Günter Mittag (8 October 1926 – 18 March 1994) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

member of parliament, secretary of the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Mar ...

(SED), and a central figure in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

command economy A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, ...

Biography

Born to a working-class family in

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

(now Szczecin). After completing vocational education with the Reichsbahn, Mittag served in a flak regiment of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He joined the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

(KPD) in 1945, became a member of the SED in 1946 and by 1958, when he had earned his doctorate with a dissertation entitled "Die Überlegenheit der sozialistischen Organisation und Leitung im Eisenbahnwesen der DDR gegenüber dem kapitalistischen Eisenbahnwesen" (en: The Superiority of Socialist Organisation and Performance in the Railroads of the GDR to the Capitalist Railroads), he became Secretary of the Economic Commission at the Politbüro. In 1963 he became a member of parliament and (until 1971, and then again from 1979 to 1989) a member of the State Council of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

(GDR). Also in 1963 he became ''Leiter des Büros für Industrie- und Bauwesen des ZK'' ("Head of the Office for Industry and Construction of the Central Committee of the SED"). He and

Erich Apel Erich Apel (3 October 1917 – 3 December 1965) worked during World War Two as a rocket engineer at the Peenemünde Army Research Center in Nazi Germany. After his return from the Soviet Union, where he had forcibly worked for rocketry development ...

designed the New System for Economic Management and Planning (NÖSPL), to modernise and streamline the formerly-bureaucratic economy of the GDR. This was politically controversial and only very partially implemented. Between 1962 and 1989, for all but three years (when Mittag was transferred to the Council of Ministers after assaulting a Central Committee department head), Mittag was Secretary for the Economy of the Central Committee of the SED. He advocated, and implemented, strict economic controls throughout his tenure. His leadership style was controversial, involving confrontations with ministers and demands for the summary dismissal of officials. He was particularly close to

Franz Josef Strauss Franz Josef Strauss ( ; 6 September 1915 – 3 October 1988) was a German politician. He was the long-time chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions between ...

, and in the early 1980s arranged the so-called "Billion Loan" from

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. Mittag was severely

diabetic Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

and in 1984 one of his lower legs was amputated: the other was removed in 1989. He left office after a controversy that led to him being taken into custody, but he was released on health grounds. In 1991 he was accused of using government funds for a private home. He received honorary doctorates from the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

and the

University of Leoben The Technical University of Leoben is a public university in Leoben, Styria, Austria. It was established on 4 November 1840 as the ''Steiermärkisch-Ständische Montanlehranstalt'' in Vordernberg, Styria, Austria's mining region. In 1849, Peter ...

in Austria.

Sources

* Przybylski, Peter: Tatort Politburo, 1992, * Hertle, Hans-Hermann: Prior to the bankruptcy of the GDR: documents of the Politburo of the CC of the SED from 1988 to the failure of the "Economic and social policy" (The Schürer / Mittag controversy). In an interview with Gerhard Schürer, Berlin 1991 * Janson, Carl-Heinz: Gravedigger of the GDR. How Günter Mittag ruined state, Düsseldorf 1991 * Mittag, Günter: At any price. In the tension between two systems, Berlin / Weimar, 1991 * Mittag, Günter: "It breaks my heart': Spiegel-interview with the former East German economic czar Günter Mittag on his policies and his errors, in Der Spiegel, 37/1991, p. 88-104.

Notes

External links

*
Biographie: Günter Mittag, 1926–1994

Chronik-Biographie: Günter Mittag
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mittag, Gunter 1926 births 1994 deaths Politicians from Szczecin Politicians from the Province of Pomerania Deputy prime ministers of East Germany Communist Party of Germany politicians Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Members of the State Council of East Germany Members of the 4th Volkskammer Members of the 5th Volkskammer Members of the 6th Volkskammer Members of the 7th Volkskammer Members of the 8th Volkskammer Members of the 9th Volkskammer German hunters Free German Trade Union Federation members Luftwaffenhelfer German amputees German politicians with disabilities Recipients of the Banner of Labor Recipients of the Order of Karl Marx Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour