The “unity of economic and social policy” proclaimed by Erich Honecker at the beginning of the 1970s was intended to boost East German consumers’ contentment and to increase labor productivity by doing more to satisfy consumer wishes. At its core was a large-scale housing program that aimed to solve pressing shortages by establishing new developments with modern apartments in many East German cities. In the photograph below, prefabricated concrete slabs are assembled in a “Plattenbau” settlement in Wittenberg (Saxony-Anhalt).