GDR Union of Journalists
The Association of Journalists of the GDR was a professional association of journalists in East Germany. VdJ organized news, press, radio and television journalists, as well as press officers, publishing staff, cartoonists, documentarists and teachers of journalism. VJD conducted trainings for journalists, on behalf of the Ministry for Higher and Professional Education. The offices of the VdJ were located at Friedrichstraße 101, Berlin, in the Admiralspalast.
VdJ was founded as the German Press Union. A VDP organization was founded in Berlin on 10 October 1945. It officially launched its activities on 1 January 1946. A de facto separate VDP was set up in the Soviet occupation zone. As of April 1946 the Berlin VDP had 327 members. The Berlin VDP was included in the Arts and Letters Trade Union of Free German Trade Union Federation in July 1946. By December in the same year the membership had reached 958. In March 1947 the Berlin organization had 1,107 members.
In 1949 VDP joined International Organization of Journalists. The organization worked in all sectors of Berlin until 1950. In the same year the Trade Union No. 17 was dissolved and VDP became an affiliate of its own to FDGB. By this time the VDP in Berlin and the Soviet occupation zone were merged into a unified organization. On 27 January 1951 VDP opened an Institute for Journalists and Newspaper Patrons. On 21 October 1951 stepped down as first chairman of VDP. Karl Bittel became the first chairman of VDJ.
VDP was affiliated to FDGB until 1953. In 1957 became the new chairman of VDP. Under his rein, more emphasis was given to the educational activities of the organization.
The 4th Central Delegates' Conference of VDP, held on 30 May 1959, decided to change the name of the organization to Union of German Journalists. As of 1968 Harri Czepuck was the chairman of VDJ. In 1972 the name GDR Union of Journalists was adopted.
At the Werner Lamberz International Institute for Journalism in Berlin, VDJ/VdJ provided training for foreign journalists. During 1963–1979 a total of 432 journalists from 39 countries in Africa and Asia were trained at the institute.
In 1981, Eberhard Heinrich replaced Czepuck as chairman. By 1983 VdJ had partnership agreements with 48 journalists' associations worldwide. As of 1988, VdJ had some 9,000 members.
Due to the radical changes in East Germany during the Peaceful Revolution, VdJ held an extraordinary congress in January 1990. On 23–24 June the organization held another, ordinary, congress, on which it was decided that VdJ be dissolved. The dissolution came into effect on 30 September that year, three days before the German Reunification.