Kulturbund

(Kulturbund der DDR; from 1958 to October 1972 the Deutscher Kulturbund), a mass organization in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) set up to help develop the national socialist culture and the spiritual molding of men in socialist society.

The Kulturbund was organized in the summer of 1945 on the initiative of antifascist cultural figures as the Cultural Alliance for the Democratic Regeneration of Germany. The first presi-dent of the Kulturbund was the poet J. Becher. The Kulturbund played an important role in the propaganda of national and world democratic culture. Through such mediums as clubs and circles, the Kulturbund works with the people. Under the guidance of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, the Kulturbund focuses its efforts on the solution of the problems of culture that arise during the construction of a developed socialist society. It is subdivided into regional, district, and local organizations. The highest body is the congress, which elects a president, a presidium, and a central auditing committee. The Kulturbund is a member of the National Front of the GDR. It has its own representatives in the People’s Chamber of the GDR and has a membership of more than 195,000 (1972). Its press organ is the weekly Der Sonntag, which has been published since 1946.