GDR Motoring Magazine Archive: 1954 Illustrierter Motorsport (GDR) Year 4 Volume 2

In the second January 1954 edition we look at bicycle auxillary motors, review the Tatra T605 race car and remember the Auto Union Silver Arrows.

English Translation of the introduction:

1954 The Year of Great Initiative

Again we are at the beginning of a new year and with it a new season. At the same time as a new year, the fourth year of our five-year plan has begun. Great successes have been achieved in the past by our working people in town and country. Our state-owned motor vehicle and motorcycle industry can also look back on a whole series of these successes. A wealth of experience has been gained in performance tests and in car and motorcycle races, which has significantly contributed to the improvement of our production. As athletes, we are directly connected to the industry and help each other to achieve new successes.

The year 1954 is "the year of great initiative'', i.e., that our working people want to help implement the new course of our government even faster and more intensively. In the regulations of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic on the increase and improvement of the production of consumer goods for the population for 1954 and 1955, are, among other things, for passenger cars Type F9 to 11,400 pieces for 1954 and 16,000 pieces for 1955, for motorcycles 61,500 pieces for 1954 and 70,000 pieces for 1955. With this, our government moves towards the wishes of working people and takes into account the constantly increasing standard of living in our republic.

By improving the living conditions of our working people more and more quickly, we are simultaneously creating an example for the population in the west of our homeland. The Adenauer government needed more and more money to carry out its war-like preparations. The working people in West Germany have to raise these funds. New taxes are constantly being set, food prices and rents are increasing. This increases the cost of living, and due to these increased costs, the standard of living is constantly falling. More and more of the population of western Germany will therefore recognize that the path we have taken in our Republic is the right one. Our government has repeatedly stated that it is ready to negotiate the peaceful reunification of Germany. The proposals she made, such as expanding interzonal trade, would help to make the lives of our West German brothers and sisters nicer and richer. How many unemployed people who are now sentenced to inactivity in western Germany were given work again as a result.

The Bonn government is trying by all means to prevent Germans from understanding each other. This also has an effect on sport. The joy of all winter sports enthusiasts was great - to name just one example - when the ski section of the German Democratic Republic and the (West) German Ski Association agreed to hold joint championships this year and to travel together to the world championships in Sweden, this unfortunately didn't come about. What are the reasons for this?

Our athletes rightly refused to start under the patronage of Federal President Professor Heuss in the disciplines of the championships, i.e., the Nordic and Alpine combination, which were to be held in West Germany. The (West) German Ski Association had agreed to this patronage, contrary to the agreements of the all-German working committee. All efforts by the responsible functionaries of the GDR ski section to bring about a change in order to form an all-German championships failed and were rejected by the West German officials rejected with flimsy justifications. The responsible functionaries of the DSV are thus on the same level as Mr. Heuss, who has so far persistently refused to negotiate with representatives of our government about the reunification of Germany but supports the war preparations of the Adenaur government. We know that the peace-loving athletes of West Germany resolutely rejected these measures. The athletes in the west of our homeland want, like us, to establish German unity peacefully and to hold all-German championships.

Therefore, in the interest of our entire people, we must support you in your struggle. This should happen by having personal talks with them, inviting them to us to show them the successes our working people have achieved and by intensifying the exchange of letters even more.

In addition, all athletes in our German Democratic Republic have other major tasks to fulfill. Through their work in production, administration and agriculture, they will contribute to making the "year of the big initiatives" a great success. Your achievements in the field of sports must be improved more and more. The successes achieved last year can still be surpassed this year, these are very important tasks, and every athlete must make them their own and actively help to fulfill them. With this we are making a further contribution to the unity of our fatherland, which is why we wish all our athletes, but above all our motor sports enthusiasts, great new successes in honor of our German Democratic Republic.

Wolfgang Hubner