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Private company

Handelsorganisation

Logo: VEB Handelsorganisation, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

East German retailer

The Handelsorganisation (“Trading Organisation”, or HO) was a national retail business owned by the central administration of the Soviet Zone of occupation in Germany and from 1949 on by the state of the German Democratic Republic. It was created in 1948. The enterprise was arranged into different departments – industrial goods, food, restaurants and department stores – and operated the large “Centrum” department stores in many cities of the GDR.2 It ceased to exist in 1990.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1948Founded1
  • Legal formVolkseigener Betrieb1

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The Handelsorganisation (“Trading Organisation”, or HO) was a national retail business owned by the central administration of the Soviet Zone of occupation in Germany and from 1949 on by the state of the German Democratic Republic. It was created in 1948. The enterprise was arranged into different departments – industrial goods, food, restaurants and department stores – and operated the large “Centrum” department stores in many cities of the GDR. Its stores stood in competition to those of the Konsum cooperative. Nevertheless, both were established brands in the everyday life in the GDR. The HO also operated hotels. After the political turmoil in the GDR in the years 1989 and 1990 the business was sold by the Treuhand trust.2

Timeline

  1. 1990Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1948Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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