Karl Schirdewan | |
---|---|
![]() Schirdewan in 1952 | |
First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party in Bezirk Leipzig | |
In office 26 July 1952 – December 1952 | |
Second Secretary |
|
Preceded by | himself (Saxony) |
Succeeded by | Paul Fröhlich (1953) |
First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party in Saxony | |
In office February 1952 – 26 July 1952 | |
Second Secretary |
|
Preceded by | Ernst Lohagen |
Succeeded by | himself (Bezirk Leipzig) Hans Riesner (Bezirk Dresden) Walter Buchheim (Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt) |
Member of the Volkskammer | |
In office 23 July 1952 – 24 February 1958 | |
Preceded by | Ernst Lohagen |
Succeeded by | Harry Bachmann |
Central Committee Secretariat responsibilities | |
1956-1958 | Cadre Affairs |
1953-1958 | Youth |
1953-1958 | Woman |
1952-1956 | Party Organs |
Personal details | |
Born | Stettin, Province of Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (now Szczecin, Poland) | 14 May 1907
Died | 14 July 1998 Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany | (aged 91)
Political party | Party of Democratic Socialism (1989–1998) |
Other political affiliations | Socialist Unity Party (1952–1989) Communist Party of Germany (1925–1946) |
Spouse | Gisela Schirdewan |
Children | 4 |
Relatives |
|
Occupation |
|
Awards | Patriotic Order of Merit, 1st class |
Central institution membership
Other offices held
| |
Karl Schirdewan (14 May 1907 – 14 July 1998) was a German Communist activist who after World War II became a top East German politician.[1][2]
During the mid 1950s, Schirdewan was seen as a potential successor to Walter Ulbricht but fell out of favour in 1958.[3] Ulbricht continued to lead the government until 1971, while 1958 was the year in which Schirdewan was thrown out of the Politburo[4] and placed in charge of the National Archives at Potsdam,[2] a position from which he retired in 1964[4] or 1965.[1]