Bitterfelder Weg

Bitterfelder Weg, term applied to the cultural programme of the DDR inaugurated at the first writers' conference at Bitterfeld on 23 April 1959. Arranged by the Mitteldeutscher Verlag (Halle) at a state-owned industrial concern, it directed writers on to the path of authentic literary production on workers, their problems, and responsibilities in industry and agriculture. Conceived as an implementation of socialist realism (see Sozialistischer Realismus), its objectives included the formation of circles by prospective writing workers. The programme was reviewed and reinforced in principle at a second Bitterfeld conference in 1964. Its participants included Christa Wolf and Erwin Strittmatter, whose works, Der geteilte Himmel and Ole Bienkopp, though exemplifying the new policy, had nevertheless incurred criticism.