I was born 1974 in Jena. Jena is a university city in central Germany on the River Saale. It has a population of roughly 105,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.
The German Democratic Republic GDR, informally known in English as East Germany, was a state within the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War period. From 1949 to 1990 it governed a region of Germany which was occupied by Soviet forces at the end of the Second World War — the Soviet Occupation Zone of the Potsdam Agreement, bounded on the east by the Oder-Neisse line. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin, but did not include it; as a result, West Berlin remained outside the control of the GDR.
Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948, and the GDR began to function as a state on 7 October 1949. Soviet forces however remained in East Germany throughout the Cold War, and in 1953 they helped the GDR police to suppress a popular uprising. Until 1989, political power in the GDR was monopolised by the Soviet-backed communist party, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). Other parties could only function within the SED-dominated National Front of Democratic Germany. The Stasi security force was used to repress dissent.
The economy was centrally planned, and predominantly state owned. A subsidy system was used to keep down the prices of a large range of basic goods and services. Although the GDR had to pay substantial war reparations to the USSR, it became the richest economy in the Eastern Bloc. Nonetheless it did not match the economic growth of West Germany.
Emigration to the West was a significant problem — as many of the emigrants were young well-educated people, it further weakened the state economically. The government tried to stop people leaving by fortifying its western borders and in 1961 by establishing the Berlin Wall. Several hundred people were killed by border guards.
Giving you the background about my upbringing will may lead to the conclusion of being disadvantaged and living a unhappy live. What I just about to tell you will may sound stupid but the history of this country was the hidden advantage and extraordinary opportunity coursed by a cultural legacy as sport became the only chance to be politically recognised.
Sport in East Germany was lead by Manfred Ewald he was the Walter Ulbricht and Erich Honecker in Sport. He was the founder and producer of a system what was so effective and cheap like never seen before. He made this country into the second strongest sport nation in the world. One of the most successful sport managers in history of sport. Taking on the myth of talent as the odds were against him having only 16 Million people to choose from and up against nations like the United States, Soviet Union. With everything available what was needed to lead East Germany onto the world stage in sport.
The myth of talent.
Can I find it or can it be created?
Winnis says
How lucky this college is to have Andre as one of their coaches – with such an impressive background combined with his knowledge and talent, the football programme looks bright.