Heinz Eichler

Heinz Eichler (14 November 1927 – 12 September 2013) was a German politician who served as the Secretary of the State Council of the German Democratic Republic commonly known as East Germany.[1]

Heinz Eichler
Secretary of the State Council
In office
26 November 1971 – 16 November 1989
Preceded byOtto Gotsche
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Personal details
Born
Heinz Eichler

14 November 1927
Leipzig, Weimar Republic
Died12 September 2013(2013-09-12) (aged 85)
Berlin, Germany
Buried
Baumschulenweg Cemetery
Citizenship Germany

East Germany (until 1990) Nazi Germany (1933-1945) Weimar Republic

(1927-1933)
Political partySocialist Unity Party
Other political
affiliations		Free German Youth

Communist Party of Germany

Nazi Party (until 1945)

Early life and education

Heinz Eichler was born to a working-class family in Leipzig. He joined the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) in 1944 at the age of sixteen.[2] He graduated from the University of Leipzig in 1950. In 1960, he also graduated from the Academy of Social Sciences of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in Moscow.

Political career
Eichler (2nd from left) in the accreditation of the US Ambassador Richard Clark Barkley , 1988

After World War II, Eichler became an employee of the Oschatz District Council. He joined the Communist Party of Germany and became a member of the Oschatz District Anti-Fascist Youth Committee. In 1946, Eichler joined the Free German Youth and became a member of the Socialist Unity Party after the merger of the KPD and SPD into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.[3] After taking courses at the Socialist Unity Party State Party School in Ottendorf, Eichler was elected to the Oschatz District Board of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and remained there until 1948. After completing his studies in 1950, Eichler became a main clerk in the Ministry of the Interior. Upon returning to East Germany in 1960, Eichler worked as a personal assistant for Walter Ulbricht until 1971. He succeeded Otto Gotsche as the Secretary of the State Council in 1971 and served in this position until November 16, 1989.[4]

From 1971 to March 1990, Eichler was a member of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) parliamentary group of the Volkskammer and also a member of the Executive Committee. On January 3, 1990, Eichler was summoned for a hearing by the interim Volkskammer Committee to review cases of abuse of office, corruption, personal gain and other acts suspected of violating the law and questioned about the former Schorfheide special hunting area.

Death

Heinz Eichler passed away on September 12, 2013 at the age of 85 in Berlin, Germany. He was buried at the Baumschulenweg Cemetery located in Berlin.

Awards

Patriotic Order of Merit in Gold (1977)

Patriotic Order of Merit in Silver (twice)

Banner of Labor 1st Class

Battle medal "For Services to the People and Fatherland" in Gold

Medal of Merit of the GDR

See also

References
  1. Walter, Franz; Marg, Stine (2013). Von der Emanzipation zur Meritokratie: Betrachtungen zur 150-jährigen Geschichte von Arbeiterbewegung, Linksintellektuellen und sozialer Demokratie (in German). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 978-3-525-38001-7.
  2. Förster, Andreas (2000). Schatzräuber: die Suche der Stasi nach dem Gold der Nazizeit (in German). Ch. Links Verlag. ISBN 978-3-86153-204-0.
  3. Lapp, Peter Joachim (2013-03-08). Der Ministerrat der DDR: Aufgaben, Arbeitsweise und Struktur der anderen deutschen Regierung (in German). Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-322-88734-4.
  4. Childs, David (2014-12-17). The GDR (RLE: German Politics): Moscow's German Ally. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-54210-0.
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