Brewing Socialism: Coffee, East Germans, and Twentieth-Century Globalization

221 Pages·2022·13.492 MB·English

by  Andrew Kloiber

Brewing Socialism
Studies in German History
Published in Association with the German Historical Institute, Washington, DC
General Editor:
Simone Lässig, Director of the German Historical Institute, Washington, DC, with the
assistance of Patricia C. Sutcliff e, Editor, German Historical Institute
Recent volumes:
Volume 27
Brewing Socialism: Coff ee, East Germans, and 20th Century Globalization
Andrew Kloiber
Volume 26
End Game: Th e 1989 Revolution in East Germany
Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk
Translated by Patricia Sutcliff e
Volume 25
Germany on Th eir Minds: German-Jewish Refugees in the United States and Th eir Relationships
with Germany, 1938–1988
Anne C. Schenderlein
Volume 24
Th e World of Children: Foreign Cultures in Nineteenth-Century German Education and
Entertainment
Edited by Simone Lässig and Andreas Weiß
Volume 23
Gustav Stresemann: Th e Crossover Artist
Karl Heinrich Pohl
Translated from the German by Christine Brocks, with the assistance of Patricia C. Sutcliff e
Volume 22
Explorations and Entanglements: Germans in Pacifi c Worlds from the Early Modern Period to
World War I
Edited by Hartmut Berghoff , Frank Biess, and Ulrike Strasser
Volume 21
Th e Ethics of Seeing: Photography and Twentieth-Century German History
Edited by Jennifer Evans, Paul Betts, and Stefan-Ludwig Hoff mann
Volume 20
Th e Second Generation: Émigrés from Nazi Germany as Historians
Edited by Andreas W. Daum, Hartmut Lehmann, and James J. Sheehan
Volume 19
Fellow Tribesmen: Th e Image of Native Amerians, National Identity, and Nazi Ideology in
Germany
Frank Usbeck
Volume 18
Th e Respectable Career of Fritz K: Th e Making and Remaking of a Provincial Nazi Leader
Hartmut Berghoff and Cornelia Rauh
Translated by Casey Butterfi eld
For a full volume listing, please see the series page on our website:
http://berghahnbooks.com/series/studies-in-german-history
B S
rewing ocialiSm
Coffee, East Germans,
and Twentieth-Century Globalization
S

Andrew Kloiber
berghahn
N E W Y O R K • O X F O R D
www.berghahnbooks.com
First published in 2023 by
Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com
© 2023 by Andrew Kloiber
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,
without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Kloiber, Andrew, author.
Title: Brewing Socialism : Coffee, East Germans, and Twentieth-Century Globalization / Andrew
Kloiber.
Description: [New York] : Berghahn Books, 2023. | Series: Studies in German history ; volume 27
| Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022019189 (print) | LCCN 2022019190 (ebook) | ISBN 9781800736696
(hardcover) | ISBN 9781800736702 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Coffee industry—Germany (East) | Coffee—Social aspects—Germany (East) |
Socialism—Germany (East)
Classification: LCC HD9199.G42 K56 2023 (print) | LCC HD9199.G42 (ebook) |
DDC 338.1/737309431--dc23/eng/20220511
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022019189
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022019190
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-80073-669-6 hardback
ISBN 978-1-80073-670-2 ebook
https://doi.org/10.3167/9781800736696
C
ONTENTS
List of Illustrations vi
List of Abbreviations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. “A Word on Coff ee”: Coff ee and Everyday Life in
East Germany 18
Chapter 2. Coff ee and the “Modern Comforts” of Socialism 41
Chapter 3. Bitter Grounds: East Germany’s “Coff ee Crisis” 78
Chapter 4. Bread and Guns for Coff ee: Searching for Coff ee in
Ethiopia and Angola 118
Chapter 5. Cultivating Coff ee: Brewing Solidarity in Laos
and Vietnam 147
Conclusion. Th e Taste Th at Remains 180
Bibliography 190
Index 202
– v –
I
LLUSTRATIONS
Figures
2.1. “For friends of good coff ee!” Moketta II—advertisements,
illustrated by P. Becker (DEWAG). Für Dich 16 (Apr. 1965): 26;
