Jochen Wolf (26 August 1941 – 2 February 2022) was a German politician who served as the first and only '' Landesbevollmächtigter'' of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

in 1990. A member of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

, he also served in the

Landtag of Brandenburg The Landtag of Brandenburg is the unicameral legislature of the states of Germany, state of Brandenburg in Germany. Its 88 members of parliament are usually elected every 5 years. It is responsible for deciding on state laws, controlling the s ...

from 1990 to 1994.

Early life

After completing school, Wolf underwent an apprenticeship as a
Kaufmann
' for large and foreign trade, and completed his mandatory service in the

National People's Army The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

from 1960 to 1961. Later, he worked as a

truck driver A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; an HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

. After attaining his ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' in 1969, he studied at the
Hochschule für Verkehrswesen
' in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, attaining a diploma in economic engineering. Afterwards, he worked a
Deutrans
and rose to head of a department in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

Political career

In October 1989, during the

Peaceful Revolution The Peaceful Revolution () – also, in German called ' (, "the turning point") – was one of the peaceful revolutions of 1989 at the peak of the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the late 1980s. A process of sociopolitical change that led to, am ...

, he, among others, founded the

Social Democratic Party in the GDR The Social Democratic Party in the GDR () was a reconstituted Social Democratic Party existing during the final phase of East Germany. Slightly less than a year after its creation, it merged with its West German counterpart ahead of German reunif ...

and was elected the first chairman of the SPD district of Potsdam and later to the party executive board in Brandenburg. From June 1990 onward, he was the ''Regierungsbevollmächtigter'' (Government Commissioner) for the

Bezirk Potsdam The Bezirk Potsdam was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Potsdam. History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 October ...

, the ''Landessprecher'' (State Speaker) for the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of Brandenburg that was then in formation, and afterwards, from 3 October 1990, as the ''Landesbevollmächtigter'' (State Commissioner), until a proper minister president could be elected. During the first free state elections in Brandenburg in 1990, he was elected into the ''

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

'' in the 23rd electoral district (Potsdam II). Under minister president

Manfred Stolpe Manfred Stolpe (16 May 1936 – 29 December 2019) was a German Canon law, canonist, Theology, theologian and politician who served as Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (Germany), Federal Minister of Transport, Building an ...

, Wolf became Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Transportation. After a real estate scandal, he resigned in August 1993. The real estate agen
Axel Hilpert
who formerly worked in the so-called "Antiquity Trade Pirna", part of the Kommerzielle Koordinierung of the East German government, waived Wolf's commission in exchange for him recommending a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

to be converted into building land. In December 1999, Wolf was fined 8,400

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; "German mark (currency), mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later of unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it ...

for corruption. During his stint in the ''Landtag'', he was a member of the Committee for Economic Affairs, Small and Medium Businesses and Technology from 1993 to 1994. He left the SPD in 1994, but remained in the ''Landtag'' until the end of his term. Wolf attained a position as a special representative for

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

in the Brandenburg Ministry of Economic Affairs through a lawsuit in 1995, which he held until 1997.

Personal life

Wolf was married four times and had four children. He was married to his first wife Kristina from 1961 to 1967. After their divorce, he married his second wife Erika that same year, who later committed suicide. His third marriage with a woman named Gabriele in 1975 only lasted eight weeks. In 1979, he married his fourth wife Ursula. Since his fourth wife did not want to settle for divorce in 1998, Wolf's 25-year old Ukrainian girlfriend threatened her with a firearm to agree to the dissolution. When this failed, the Ukrainian woman shot herself. Wolf sought revenge, attempting to hire a

hitman Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

. He was arrested on 27 July 2001 and sentenced to five years in prison on 27 February 2002 for incitement to commit murder. After serving two-thirds of his sentence, he was released on probation in 2004. For a brief time, he lived in

Groß Glienicke Groß Glienicke is a village located both in Berlin and Potsdam, the capital of the German state of Brandenburg. Until 2003, when it was merged into Potsdam, the Brandenburg—and main—side, was an autonomous municipality. The Berlin side is p ...

. After a mistaken report on his death, a speaker of the city of

Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der Havel (; ) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417. With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the ...

confirmed in March 2017 that he was still alive and registered as living in the city. Three years earlier, the tabloid ''

Bild ''Bild'' (, ) or ''Bild-Zeitung'' (, ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper '' Bild am Sonntag'' () is published instead, which has a differen ...

'' had found the supposedly dead politician. Jochen Wolf was found dead at the age of 80 on 2 February 2022 in his apartment in Brandenburg an der Havel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf, Jochen 1941 births 2022 deaths 20th-century German politicians Members of the Landtag of Brandenburg Ministers of the Brandenburg State Government Politicians from Chemnitz Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians