1. MAIN ADMINISTRATION FOR ROADS OF THE MINISTRY FOR TRANSPORT 2. CONDITION OF EAST GERMAN ROADS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A007900770006-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 1, 2008
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: September 28, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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INFORMATION REPORT CD No. 25X1
COUNTRY East Germany
DAT9 DISTR. 28 September 1555
SUBJECT
PLACE
1. Main Administration
Ministry for Transpo
2? Condition of East Ge
for Roads of the
rt
rman Roads
NO. OF PAGES
11
ACQUIRED
DATE OF
INFO.
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECI*NG THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OP III& UNITED STATES, WITHIN THE MEANING OF TITLE IN. SECTIONS 798
AND 794. OF THE U. S. CODE, AS 40ENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR REVEL-
ATION OP ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT BY AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON
iB PROHIBITED 4Y LA1J THE REPRODUCTION Oil THIS FORM 13 PROHIBITED.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
L, The Lain Administration for IIiUh rays (IIn- Stra .er1'."e n1 een t,rn,1ly controls
the construction and maintenance of all lon3-distance hi~;hviays and
Autobahnen as well as of bridges located on these highways, This agency
also supervises construction and maintenance work or. class I and II roads
which are under the administrative responsibility of GDR Bez:~,rke, The
Main Administration for 'Highways is also in charge of plann:Lna for all road
and brite construction work; it drafts the economic mans (Volkswirtschafts.
plaene) of all nationalized road construction and maintenance enterprises
and controls the execution of these plans,. Monetary moans required for new
road construction projects, general repair work and road maintenance work are
also made available by the agency. All winter services designed to keep roads
open during the winter months are also centrally controlled,, The agency
cooperates with the Ministry of the Interior in the field of road
construction projects undertaken by this ministry on behalf of the KVP0
Regulations pertaining to road traffic are, also issued by the lain
Administration for Highways.
2. Leading personnel1attached to the main administration for highways 25X1
include:
Chief of the Main Administration Kurt Leiser,
Abteilung Bau and 3etriebe
Construction Department
Departmental Chief
CLASSIFICATION
STAEE ~~~ P}.AVY- NSRB
... FBI
ARMY AIR
Schlag (fnu)
DISTRIBUTION
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1tau trefer ent Nado11 (~"nu),
(First Referent)
Qberreferent (Chief Referent) ~ t of gwng ;oehl.er.
Labor Departmem
Chief of the de:aa.rtment
Chief deferent
Kurt Urb an ,
Gustaa P1ehm,
Chief Referent Klinger (gnu)
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Fema' a Secretary- .Kege`? (fnu) :,
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Planning Department
Chief of the department
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Berg (fnu)
Investments
Chief Referent
Dagmar Gruenberf
Referent Harry Tasche
Hauptsachbearbeiter
assistant refere t)
.resistant &er,,,~_,er, -r 25X1
Utermark (fnu),
P=ale secretary Schoppan (fnu)
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Bridge Department
Departmental Chief
Chief ferert P Henry .1Ja1tenberg
Chief *eferen
Draf t span
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Chief of the department
Female secretarj
fried Kasper
Reich (fnu)
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Referent . Haering (fnu)
Chief $'efrent Stehi.ing (fnu)
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Chief Referent Frl.. Nagel (friu)
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Research DeDeveiopment
Departmental chief Schiller (fnu)
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Chief" Referent lucks (fnu)
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Fr ma? e secretary Fri,, Schroeter (fn.n)
Finance Depcr~meni.
