From the early 1970s the undermining of the state housing management system in the GDR was a form of individual self-help practised by thousands. Usually young people acquired dilapidated accommodation for themselves so as to be able to lead independent lives. In most cases, this was by no means comparable with western European "squatting". In this volume, illicit accommodation or the occupation of living quarters serves to sound out how much scope existed for people to shape their everyday lives themselves under the dictatorship of the East German Socialist Unity Party. The author explores strategies, negotiation processes and permitted latitudes from the perspective of both the state "above" and the actors "below".