Surviving Transformation. Technological progress in the (post)socialist steel industry in the GDR 1985-1995

The dissolution of the Eastern Bloc in 1989/91 led to a significant decline in East German steel production and the closure of many plants, mainly due to low productivity rates and technological deficits compared to new international competitors. However, the Maxhütte Unterwellenborn in Thuringia managed to endure this period, largely by adapting Western technology. First, a technologically advanced rolling mill was installed at the site by the Belgian Cockerill Sambre in 1985, followed by the acquisition and modernisation by Luxembourg’s ARBED group in 1992. Oral history interviews with managers and white-collar workers, along with internal company documents, are used to examine the role of technology in company strategies and workers' perceptions during this transformative period. The paper highlights technological change as crucial to the survival of industry, but also as a trigger for significant job losses. It also reveals the transnational dynamics of technology transfer between East and West.