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Ministry Detlev Rohwedder and the Treuhandanstalt
Following German reunification on 3 October 1990, the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Bundesrechnungshof (Germany’s supreme audit institution) moved into what is today the Detlev Rohwedder Building. Between 1991 and 1995, the remaining space was used by the Treuhandanstalt, the agency set up to privatise assets formerly owned by the East German state. The building was given its present name …
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Ministry The founding of the GDR in 1949
The building now known as the Detlev Rohwedder Building took on a significant role in the history of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) on 7 October 1949. It was on this day that the German People’s Council (a surrogate parliament for the Soviet occupation zone) declared itself the provisional People’s Chamber and put the constitution of the GDR into effect. The founding of the GDR, and hence …
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Ministry The East German uprising of 17 June 1953
In the years following the foundation of the German Democratic Republic in 1949, social tensions in the country increased rapidly. In 1953, the government tried to get the economic problems under control by raising work quotas. But finally the growing discontent among the population reached boiling point. On 17 June 1953, strikes and demonstrations broke out all over the GDR – including in front …
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Ministry The Detlev Rohwedder Building
The Detlev Rohwedder Building was built between 1935 and 1936 as the headquarters of the Reich Aviation Ministry. Reich Aviation Minister Hermann Göring wanted it to be an expression of political power. This aim was reflected in the neoclassical architectural style, which despite its simplicity made a powerful impression on visitors. The then dark Stone Hall with its low pillars was designed to …
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Ministry Walter Ulbricht and the construction of the Berlin Wall
It was a lie that made history: on 15 June 1961, Walter Ulbricht, head of state of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), denied rumours that there were plans to close the border between East and West Berlin. In fact nobody had asked if there were plans to build a wall; it was Ulbricht himself who introduced the idea into the discussion. To this day it is unclear why he did so. What is known is …
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Ministry The resistance group “Rote Kapelle”
The former Reich Aviation Ministry was responsible for sending the German Luftwaffe into the Second World War, but it was also home to resistance to the Third Reich. Harro Schulze-Boysen, who worked at the ministry, was one of the leaders of the “Rote Kapelle” (“Red Orchestra”) resistance group, which was pursued for many years by the Nazis. During the 1930s he was at the centre of a network of …
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G7/G20 Olaf Scholz on the outcome of the G20 summit in Rome
Following the G20 summit in Rome on 30–31 October 2021, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz talks about the agreement on a global minimum effective tax, which he says will end harmful tax competition between countries. He also states that climate policy is shifting increasingly towards the implementation of concrete actions to help achieve climate targets.
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Taxation Keynote speech on the global corporate tax reform
With this reform, international corporate taxation is being made fit for purpose in an increasingly globalised and digitalised world. A global effective minimum tax will also hinder the harmful race to the bottom and hence ensure fairer taxation. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz hails the significance of this “historic agreement” in his keynote speech.