Soviet-German cultural and scientific relations began to be studied in the GDR relatively recently. Most of the works on this subject appeared in the 60s. Prior to that, the problem was discussed mainly at scientific conferences. At a conference organized by the German-Soviet Friendship Society in June 1957,1 G. Rosenberg spoke about the history of cultural ties between the two countries. G. Gerlinghaus spoke about the success of the film "Battleship Potemkin "in Germany, G. Himmler - about the tour of the Soviet musician J. E. Sirmus, nicknamed" red violinist "in Germany. L. Skorning's report on Soviet-German sports relations during the Weimar Republic, which were of great importance for strengthening good-neighborly relations between the states, was also heard here. At a conference held in 1962 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rapallo, G. Munch spoke about the "Society of Friends of New Russia" and the "Union of Friends of the Soviet Union", whose activities were important for the development of cultural ties between the two countries, U. Kretschmer made a presentation on German-Soviet scientific ties, and I. Geller-about the same connections in the field of musical art 2 .

In 1961, a collection of documents on the history of the German Workers ' Theater 3 was published . In his introductory article, L. Hoffman notes that the emergence of this theater was largely influenced by the success of cultural construction in the Soviet state and, in particular, the creation of workers ' theaters there. The collection contains documents about the tour of the Moscow troupe "Blue Blouses" in 1927 in Germany and the arrival of the German Workers ' Theater in the Soviet Union in 1929. The section about the Blue Blouses 'stay in Germany is made up of materials from workers' newspapers. On October 9, 1927, Rote Fahne published a review of 0. Steinicke's "Blue Blouses", indicating the great interest of German proletarians in the performances of the Soviet workers ' theater. In the same newspaper on October 12, 1927, Wilhelm Pick wrote that the Blue Blouses tour was the best propaganda for socialism and taught the masses about class struggle. The section on the trip of the German Workers ' Theater to Moscow in 1929 also includes materials from newspapers.

In 1963, an article was published by a historian from the GDR. Rosenfeld's article on scientific and cultural relations between the USSR and the Weimar Republic is the first scientific publication on this problem .4
The collection of student papers "Cultural and scientific relations with the Soviet Union" 5, prepared by the participants of the seminar led by A. Anderle, examines the attitude of the bourgeois intelligentsia to the Republic of Soviets using the following methods:-

1 "Hande weg von Sowjetrussland". B. 1957.

2 "Rapallo gestern und heute". Halle (Saale). 1962.

3 L. Hoffmann, D. Hoffmann-Ostwald. Deutsches Arbeitertheater 1918 - 1933. Dokumentation. B. 1961.

4 Voprosy Istorii, 1963, No. 10.

5 "Kulturelle und wissenschaftliche Beziehungen zur Sowjetunion (1922 - 1932)". Halle (Saale). 1963.

page 176

from the materials of the magazine "Das neue Russland", published by the "Society of Friends of New Russia". The authors of the collection draw a general picture of cultural and scientific ties, as well as supplement it with examples from individual branches of science. A. Schelbach highlighted the relations between German and Soviet historians, telling about the Soviet - German "Week of Historians" held in Berlin in 1928, its positive results, in particular about the decision to exchange archival documents, historical literature, publish works of Soviet historians in German. B. Flegel's report is devoted to the Soviet-German scientific cooperation during the Pamir expedition of 1928. The collection also contains the works of K. Fryeling on the influence of the Soviet experience of public education on German pedagogy, G. Schroera-on relations in the field of art (mainly architecture), B. Steinkraus - on the evaluation of the film "Battleship Potemkin "by the German intelligentsia. In general, the collection gives an idea of Soviet-German cultural and scientific ties during the Weimar Republic, in particular, the role of the Society of Friends of New Russia and its organ Das neue Russland in spreading the truth about the USSR and in strengthening friendly ties with the Soviet state.

