APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110024-7
Only in cases where church buildings have been designated as national monuments does the state readily provide for renovation and maintenance. Thus, in 1967 during the 450th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, the state refurbished several religious landmarks closely associated with Luther, whom the regime claims was an early German progressive thinker.
Church-state relations were relaxed somewhat in 1964 and 1965. The regime permitted eight leading East German Catholic prelates to attend the Second Vatican Council in Rome, and it praised the "realism" of some of the council's results. The regime also instituted special labor service battalions for conscientious objectors—the only Communist government to allow this concession to religious conscience. In an obvious gesture to the Protestants, the regime in 1964 instituted a program under which East Germans of pensionable age could visit relatives in West Germany and West Berlin once a year. This was presented publicly as the result of a meeting between proregime Bishop Mitzenheim of the Thuringian Landeskirche and SED chief Ulbricht.
The election in November 1972 of Albrecht Schoenherr to head the Evangelical Church in East Germany, and his elevation to bishop, places a progressive Protestant churchman in one of the most important church positions in East Germany. Schoenherr is a disciple of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Evangelical theologian martyred by Hitler, and some observers maintain that Schoenherr believes that if the church is to be effective it must first demonstrate that it is not a threat to the regime. The formation of the separate East German Evangelical church organization in 1969, as well as the separate GDR Lutheran and Union Churches in 1968 and 1972, however, has not elicited from the regime more freedom for the clergy in the conduct of domestic church activities. In March 1971 the regime stated that churches must report all "non-religious" functions to the police, and has since levied new requirements for university admissions which discriminate against those students who acknowledge Christian affiliation.
H. Education
The school system which the East German Communists inherited in 1945 was primarily the product of educational reforms carried out in Prussia during the 19th century. The system consisted of three types of schools: 1) primary schools which were free to all the population (most Germans did not continue further); 2) intermediate schools which charged a small fee and were utilized mainly by the middle class; and 3) secondary schools (Gymnasien)—whose classical curriculum was a prerequisite for university training—which commanded a higher fee and were attended mostly by upper class children. The academic standing of such institutions as the University of Berlin ranked with the world's highest. The educational system provided such a good basic education that after 1914 literacy was dropped as a subject of statistical inquiry. Elements of the German educational system were adopted elsewhere in Europe, and the German university influenced the development of U.S. graduate education in the late 19th century. Teachers traditionally held a respected place in German society, and holders of university degrees belonged to the social elite.
The East German Communists swept away much of the traditional educational system. All education is under state control, and is free up to and including the university level for all who can obtain admittance. Education officials make much of the fact that class distinctions have been eliminated from the school system and that the possibility of university-level education is within reach for everyone. In practice they have favored those elements which they thought could most readily be molded into loyal supporters of the Communist system. Indoctrination in Communist dogma begins in kindergarten and continues through all the higher levels. Students from politically reliable families and, where practical, children of workers and farmers are given preferred treatment in applying to institutions of higher learning.
Since 1958 the educational system has been altered further by three important innovations. In that year, responding to developments in Soviet educational theory, the East German regime introduced polytechnic training throughout the educational system. Important decrees in 1959 and 1965 further refined the system. Curriculums have been extensively overhauled so as to emphasize vocational and technical training to meet the demands of an expanding industrialized economy. The marked technological orientation of the schools is evident at all levels, starting with courses in the manual arts in the early elementary classes. Even higher education has become increasingly devoted to advanced technical or specialized training. The second major decision was to extend compulsory education to 10 years, which meant converting the nation's combined elementary and secondary schools from 8-year to 10-year institutions. The conversion was completed in 1962 in East Berlin, but not until 1965 throughout all of East Germany. In 1967, East Germany launched a university reform intended to bring the system more closely into line with the needs of the economy. Another boost to this program was the opening of 10 new engineering colleges in 1969. The result of this
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110024-7
