Sorry, Mark, VEB means Volks-Eigener Betrieb, and anyway, it´s not, quote, East Geramny, unquote, but East Geranium, as far as I recall. ;-)
Popularity of cycling was due to the fact that both MIFA and Diamant, Germany´s first and foremost big racing cycle manufacturers in the thirties, found themselves on GDR territory after te war, and of course Täve Schur, one of the most popular German racers of all time, was an East German.
Toni Theilmeier, Belm, Geramny.