100 years of Grüne Woche: New hope after the war years

Three years after the end of World War II, the situation in Berlin was precarious. The “hunger winter” of 1946/47 had meant death for many people. Nevertheless, in 1948, the Central Association of Allotment Gardeners, Settlers, and Soil organized the first Grüne Woche after the war. Despite the blockade of West Berlin and widespread power cuts, 59 exhibitors came together. Many exhibits arrived by airlift: 250 British and 357 American aircraft brought all kinds of supplies on the first day of the fair.

Trade fair under Nazi rule

Fifteen years earlier, Adolf Hitler's appointment as Reich Chancellor had direct consequences for Grüne Woche. From then on, Joseph Goebbels, as Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, was responsible for the Berlin Trade Fair Company, which found itself stripped of its autonomy by mid-1933 at the latest. From then on, state control was omnipresent, both in the selection of exhibitors and in the choice of employees. Politically undesirable persons and “non-Aryans” were dismissed, and Jewish entrepreneurs were excluded from trade fairs.

By the time of the “first Grüne Woche in the new state” in 1934, profound changes had already taken place in line with National Socialist ideology. A large statue of Hitler with a plow welcomed guests. The focus was on the self-sufficiency of the Reich. Food and feed imports were to be ended, with foreign currency and resources flowing into rearmament.

Ideologists of “blood and soil” such as Nazi Minister of Agriculture Walter Darré left their mark on Grüne Woche from then on. Among the innovations at the five trade fairs held under the Nazi regime was a meat broth developed by E. Mannert in 1937. A doll's house with a “proper kitchen” showed housewives how to feed their families. In 1938, Grüne Woche was canceled due to foot-and-mouth disease. In 1939, at the last fair before World War II, the government proudly announced that the level of food self-sufficiency was now higher than in 1914, a hint at the impending war that began in September with Germany's invasion of Poland.

A new beginning and reconstruction

The first Grüne Woche after the war gave people hope. They were particularly amazed by a 3.3-kilogram box cucumber and a 40-kilogram pumpkin. The Kreuzberg breeding sow Dora with her piglets promised a rare treat of meat. However, the ham and sausages on display at the stands were still made of cardboard.

From 1949 onwards, the state-owned “Berliner Ausstellungen” was responsible for the fair. The reconstruction of Berlin did not stop at the exhibition grounds. In 1950, Grüne Woche was canceled due to construction work. A year later, the fair welcomed its first guests from abroad: Dutch exhibitors built a vegetable pyramid in 1951, which was admired by Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. In the following years, foreign participation grew steadily. Also in 1951, the initiators planted a “Grüne Woche Forest” in the hall, which subsequently moved to the summer garden. One innovation in 1953 was the “Darmstadt” biogas plant with a capacity of ten cubic meters of biogas per day, which, according to the manufacturer, was sufficient for heating and cooking in a household.

Until the Berlin Wall was built, many farmers from the GDR were among the exhibitors. Many of the guests also undertook the arduous journey across the sector borders. Between 30 and 50 percent came from the eastern districts under Soviet occupation. Grüne Woche 1954 reported a record number of visitors: half a million people came to the fair, which was held in nine halls covering 30,000 square meters. The success story continued,