Chief of the department Wagner (fnu)
Ref er.nt
Georg Glowicki
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1a. i.stant 32: erent
Female secretary 25X1
idateriai SUD22, r De' artmen.,
Schoenfela. (fnu)
lnu
Sch:iewer (-1'xuu)
Chief of the departil~
1
Chief
Oote
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y?au C1 ewlIzow (fay..;)
encies. and ente ri~au a.azi nod to the 1'=:a:Ln 11dM i 7ra.t .On
Inc lude
ddeaoI s txenn_ts 3i the 1~euncils of the #o1: cv nr GDR Be it .e ?
ostock
Schy: e rin
issue ra nde nbur. g
Potsdam
Y'ottbas
",,;a deburg
Halle /Sale
Erf urr?-,
Gera
Suhi
Dresden
WrI ajx'"' r au t
Li1,z?,.
bc The nationalized.-
in 13e : in
c. S yaat icher S rc~n ;i~Y7unterh tl:sf gybe i f`ie'o (State Road .i7aiateziarjC ee
hnterpr aes) (SSUB a in. the followiz ~ towns:
Halle on the Saa.ie 'River (for Autoba'-zen)
Stralsund
5chwe rin
eu6 ; l:C+:z
Brand? ",u_C'
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Kyritz
Strausberg
Cottbus
Magdeburg,
Stendal
Halbers tadt
Halle on the Saale River
Eisleben
ittenbberg
Erfurt
il,uehlhausen
Gera
Me iningen
Dresden
Bautzen
Karl-Marx-Stadt
Zwickau
Plauen
Leipzig
d. Nationalized road donstruction iterprises at:
Greifewald
Potsdam
Halle on the Saale River
Weimar
4. The following details on operations and administrative procedures were
furnished: 1
a. The Lain Administration for Highways is in charge of all loran-distance
highways and Autobahnen, as well as of bridges on these highways
and of Autobahn resthouses. Prior to 1953, new road and bridge construction
projects had to he approved by the Soviet Control Commission, which also
designat-e6 those bridges whos` load capacity had to be increased
to 30 to 40 tons or wheeled vehicles and 80 tons for tracked vehicles.
The Soviets were primarily interested in the existence of a modern east-
west route in the northern portion of the GDRO In 19549 the responsibility
for all highway construction projects was transferred to the Ministry of
the Interior. Liaison officer between the Ministry of the Interior
and the Main Administration for Highways was department . Qhief
Messerschidt, who in late 1954 was re^laced by Ochsrnann. The volume of
construction work to be done for the Ministry of the Interior increased
so much, that the volume of road construction work done 'or civilian purposes
dwindled more and more. Of all road construction projects executed in 1954,
only 25 percent were of a commercial nature, while 75 percent were of a
purely military character. The Autobahn bridge over the Oder River at
Frankfurt, a so-called "friendship project" will cost approximately
40,000,000 DAM. Since 1952, from :t to 25 percent of the money available
for bridge construction projects has anually been allocated for this
project. Roads built on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior are financed
by this ministry and construction work is not under the control of the
State Plarning Cormu s; ion. Such roads are designed by the nationalized
DsiEns Bureaufor Road Construction Projects on Oircksenmtraa_se`.in Berlin.
Approach roads and byroads required by highway construction projects
of the 1.i:.Yr. J..?`.. ~.r'}r of the iri to ioi m ,,t t ~- .fi i ilanc a.,C by thI::
agencies concerned, 7-p n ei.thea Kra:i,s or Bezirk adm inist.rations,,
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Construction projects of the Minis try of the Interior were under
way at Strausbexg, '?',4eisswasser, Prora-Lanken and Torgelcw0
ba Construction materials, road construction machinery and the labor
force available were ..eequate for a volume of constriction work valued
at 70,000,000 Did It is believed that the volume of construction work
executed in 1955 will be much smaller in view of major construction
projects planned by the T.;iuistry of the Interior.. In connection with
these ,rojects, some Bau--''nion firms have already been vii, withdrawn from
public construction ,rojects. The situation in the GDR building; industry
is rather tight, because structural steel, timber and cement are in
short supply and subject to rationing
'Money allocated to new construction projects critically reduces the
funds railable for general repair and maintenance work. The consecuences
of this situation i.' that the ,hysical status of all roads has
deteriorated considerably since ".':orld '?ar II, Only bro?Rr. coal tar
is used for the surface treatment of hizhways. The quality of repair
work done leaves much to be desired, because the subsurface of roads
cannot be reconditioned in view o' the shortage of stones, In the
winter of 1,Q';4/1',,;55, frost d ::age occurring in :Dezirk Lei? zig -.:mounted
to 23,000,4100 D.;:E. The production of stones cannot be r. ised for lack
of quarrying machines, although 4 large soviet stone breakers were
recently made available., Nell hardened crusher jaws are in short supply
in all quarrie=s,.. In view of thio situation, the res olutaon has been tai:en
henceforth to provide hi:hv:aye only ;:ith concrete surf-a.ces. A granulated
blast furnace cement is mostly used as a bed for the surface layer. This
cement is furnished by the Foundry Combine East (;X0) at '!' uerstenberrOder
(Stalinstadt). Almost the entire output of copper-,:lag bricks is ex orted.
