land would supply feed to two LPGs working in animal production.
Following German reunification
in 1990, the LPG was no longer a legal form of business and regulations were introduced governing their dissolution and the restructuring of enterprises into other legal forms. Some former LPG members, typically those with a strong family background in independent farming, reclaimed their land and started again as independent farmers building up to a viable farm size through renting. In most cases, however, former members or their children settled for some level of compensation in return for surrendering their membership rights to a smaller core group of former managers who then took over the business in the new form of a limited company (GmbH). This settlement and compensation process was at times fought over and at times accepted with resignation depending often on the amount of wealth to be distributed and on the degree of trust by the general membership and village population in the ability of managers to carry on the enterprise as successful employers. In some cases, an eingetragene Genossenschaft, a form of cooperative farming
persisted as allowed under existing German law.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: Agricultural Production Comradeship or Community), or — more commonly — its acronym LPG was the official designation for large, collectivised farms
Collective farming
Collective farming and communal farming are types of agricultural production in which the holdings of several farmers are run as a joint enterprise...
in the former East Germany, corresponding to Soviet Kolkhoz
Kolkhoz
A kolkhoz , plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms . The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective farm", while sovkhoz is a contraction of советское хозяйство...
.
The collectivisation of private and state owned agricultural land in East Germany was the progression of a policy of food security
Food security
Food security refers to the availability of food and one's access to it. A household is considered food-secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation. According to the World Resources Institute, global per capita food production has been increasing substantially for the past...
(at the expense of large scale bourgeois
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
farmers). It began in the years of Soviet occupation (1945–48) as part of the need to govern resources in the Soviet Sector. Beginning with the forced expropriation
Confiscation
Confiscation, from the Latin confiscatio 'joining to the fiscus, i.e. transfer to the treasury' is a legal seizure without compensation by a government or other public authority...
of all land holdings in excess of 100 ha
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
, land was redistributed in small packets of around 5 to 7 ha to incoming landless refugees driven off lost German territory to the east. These neubauern (new farmers) were given limited ownership rights to the land, meaning that they kept it as long as they worked it. In the early 1950s, remaining farmers with largish holdings (60 to 80 ha) were effectively driven out of business through means such as denying access to pooled machinery and by setting production targets that rose exponentially with amount of land owned to levels that were impossible to meet.
Alongside these coercive actions of expropriation, old and new farmers with smaller land holdings were increasingly encouraged to pool resources in a legally constituted cooperative form, the LPG, in which initially just land but later animals and machinery were shared and worked together. These were not "state-owned" farms (although a few of these did exist) - land, except as mentioned above, remained legally in private ownership and the LPG, although often dominated by communist party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
cadres, was a distinct legal entity operating independently as far as was feasible within the constraints of a planned economy
Planned economy
A planned economy is an economic system in which decisions regarding production and investment are embodied in a plan formulated by a central authority, usually by a government agency...
. However, from the early 1960s, pressure mounted on remaining independent farmers to join the LPG and for existing LPGs to merge in more fully collectivised forms. This process, and a drive to increased industrialisation led in the 1970s to the separation of crop and animal production and the merging of each across villages to form much larger cooperative units in which, for example, one LPG for crop production with perhaps 3000 ha of land would supply feed to two LPGs working in animal production.
Following German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990, the LPG was no longer a legal form of business and regulations were introduced governing their dissolution and the restructuring of enterprises into other legal forms. Some former LPG members, typically those with a strong family background in independent farming, reclaimed their land and started again as independent farmers building up to a viable farm size through renting. In most cases, however, former members or their children settled for some level of compensation in return for surrendering their membership rights to a smaller core group of former managers who then took over the business in the new form of a limited company (GmbH). This settlement and compensation process was at times fought over and at times accepted with resignation depending often on the amount of wealth to be distributed and on the degree of trust by the general membership and village population in the ability of managers to carry on the enterprise as successful employers. In some cases, an eingetragene Genossenschaft, a form of cooperative farming
Cooperative farming
An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a cooperative where farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity....
persisted as allowed under existing German law.
See also
- Volkseigenes GutVolkseigenes GutThe Volkseigenes Gut was a state-owned farm in the Communist German Democratic Republic , corresponding to the Soviet Sovkhoz and the Państwowe Gospodarstwo Rolne in the People's Republic of Poland...
- Volkseigener BetriebVolkseigener BetriebThe Volkseigener Betrieb was the legal form of industrial enterprise in East Germany...
- A glossary of German agriculture and Precision Farming terms & abbreviations translated to English