Sports medicine service and popular sports: a multidisciplinary contribution to a specific component of the health system of the German Democratic Republic

Against the background of decreasing levels of physical activity in industrialized nations, the promotion of sports as a preventive medical concept is of current importance. The so-called Sports Medicine Service (“Sportmedizinischer Dienst”; SMD) in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) pursued this objective with varying degrees of intensity. Through a systematic literature review on a conventional and internet-based basis, original documents and scientific articles were made available. In 1963, a significant milestone was reached with the establishment of a specialist in sports medicine and the development of the SMD as a care institution. The initial focus was on mass sport as a public health preventive measure. Through defined tasks, a centralized organizational structure, general medical sports advice and district centers for medical sport consultation, as many East Germans as possible were to receive support in their sporting activities. However, from the 1970s onwards, for ideological reasons, national professional sport was increasingly prioritized within the SMD, which in some cases led to a substantial reduction in resources for amateur sport. With the reunification of the two German states, the SMD was swiftly dissolved in 1990 without replacement. From a neutral but critical perspective, the dissolution of the SMD without replacing the health-promoting aspects of amateur sport and without technical reflection was inappropriate. A well-thought-out use of health-promoting elements of the SMD within a democratic society would be an approach to remedy this deficit, which calls for renewed initiatives to promote amateur sports and subject-related research projects.