Published in 1966, G. Rosenfeld's article "Scientific relations between the Soviet Union and the Weimar Republic"6 draws attention to the novelty of the formulation of this question in the historiography of the GDR. The author writes that Soviet-German cultural ties should be considered in two dimensions: the ties between the German working class and the Soviet Union, the German bourgeois intelligentsia and the USSR. The article shows Lenin's contribution to the development of cultural ties with Germany, the activities of Soviet public and scientific organizations to strengthen cultural ties between the two countries, the creation of the All-Russian Foundation for Assistance to German Scientists in 1928 and the United Information Bureau of the USSR, which played a major role in coordinating cultural and scientific ties. G. Rosenfeld emphasizes the difference in the nature of the activities of the " Society of Friends of New Russia "and especially the" German Society for the Study of Eastern Europe", funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as organizations of that part of the bourgeois intelligentsia that supported the recognition of the Soviet Union, and the" Union of Friends of the Soviet Union", which was under the influence of the KKE. The article is full of new factual material about scientific ties, which were especially strengthened after 1925, when the 200th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences was celebrated.

A lot of work was done by GDR scientists on the 20th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. The results were summed up at a scientific conference, the materials of which were compiled in a special collection 7 . G. Rosenfeld presents an article "On the historical significance and study of German-Soviet cultural relations". The author notes that the German proletariat, for whom these ties were an expression of class solidarity, the German intelligentsia, for whom the development of Soviet - German relations opened up a wide field of activity, and the big bourgeoisie, pursuing economic goals, were interested in establishing closer relations between the two countries. P. Kirchner's article "German-Ukrainian scientific and cultural relations in 1926-1930" for the first time shows the participation of Ukrainian scientists in the "Week of Historians", reports on the relations of writers Ostap Vishny and Ivan Le with German writers, about the tours of I. S. Patorzhinsky and M. I. Litvinenko-Wohlgemuth in Germany in 1928. Mohr ("On methodological problems in the study of German - Soviet cultural relations") tried to define the range of problems facing the researcher of Soviet-German cultural relations. The author considers it necessary first of all to study cultural relations in 1933-1945, which were carried out in difficult conditions of emigration, and especially to identify, collect and organize archival materials. He points out the importance of Soviet-German cooperation in this area (joint publication of documents and works on cultural relations).

6 "Ost und West in der Geschichte des Denkens und der kulturellen Beziehungen" (Festschrift fur Eduard Winter zum 70. Gebnrtstag). B. 1966.

7 "Deutschland-Sowjetunion. Aus funf Jahrzehnten kultureller Zusammenarbeit", B. 1966.

page 177

A number of materials in the collection are devoted to the activities of various German organizations that contributed to the establishment of cultural ties with our country. G. Yang ("The attitude of German workers' organizations to the culture of the Soviet Union (1918-1933)") and K. Roemer ("The Union of Friends of the Soviet Union and its cultural Activities") spoke about proletarian organizations that set themselves the task of covering the cultural life of the workers 'and peasants' state. Articles by G. Munch ("Society of Friends of the New Russia in 1923-1933"), E. Pakhali ("Relations of the Society of German Scientists in Need" with Soviet Scientists"), G. Voigt ("German Society for the Study of Eastern Europe "in 1919-1933"), G. Schulze-Wolgast ("Friedrich Schmidt-Ott and German-Soviet scientific relations during the Weimar Republic") characterize the activities of bourgeois organizations. The remaining sections of the collection report on Soviet-German cultural and scientific relations in certain branches of science and culture over 50 years. The section" History, Pedagogy and Sports "of the pre-war period is presented in three articles by L. Behrendt in the article "The Soviet" Week of Historians " in 1928. In Berlin, the forum considered issues such as the organization of this event and its evaluation by the German public. The author emphasizes that the speeches of Soviet historians in Berlin forced bourgeois historical science to enter into a dialogue with Marxists, and aroused the interest of wide circles of Germany in the historical science of the Soviet Union. In addition, thanks to the participation in the "week" of historians of Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia, the success of Soviet national policy was demonstrated.

In article X. Leitgold "German-Soviet pedagogical relations in the first half of the 1920s" on the basis of archival documents of the IML under the Central Committee of the CPSU, N. K. Krupskaya's connections with progressive pedagogical centers in Germany are analyzed. The author writes that the fact of the existence of the USSR and contacts between teachers of both countries were an incentive for German teachers in their struggle for progressive teaching methods, for improving their working conditions. L. Skorning's work "The influence of German-Soviet sports relations before 1933 on Germany", published in the same collection, is interesting. Using the materials of German and Soviet archives, in particular the Central State Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the author reveals the political significance of these connections, which contributed to the spread of the truth about the USSR and had a significant impact on the revolutionary forces of the German sports workers ' movement.

