Vetragsarbeiter (Contract workers) were foreign workers and trainees who worked in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. They were living in the country long-term, without the intention of being integrated as guest workers. However, this did not include employees of foreign companies, foreign students, members of the Soviet armed forces and their families, refugees or foreign trainees. Most of the workers were from

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. Contract workers also worked in economically more advanced Comecon countries such as

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and the

People's Republic of Hungary The Hungarian People's Republic ( hu, Magyar Népköztársaság) was a one-party socialist state from 20 August 1949 to 23 October 1989. It was governed by the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, which was under the influence of the Soviet Uni ...

. Contract workers were brought in to reinforce understaffed areas of work, such as light industry or the consumer goods industry. The respective conditions, length of stay, rights and number of contract workers were negotiated individually with the respective government (by a so-called state contract). The duration of the residence permit varied between two and six years depending on the origin. A permanent stay, however, was not provided for by contract or by law. The moving of family members was excluded. At the end of the contractual period, contract workers usually had to leave and return to their home country. In East Germany, contract workers lived in separate dormitories during their stay, mostly set up by East German businesses and clearly separated from the local population.

References

{{reflist German words and phrases Foreign workers Economy of East Germany Immigration to Germany Vietnamese expatriates in Germany Namibian expatriates in Germany Ethnic groups in Germany Expatriates in East Germany