While such data was used to reconstruct pollution history in other industrialized countries, e.g. in Russia , Canada , no such data exist for Germany. The aim of this work, therefore, is to find evidence of the eventful past of East Germany in dated lacustrine sediment profiles. Ten lakes in northeastern Germany were sampled, dated, and their contents of DDT and its transformation products, HCH, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, S, and, Zn determined. The results were intended to shed light on anthropogenic impacts on the environment throughout the last 100 years. Data was evaluated with regard to finding indicators for system-changes and possibly cultural and socio-economic transitions.