The largest section of the collection is devoted to literary relations. The articles published here reveal various aspects of the contacts established during the Weimar Republic between Soviet and progressive German writers and public and political figures (Ed. Weiss - "Socialist German writers and their attitude to the development of Soviet literature in 1917-1933", G. Greifengaben - "On the German-Ukrainian literary relations of the 1920s", K. Klolig - "Das neue Russland magazine-propagandist of young Soviet literature in Germany", D. Anders - "Lunacharsky and Germany. 1917-1924", E. Kirsch - "Heinrich Mann and the Soviet Union", as well as works on the publication of works by Soviet writers in Germany, and German-in the USSR). In general, the authors of this section show the existence of rather close German-Soviet literary ties. The best representatives of Soviet literature were well known to the German public, and their works were widely popular. In 1917-1933, out of 300 foreign authors whose works were published in Germany, about 100 were Soviet. Works by A. M. Gorky were published in Germany by 30 bourgeois publishing houses. At the same time, the works of German proletarian writers were published in our country in translations into the languages of the peoples of the USSR.

Contacts in the field of art in the collection are not fully covered. Only the connections of workers ' theaters are better identified than others (article Y. Firbach). German-Soviet relations in the field of medicine are also poorly represented in the collection.

The history of Soviet-German cultural relations in 1917-1965 is considered in the article by E. Pakhali, G. Rosenfeld, H. Schutzler and G. Schulze-Wolgast, which was included in the collection "The Great October Socialist Revolution and Germany" 8 . The most interesting part of the article is the part that shows the results.-

8 "Die Grosse Sozialistische Oktoberrevolution und Deutschland". Bd. 1. B. 1967.

page 178

It is important to note that the German progressive community had a strong relationship with the USSR during the period of fascism's rule in Germany, since this issue had not previously been discussed in the literature. In the manuscript of G. Rosenfeld "Partners in Rapallo"9 A special chapter is devoted to German-Soviet cultural relations in 1921-1933. The author suggests the following periodization of relations: 1921-1923-establishment of cultural ties; 1923-1926-their development after the signing of the Treaty of Rapallo; 1925-1933. According to Mr. Rosenfeld, the Locarno Agreements did not disrupt the cultural exchange between Germany and the USSR; on the contrary, 1925 was a turning point in this respect, since during the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in which the German delegation also took part, the foundations were laid for even stronger ties. The author analyzes their various forms, starting from the first steps, when a seven - volume bibliography on the most important areas of science, published in Germany in 1914-1921, was reprinted by the Soviet commission, and ending with "weeks", this popular type of scientific contacts in those years.

In the works and collections discussed above, Soviet-German cultural and scientific ties are characterized in general, in a complex way. But there are studies on the development of such contacts in relation to certain branches of science and culture. The links between historians of the two countries are shown in the articles included in the collection "The October Revolution and Science" 10 . I. Irmscher writes about the cooperation of Soviet and German archaeologists and museologists in the development of methods of archaeological excavations and the excavations themselves, as well as in scientific publications. The article notes that employees of the Leningrad Hermitage and Ukrainian scientists actively participated in scientific contacts. Referring to the "German Society for the Study of Eastern Europe", the author reports on the exhibition of ancient Russian and Byzantine monumental paintings organized in Berlin in 1926, on the exhibition of works by Soviet historians for 1917-1927 at the Soviet "week of Historians" in 1928. M. N. Pokrovsky in strengthening relations between historians of the USSR and Germany, especially after the aforementioned "week" and the VI International Congress of Historical Sciences (August 14-18, 1928 in Oslo), at which M. N. Pokrovsky delivered a report on "The Origin of Russian Absolutism", notes that this increased interest in Soviet historical history to science: systematic reviews of Soviet historical periodicals appear in German journals, primarily in the journals "Historian-Marxist "and" Red Archive", edited by M. N. Kolesnikov. Pokrovsky, repeatedly reprinted in German his textbook "History of Russia". The author also shows the activities of the Soviet-German commission for the publication of documents from the archives of the tsarist and Provisional governments, created on the initiative of M. N. Pokrovsky. The article by G. Lotzek and G. Voigt describes bourgeois historians who studied Russian history. They single out Goetsch, a representative of the progressive trend in German historiography, who considered it necessary to study the history of the Great October Socialist Revolution, since, according to his definition, it had "universal significance for history", and advocated good-neighborly relations with the Soviet Union. At the same time, the authors criticize such adherents of bourgeois reactionary science as F. Meinecke and E. Trelch with their pronounced anti-communism.

