Georg Dertinger (25 December 1902 – 21 January 1968) was a German politician. He was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

into a middle-class

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

family. Dertinger briefly studied law and economics. After his study he became a journalist and later editor for the ''Magdeburger Volkszeitung'' and the nationalistic newspaper ''

Der Stahlhelm ' (German, 'The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers'), commonly known as ''Der Stahlhelm'' ('The Steel Helmet'), was a German First World War veteran's organisation existing from 1918 to 1935. It was part of the "Black Reichswehr" and ...

''. He broke with the Stahlhelm because of its rigid right-wing philosophy. He sympathized with the

German National People's Party The German National People's Party (german: Deutschnationale Volkspartei, DNVP) was a national-conservative party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major conservative and nationalist party in Wei ...

, a right-wing nationalist party. Dertinger later became a member of the political circle around Chancellor Franz von Papen. He accompanied Papen to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

as a journalist, a representative for the Hamburger Nachrichten, for the signature of the ''

Reichskonkordat The ''Reichskonkordat'' ("Concordat between the Holy See and the German Reich") is a treaty negotiated between the Vatican and the emergent Nazi Germany. It was signed on 20 July 1933 by Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli, who later be ...

'' between

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

, shortly after

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's rise to power. In 1934 Dertinger returned to

and became publisher of Dienst aus Deutschland, a news agency that provided news to foreign newspapers. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Dertinger co-founded the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the

Soviet occupation zone of Germany The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...

. From 1946 to 1949 he was General Secretary of the East-German CDU and from 1949 to 1953 Vice-Chairman of the party. He supported the official line of co-operation with the Socialist Unity Party and opposed the more independent-minded party chairman

Jakob Kaiser Jakob Kaiser (8 February 1888 – 7 May 1961) was a German politician and resistance leader during World War II. Jakob Kaiser was born in Hammelburg, Lower Franconia, Kingdom of Bavaria. Following in his father's footsteps, Kaiser began a career ...

, whom he had deposed in December 1947. Dertinger also joined the Cultural Association of the DDR ''(Kulturbund)'' and was a member of the Cultural Association's Presidential Council. On 11 October 1949 he became

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

's first Minister of Foreign Affairs in

Otto Grotewohl Otto Emil Franz Grotewohl (; 11 March 1894 – 21 September 1964) was a German politician who served as the first prime minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR/East Germany) from its foundation in October 1949 until his death in Septembe ...

's cabinet However, he tended to be only a figurehead to secure CDU participation in the SED-dominated National Front and most important decisions would be made by his eventual successor

Anton Ackermann Anton Ackermann (real name: Eugen Hanisch, 25 November 1905 Thalheim, Saxony – 4 May 1973 East Berlin) was an East German politician. In 1953, he briefly served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Dieter K. Buse, and Juergen C. Doerr, eds., ''Mo ...

. In 1950 he signed the Oder-Neisse Treaty with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, that arranged the borderline between

and the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...

. On 15 January 1953 dhm.de
/ref> Dertinger was arrested and in 1954 he was tried on a show trial for espionage, found guilty and sentenced to hard labor (15 years). In 1964 he was given

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

. The years before his death he worked for the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

St. Benno publishing house.

References

External links

An article on Dertringer (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dertinger, Georg 1902 births 1968 deaths Politicians from Berlin German Protestants German National People's Party politicians Christian Democratic Union (East Germany) politicians Foreign Ministers of East Germany Members of the Provisional Volkskammer Members of the 1st Volkskammer