c~ Four special highway maintenance enter!:rices are available for the
construction of new highways and general repair cork on road:... A total
of 23 "Staatliche Strassenunterhaltungsbetriebe" (State :.ighvway
.aintenance :nter;)rises)(ssuB) are employed for road maintenance work.
:ach s:,UB controls several I:reis roar! maintenance ,joints. The zi ;UB
responsible for maintenance %,rork on Autobahnen is located in Halle/Saale.
This agency controls 6 field main posts (lIauptbetri ebsstelle) ? All the
28 enterprises mentioned are controlled by the Construction Department
of the ;Bain Administration for Kighways-
d. ':,'hen a Polish delegation of highways technicians visited. the GDR I,iain
Administration for '.ighways, it was learned that the Poles were spending
more money on road constructlon ?)ro jects and tha m::.intenance of highways
tr.an w.: s spent in the GDR. It was believed that about 50 percent
of the road construction machinery used by the roles dated from the
period 1910 - 1922. The remainder were modern Polish and. soviet machines.
Information obtained indicated that administrative procedures in Poland
were more efficient than in the GDR. Hi~;hw4.;1 construction projects
were generally started on schedule and construction material seemed -to
be available in adequate quantities. Profits made by the individual
coast- uction enter;..rises are not transferred to ',.he etate, but invested
by the enterprise involved, The wages of Polish road construction and
maintenance workers are 80 percent of the wages paid in Germany. The
leading personnel of Polish road maintenance agencies is probably more
efficient ficient than the corresponding personnel in the G,R.
SECILT
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In 10,53, an order wae issued to the effect that all GDR hi.;hway
maintenance posts had to form so-called brigades. Previously, the
_arocedure followed in East Cermany was that road maintenance oromenx
supervised a number of road menders each of whom was responsible for
the maintenance of :>pecific section of a hi,;h:va'. 11.a or damages
were repaired by workers of the SS1TB under the control of the road
mender in charge. The organization of brigades 9the smallest of which
is in the strength of 3 men, has had a detrimental ;ffeat'on the
quality of road maintenance work done. These road maintenance brigades
are ~.rimarily interested in fulfillin- their work quotas,,and they
therefore concentrate on the repair of major damages thus neglectin_
minor damages. .Road maintenance fore .en are mostly not in a position to
check on the repair work performed by the road maintenance brigades
working under them. efforts have been made since Larch 1954 to work out
reasonable regulations for road maintenance work. Progress in this
direction, however, is too much hampered by stress on political
considerations and a blind imitation of Soviet procedures. Apart from
stone chippings, material required for road in intenanee work is available
in adequate quantities. Storage facilities for hard coal tar are in
short supply, however. Road maintenance ~.vork also suffers from a
siortage of road building machinery.
f, In 1954, a 12-ton road roller was developed in the uDx. The roller
was scrieduled to cost approximately 40,000 DEE'. Tests made with this
roller indicated, however, that 't was not suitable for quantity production.