GDR historians pay much attention to the study of literary relations. One of the first reports on this topic was an essay by V. Seifert on the attitude of German writers to the October Revolution, presented at one of the sections of the scientific session of historians of the GDR and the USSR, held in Leipzig in 1957.11 . Interesting article by E. Weiss on the role of I. Becher in establishing German-Soviet literary ties in the 1920s 12 . The author emphasizes that Becher, studying the works of V. I. Lenin, understood the historical mission of the proletariat and the role of the USSR in world history

9 G. Rosenfeld. Die Rapallo-Partner. Die Sowjetunion im Kampf um die friedriche Koexistenz mit Deutschland. 1922-1933 (manuscript of the paper submitted for the degree in 1965).

10 "Oktoberrevolution und Wissenschaft". B. 1967.

11 "The October Revolution and Germany", Moscow, 1960.

12 "Zeitschrift fur Slawistik", 1963, N 3.

page 179

and I transferred this understanding to the field of literature. E. Weiss bases his conclusions on materials from I. Becher's personal archive, his works, as well as on Soviet literary sources. As a result, it manages to reveal the multi-faceted activities of the Company. Becher as chairman of the Union of Proletarian Writers for Strengthening Relations with Soviet Writers. Special attention should be paid to the facts presented in the article about I. Becher's personal connections with M. Gorky, V. Mayakovsky, A. Serafimovich, A. Fadeev and others, as well as with the Ukrainian writers P. Tychina, I. Le and others. E. Weiss also wrote an article about I. Becher's first visit to the Soviet Union in 192713 .

The Soviet-German scientific and technical relations were investigated by G. Schutzel. In his article "German-Soviet scientific and technical cooperation in the years of industrialization of the Soviet Union", the main place is given to the activities of the society "Culture and Technology", established in 1924 in the USSR and reached its greatest activity in 1929 after the" week of German technology " in Moscow. The Society organized scientific reports, consultation points, trips of Soviet specialists abroad, invited foreign specialists, and published written consultations in the Russo-German Bulletin of Science and Technology (the complete set of this journal is kept in the Lenin State Library of the USSR).

German-Soviet pedagogical relations of the interwar period were discussed at a conference held in 1957 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the German-Soviet Friendship Society. Materials of the scientific session are published under the title "German-Soviet pedagogical relations during the Weimar Republic" 14 . Among the reports read at the conference, G. Gogendorff's work on the influence of Soviet pedagogy on the democratization of German schools, on the creation of pioneer organizations in Germany and the education of pioneers in the spirit of proletarian internationalism, on the exchange of delegations of German and Soviet teachers, the VI International Congress of Enlightenment Workers in Leipzig in 1928, on cooperation of Soviet teachers in German pedagogical magazines. The author emphasizes the merits of Klara Zetkin as an editor of two of these magazines.

In the article " Ya. Sirmus - his activities in the Weimar Republic " 15 I. Heller writes about the arrival in Germany in 1922 of the violinist J. E. Sirmus , the first representative of the Soviet musical art, whose playing made a great impression on German workers. The author correctly explains the significance of his speeches by saying that they testified to the development of socialist culture in the Soviet state. In addition, the Soviet violinist provided great assistance to local organizations of the MOPRa. In Halle, for example, thanks to his concerts, more than 7 thousand marks were collected in favor of Mauprat.

Finishing the review of the works of historians of the GDR, it can be stated that they have already achieved some success in developing the history of Soviet-German cultural relations in 1917-1932. At the same time, it should be noted that many issues of this topic have not yet received proper coverage. First of all, it is necessary to point out the need for a deeper study of the history of cultural ties between the working class of both states. Soviet-German relations in various branches of science, as well as scientific and technical ties of the Weimar Republic period, are poorly studied.

13 "Ost und West in der Geschichte des Denkens und der kulturellen Beziehungen". (Festschrift fur Eduard Winter zum 70. Geburtstag).

14 "Die deutsch-sowjetischen padagogischen Beziehungen in den Jahren der Weimarer Republik". B. 1957, Manuskriptdruck.

15 "Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift Martin-Luther-Universitat Halle", 1966, N 3.

page 180

Permanent link to this publication: