Treuhandanstalt

The Treuhandanstalt ("Trust agency"), colloquially referred to as Treuhand, was an agency established by the government of the German Democratic Republic to reprivatise/privatise East German enterprises, Volkseigene Betriebe (VEBs), prior to German reunification. Created by the Volkskammer on 17 June 1990, it oversaw the restructure and sale of about 8,500 state-owned companies with over four million employees. At that time, it was the world's largest industrial enterprise, controlling everything from steel works to the Babelsberg Studios.