Für Dich 17 (Apr. 1965): 26; Für Dich 18 (May 1965): 39 (combined
here). Published with permission. 54
2.2. Th e modern socialist woman: Electric coff ee grinders, 1957.
Kultur im Heim 4 (1957): 38. 61
2.3. New apartments and the East German coff ee service “Drei neue
Küchenmodelle,” Kultur im Heim 1 (1957): 3. 64
2.4. “Virtuous leisure,” Kultur im Heim 1 (1957): 4. 65
Tables
1.1. Raw coff ee imports, 1953–1965 (in t). Source for coff ee: “Ein-
fuhr ausgewählter Erzeugnisse, 1953 bis 1959,” Statistisches Jahrbuch
der DDR, Log 105 (1966): 580. https://www.digizeitschriften.de/dms/
toc/?PID=PPN514402644, accessed 30 November 2021. Source for
other goods: “Wareneinfuhr ausgewählter Erzeugnisse 1955 bis 1961,”
Statistisches Jahrbuch der DDR, Log 103 (1963): 554 http://www
.digizeitschriften.de/dms/img/?PID=PPN514402644_1962|log103
&physid=phys590#navi, accessed 30 November 2021. 28
1.2. GDR raw coff ee imports from ICO countries, 1961–1985
(bags of 132.3 lbs. of raw beans). Source: Foreign Agriculture
Circular, US Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service
Washington DC, 1961–1989. https://archive.org/search.php?query
=subjectpercent3Apercent22Coff ee+industry+Statistics+Periodicals,
accessed 3 Sept. 2020. Note: Th e average quoted above excludes the
1980s because by this time, the quota system (and the nonmember
provisions of the ICA) had been suspended. 33
– vi –
Illustrations | vii
2.1. Introductory pricing scheme for Mona and Kosta, 1959. Note that
these prices were proportional by volume. Source: DE 1 25084,
Gesetzblatt der DDR, Berlin, 24. September 1959 Sonderdruck Nr.
1151. Preisanordnung Nr. 1556: Anordnung über Preise für Roh- und
Röstkaff ee vom 24. September 1959. 44
2.2. Per capita roasted coff ee consumption in Europe (in kg). Source:
Barch, DL 102/394, Lutz Roland, Petra Leopold, Ursula Krause, eds.,
Prognose zur Entwicklung des Verbrauchs von Röstkaff ee bis 1980, Teil 1
(Leipzig: Institüt für Marktforschung, 1969), Tabelle 29: “Pro-Kopf-
Verbrauch von Röstkaff ee in ausgewählten Ländern,” 49. 49
2.3. Coff ee purchasing habits by income level (percent of households
purchasing given brand), 1968. Source: Barch, DL 102/394, Lutz
Roland, Petra Leopold, and Ursula Krause, eds., Prognose zur
Entwicklung des Verbrauchs von Röstkaff ee bis 1980, Teil 1 (Leipzig:
Institüt für Marktforschung, 1969), 36. 50
3.1. Coff ee price per lb. in US cents, 1975–1978. Source: Research
Institute of the Ministry for Foreign Trade, Berlin. BArchBL- SAPMO,
DL 2/6071, Weltmarktpreise für Rohkaff ee, Ministerium für Handel
und Versorgung, Plannung und Finanzen (Juni 1978). 80
3.2. GDR import and export totals (in millions of Valutamarks),
1970s. Source: “Außenhandelsumsatz nach Ländergruppen,” Statistisches
Jahrbuch der DDR, Log 74 (1979): 232. https://www.digizeitschriften
.de/dms/img/?PID=PPN514402644_1978|log74&physid=phys260
#navi, accessed 13 December 2021. Note: data regarding import/export
breakdowns not listed past 1973 edition of SJDDR. 81
3.3. Soviet and East European hard-currency debt (US$ millions).
Source: Mark J. Ellyne, “Eastern Europe: Squeezing out of Debt,”
SAIS Review of International Relations 5, no. 2 (Summer/Fall 1985):
173–88, 176. Ellyne’s work relied on fi gures from the Wiener Institut
für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche (Vienna Institute for
Comparative Economics), Vienna, Austria. 83
3.4. Prices for roasted coff ee brands in the GDR, March 1977 (in East
German marks). Source: BArchB DY 30/25310, Rüscher an Günter
Mittag, 17.03.77. Appendix: Vorschläge zur Neugestaltung einiger
Genußmittelsortimente—Kaff ee- und Kakaoerzeugnisse, 14. 85
3.5. Pricing scheme for packaged coff ee as of 1 August 1977 (in East
German marks). Source: BArchBL- SAPMO, DY 30/25310, Helmut
viii | Illustrations
Koziolek, Zentralinstitut für Sozialistische Wirtschaftsführung beim ZK
der SED. Memo an Carl-Heinz Janson. 3.8.1977. 92
4.1. East German munitions to Ethiopia, 29 June 1977. Source
(BStu, Stasi archives): BStU, MfS Abt. BCD Nr. 3292, Information
zum Stand der Lieferungen von militärischer Technik und Ausrüstung
an das Ministerium für Verteidigung Äthiopiens, signed by Colonel
Metzler, no date, 46–48, 46. 125
4.2. East German munitions to Ethiopia, 6 July 1977. Source (BStu,
Stasi archives): SAPMO-BArchB, DY 30/IV/2/2033/87, Werner
Lamberz, Entscheidungsvorschläge für die Sicherung der getroff enen
Vereinbarung Äthiopien—DDR, 6. Juli 1977, 86. 129
4.3. ICO composite indicator prices for coff ee, 1976–1981 (US cents/
lb.). Comparative analysis of world coff ee prices and manufactured
goods. Source: Annex II: Complete data on prices. International Coff ee
Organization, 17 February 2014. 137
4.4. GDR coff ee imports by country (in t), 1977–1981. Source:
(fi gures for 1977–1978) “Ausfuhr und Einfuhr ausgewählter Erzeugnisse
nach Ländern,” Statistisches Jahrbuch der Deutschen Demokratischen
Republik, Log 74 (1980): 242–48, http://www.digizeitschriften.de/dms/
img/?PID=PPN514402644_1979|log74&physid=phys274#navi,
accessed 21 July 2016; (fi gures for 1979–1981) “Ausfuhr und Einfuhr
ausgewählter Erzeugnisse nach Ländern,” Statistisches Jahrbuch der
Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, Log 68 (1983): 235–46, https://
www.digizeitschriften.de/dms/img/?PID=PPN514402644_1982|
log68&physid=phys262#navi, accessed 21 July 2016. 137
4.5. Average weekly household coff ee consumption, 1972 and 1978
(in g). Source: BArchB, DL 102/1197, Petra Knötzsch, Die Bedarfsent-
wicklung bei Röstkaff ee in der DDR und in den Bezirken im Jahr 1979,
30. Juni 1978, Anlage 3. 138
4.6. Average weekly household coff ee consumption at the workplace,
1972 and 1978 (in g). Source: BArchB, DL 102/1197, Petra Knötzsch,
Die Bedarfsentwicklung bei Röstkaff ee in der DDR und in den Bezirken
im Jahr 1979, 30. Juni 78, Anlage 3. 139
A
BBREVIATIONS
ABI Abteilung für Leicht-, Lebensmittel-und Bezirksgeleitete
Industrie des Zentralkomitee der SED—Department for Light,
Food-, and District-Led Industries of the Central Committee of
the Socialist Unity Party
AHB Außenhandelsbetrieb—East German Foreign Export Company
BZ Berliner Zeitung
C.A.R.E. Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe
CMC Ethiopian Coff ee Marketing Corporation
COMECON Council for Mutual Economic Aid (or CMEA)
DM Deutsche Mark—West German currency
DRL Democratic Republic of Laos
FDGB Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund—Free German Trade
Union
FDJ Freie Deutsche Jugend—Free German Youth
FNLA Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola—National Front for
the Liberation of Angola
FRG Federal Republic of Germany
GATT General Agreement on Tariff s and Trade
GENEX Geschenkdienst und Kleinexport GmbH
GDR German Democratic Republic
HO Handelsorganisationen—East German state-owned retail chain
IACA Inter-American Coff ee Agreement
IBC Instituto Brasileiro do Café—Brazilian Coff ee Institute
ICA Th e International Coff ee Agreement
ICO International Coff ee Organization
IfM Institüt für Marktforschung—Institute for Market Research
KoKo Bereich Kommerzielle Koordinierung—Department of
Commercial Coordination
– ix –