Paper short abstract:

With land reform in 1945, expropriated soil was given to 210,000 families, mostly WW II refugees. According to the Soviet Military Administration, house building should help them settle. How did the families cope with political regimentation, architectural requirements and appropriate space?

Paper long abstract:

With land reform in 1945, the nature of ownerships and power structures changed drastically in the Soviet Occupation Zone: soil was expropriated and given to about 210,000 families, i.e. refugees due to WW II. They had lost nearly all their possessions, social networks, and homes. According to an order of the Soviet Military Administration house building should help them to settle. As a result, the farmer families were supposed to form a particular societal group.

An unprecedented demolition campaign started, effecting manor houses and castles. In their places thousands of small farmhouses arose with prescribed designs, either ignoring the needs of the families or not allowing the conduct of efficient agricultural businesses. The image of the village was radically changed.

The paper intends to illuminate the dilemmas emerging between state decrees, economic necessity, and individual needs. We discuss the concept of the farmhouses as both a form of livelihood and a symbol. Interviews with contemporary witnesses demonstrate ways of housing adaptation and of using space. This is where the conflict between a strategy of withdrawal within a segregated residential area versus an active 'occupation' of a village appears.

The data basis is made up of archival sources (such as building plans/blueprints and regulations, as well as contemporary photographs), newspaper clippings, and extensive personal interviews. Since 2010 the source material has been collected as part of a research project at the ISGV.