Size: 11x8cm./4.3×3.1inch.
Weight: 37gr./1.3oz.
Year: 1981
 
Membership book for the FDGB organisation. From the years 1981 until 1990, when the DDR dissolved. The Free German Trade Union Federation (German: Freier Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund or FDGB), was the sole national trade union centre of the DDR which existed from 1946 and 1990. As a mass organisation of the DDR, nominally representing all workers in the country, the FDGB was a constituent member of the National Front. The leaders of the FDGB were also senior members of the ruling Socialist Unity Party.
Officially, membership in the FDGB was voluntary, but unofficially it was hardly possible to develop a career without joining. In 1986, 98% of all workers and employees were organized in the FDGB, which had 9.6 million members. This meant that it was nominally one of the world’s largest trade unions.