# German Economic Commission > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/German_Economic_Commission > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/German_Economic_Commission.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Economic_Commission > Source revision: 1253882866 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Top administrative body in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany}} The '''German Economic Commission''' ({{langx|de|Deutsche Wirtschaftskommission; DWK}}) was the top administrative body in the [Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany](/source/Soviet_Occupation_Zone) prior to the creation of the [German Democratic Republic](/source/German_Democratic_Republic) ({{langx|de|Deutsche Demokratische Republik}}). [[Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-19000-4055, Berlin, Leipziger Straße, Deutsche Wirtschaftskommission.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The former [Air Ministry building](/source/Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus) in [Berlin](/source/Berlin), then named 'House of the DWK', was the seat of the German Economic Commission (DWK). The title above the pillars is ''Deutsche Wirtschaftskommission''. Above this the DWK logo and a banner with the title 'The Two-Year Plan secures our future' can be seen. The banner on the right reads "Two-Year Plan = Work and Bread * [Marshall Plan](/source/Marshall_Plan) = Ruin and Despair". Date of photo: 8 January 1949.]] The DWK was established in June 1947 by the [Soviet Military Administration in Germany](/source/Soviet_Military_Administration_in_Germany) (German: ''Sowjetische Militäradministration in Deutschland'' or SMAD) as a central German auxiliary institution of the SMAD with the task of assisting the SMAD in the execution of economic affairs. The DWK was housed in the former [Reich Air Ministry](/source/Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus) building in [East Berlin](/source/East_Berlin), at [Leipziger Strasse](/source/Leipziger_Stra%C3%9Fe) 7. Initially the SMAD resisted giving the DWK power independent of itself, but this changed after the creation of the merger of the [United States](/source/United_States)' and the [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom)'s occupation zones into the [Bizone](/source/Bizone) in January 1947. A SMAD order from Marshal [Vasily Sokolovsky](/source/Vasily_Sokolovsky) on 12 February 1948 granted the DWK legislative power to issue orders and directives to all German organs within the Soviet zone and converted it into a nascent state structure for all intents and purposes, with competence far beyond the economy proper, thus it became the predecessor of the eventual [East German government](/source/Politics_of_East_Germany).{{cite book |last=Weitz |first=Eric D. |title=Creating German communism, 1890-1990|year=1997|publisher=Princeton University Press |location=New Jersey |isbn=0-691-02594-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kkQyWIFCbIC&q=%22German+Economic+Commission%22+%22Deutsche+Wirtschaftskommission%22&pg=PA350 |page=350|access-date=2010-10-27}}Naimark, Norman M. ''The Russians In Germany: a History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945-1949.'' E-book, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995 [Heinrich Rau](/source/Heinrich_Rau) became chairman of the converted body and after a reorganisation, announced the new organisational structure on 9 March 1948.{{cite book |last=McCauley |first=Martin |title=The German Democratic Republic since 1945 |url=https://www.google.com/search?hl=de&q=%22Heinrich+Rau%22+DWK+%22de+facto+government%22 |year=1983|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London |isbn=0-333-26219-0 |page=38|access-date=2010-10-27}} In November 1948, the [Soviet Central Committee](/source/Central_Committee_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union) issued another decree authorizing an increase in size of the DWK. This allowed the [Socialist Unity Party of Germany](/source/Socialist_Unity_Party_of_Germany) under [Wilhelm Pieck](/source/Wilhelm_Pieck) and [Walter Ulbricht](/source/Walter_Ulbricht) to consolidate its control over the DWK, although many former members of the [Wehrmacht](/source/Wehrmacht) and the [Nazi Party](/source/Nazi_Party) continued to hold posts in it.Naimark, Norman M. ''The Russians In Germany: a History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945-1949.'' E-book, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995 The DWK ceased to exist on 7 October 1949 with the proclamation of the German Democratic Republic. ==See also== * [Heinrich Rau](/source/Heinrich_Rau) * [Merger of the KPD and SPD into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany](/source/Merger_of_the_KPD_and_SPD_into_the_Socialist_Unity_Party_of_Germany) * [German People's Congress](/source/German_People's_Congress) * [German People's Council](/source/German_People's_Council) * [People's Control Commission](/source/People's_Control_Commission_(East_Germany)) ==References== {{Authority control}} Category:East Germany–Soviet Union relations Category:1947 establishments in Germany Category:1949 disestablishments in East Germany Category:Politics of East Germany --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [German Economic Commission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Economic_Commission) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Economic_Commission?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.