right|200px|thumb|Intershop's logo

right|380px|thumb|The Intershop in [[Berlin Friedrichstraße station|Berlin Friedrichstraße underground train station, accessible from West Berlin only, , the only one with shop windows. East German books, as on display here, were not sold in normal Intershop stores.]]

Intershop was a chain of government-owned and operated retail stores in the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) from 1962 until 1990 in which only hard currencies (and later Forum checks) could be used to purchase high-quality goods, usually from or associated with Western countries. The East German mark was not accepted as payment. Intershop was originally oriented towards visitors from Western countries, and later became an outlet where East Germans could purchase goods they could not otherwise obtain. An unintended consequence was that ordinary East Germans had some insight into the selection of goods available in the West, which they could then compare with the rather limited offerings available in their own country.

Product offerings

Intershops sold imported products such as cigarettes, liquor, appliances and even car accessories. It even sold quality East German products that were exported and then re-imported. Those items were sometimes sold at a lower price than the same product sold in domestic shops.

The Ministry of State Security (Stasi) monitored the Intershops very closely, with relatives of Stasi employees or officials often working as cashiers. In some stores, security cameras were present, and in the beginning, passports were even checked. The transport of these goods was closely monitored as well. Even so, there were numerous thefts and even some armed robberies of Intershop stores. The investigations of these crimes always involved the Stasi as well as the regular police. In many cases, store managers and employees were involved in the crimes. Beginning in the 1980s, a portion of the salary of Intershop workers was paid in hard currency and additionally employees had to surrender their tips, according to regulations, in order to curb these problems.

The Intershops were dissolved upon the reunification of Germany in 1990.

Because photographing in Intershops was not allowed, there are few photographs of the inside of the stores. Most of those that do exist are from the Stasi archives. A West German photographer, Günter Schneider, collected numerous photos of Intershops while working on a larger report about the transit corridors in East Germany.

See also

  • Pewex; Polish counterpart
  • Beryozka; Soviet counterpart
  • Eastern Bloc economies

References

Further reading

  • Jonathan R. Zatlin, The Currency of Socialism - Money and Political Culture in East Germany. Cambridge University Press 2007
  • "Intershop – Der kleine Westen" (MDR 2005)