:'ost of the road building machinery in use is furnished by the USSR,
because Western currency is not available. The Main Administration for
Highways,is interested in buying the exhibition models of all ?oreign road
building machines on display at the Leipzig Fair, It would be difficult
however, to obtain replacement parts or these machines.
g. Thorough repair work involving a reconditioning of the road surface and
its.subjrade is meeting with increasing difficulties. The same
applies to repair work on roads. The 3hortaZe of stones i5 30 acute
that the urgent widening :f major highways had to be postponed again
and again. In 1954, highway experts drafted a memorandum for the State
Planning Commission. In this memorandum, it was pointed out that the
poor condition of GDR highways was the cause of an excessive wear-and-
tear suffered by motor vehicles and tires,,, oreover, excessive reair
cork required by the >oor conditon of highways caused the consumption of
additional gasoline by necessitating long d6tours. The cost oil
damaige caused by inadequately maintained roadc was believed to
equal the cost of construction of 38 kilometers
of new highways. For 1955, plans had been made to allocate a sum of
50,000,000 MIE for repair work on highways and the construction of
new road.::. It was unknown, if these sums have actually been made
available or not. The various a.di.inistrative agencies in charge of
road construction '.Pork are only informed about the budget available
to them for current maintenance work and general repairs. In most
cases the sums allocated to the different Bezirke proved inade.uate.
:irides were frequently closed when money or materials were not
available for the repair work required. AllI ~these shortages mare
planned road and bridge maintenance work impossible.
The emergency bridges built in the GDR after 1945, will not be
replaced by permanent structures before 1961, if the situation in
the field of highway construction work is not radically hanged
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fje expansion of machine and tractor stations in the GD1 re ?resents
an additional strain on East German hi,hwa;s. The heavy machinery of
these agencies subject highways to an excessive +vvear. The shortage of
stoney recuired for road construction projects is cc great that the
stone walls of various village cemeteries were dismantled for road
oses.
construction-purr
h. lams made for the construction of new highway and bridges did not
sufficiently take into consideration the monetary means and the
construction materials reouired. The monetary means recyuired for
highway and bridge construction projects exceeded by 7G to 100 percent
the sums earmarked to be spent according to preliminary plans
(Kontrollziffern). Each road construction project is listed ih a so.-
called Proiek'artm~sn~an (provi:ionaJ_ plan). Detailed reasons are
given for the necessity of the execution of this project and an
estimate of cost is also made. The Prolek'ti spIan m'.-3t be
approved by the State Planning Commission, usually the e bef re
the beginning of construction cork,., after the
has been a:,roved, the Designs 3ureau for Road Construction Projects
begins to _. ork on the so-called Jog- and 'einprojektierzn, svertrL;.e, e a
co.mplets. designs are checked at Potsdam Babeisberg and then Forwarded
to the planning agency involved. After the projects baVe bells *2riw. ,
the highw,,y construction project will be signed and approved by the
Minister or State Secretary. The budget committee of the VQ s ammo.
checks on the volume of highway construction projects submitted by
various planning agencies. Usually, the lkskamr2r cuts the sums 25X1
planned to be spent on highway construction projects. In 1955, these
cuts were very heavy. The whole procedure of checks and controls by
various administrative agencies drastically changed the original
investment plan, drawn up by the i:ain Administration for Highways. Since
time available is usually very short, the modifications to be Made are
effected in a hasty way.
a total of 31,000
plwts 1ad to be modified in the GDR. This experience induced the
Main Administration for ''ighways to include in its prom*onl plans
(Pro-*- ektierungsplaene) for highway and bridge construction projects,
imaginary projects which could be elii. i Hated in the eve,-.t that monetary
allocations for construction pre~:ects were cut. Plan::=ade for the
reconstruction of damaged bridges suffered from the i.act that in most
cases the extent of damage could only be determined after the debris
had been cleared away from the structure involved. It happened that
the cost of rey;air work was much higher than assumed in the provicional
plan submitted. This again led to a time,-ccnsurnin? modification of
investment plans which had to be approved by the GDR Council of I;iinisters,,,
In 195 .., plans made for f inanci-?. ; of - reconstruction work: on bridges
h .;d to se modified 4 times on some occasions. After 1954, plans mace
for bridge construction work were fulfilled 55 to 40 percent.
It is a law in the GDR that financial plans a ;:.roved for highway and
bridge construction proje cts must be mint t'ely fs:loWd b,- nationalized
construction enterprises. Since estimates of cost made by the state
agencies leave much to be desired, construction inter ;ri es are
reluctant to accept the contracts offered, The quarrels resulting from
these differences often extend over sever