Reisebüro der DDR
Encyclopedia
The Reisebüro der DDR ("Travel Bureau of the GDR") was the state travel organization of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The Reisebüro had several travel-related functions, including:
- 1. Arranging domestic travel for GDR citizens. The Reisebüro, among other things, controlled hotels located throughout the GDR.
- 2. Arranging travel for GDR citizens in other socialist countries, i.e., the Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
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. - 3. Arranging travel for foreigners visiting the GDR. These services included booking hotel rooms and providing confirmation documents used to justify the issuance of a GDR visaVisa (document)A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
upon arrival in the GDR. The Reisebüro had agreements with travel agencies in other countries; travelers would book trips with a participating travel agency in their home country, which would then coordinate with the Reisebüro to reserve hotel rooms, etc.