Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik

The Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik (GST), lit. “Sport and Technology Association”, was one of the East German “Mass Organizations”. Officially, it was established to structure the free time of young people interested in sports and technology in group activities, provide the required technical equipment (for example, motorcycles, aircraft, radios), cultivate and support technical sport disciplines, and arrange for events like motor and shooting competitions. The association also contributed to the militarization of East German society by organizing together with the National People’s Army the country’s mandatory pre-military training (VA, vormilitärische Ausbildung) in schools, universities and workplaces. It was established on 7 August 1952 and disbanded in early 1990. The association published a monthly, 32-page periodical, S+T (Sport und Technik).

The Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik (GST) was originally established to structure through group activities the free time of people of all ages who were interested in sports and technology. This included adolescents, who were to be given an opportunity to engage in meaningful leisure activities. Older, more experienced members were expected to take beginners under their wing and give them support. Most of the required equipment (such as motorcycles, boats, automobiles, trucks, airplanes, radios, rifles, workshops and even animals) was provided, and maintained and serviced by both the members themselves and permanent employees. But the mission soon changed; military sports became increasingly predominant, and the organization evolved into a “school for tomorrow’s soldiers”. It operated training bases, shooting ranges and military training camps, and held competitions.

Even if they were not members, almost all young men and women came into contact with the GST because it organized the pre-military training exercises mandated by East Germany's Military Service Law. Without participating in this training, access to university and career training was usually blocked.

Some secondary school students were GST members, which was also the case for trainees in large concerns. They paid only a token membership fee. How much emphasis was placed on military matters depended to a great extent on the trainers at the schools. In addition to general pre-military training there were also military camps (taking place for boys over two weeks at the end of the 9th grade), a so-called “Qualification March” (Marsch der Bewährung) for about five days each year either in the course of vocational training or once at the end of the 11th grade in secondary schools, and competitions.

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