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Hermann Weber (23 August 1928 – 29 December 2014) was a German historian and political scientist. He has been described as "the man who knew everything about 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 ...
".


Life


Early years

Hermann Weber was born into a working-class family in the closing years of what would later become known as the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
period. His father was a metal worker. When Weber was 4 years old, membership in 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) was
banned A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meaning ...
by the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
. This impacted his family greatly – Weber's father was a Communist who found himself harassed and at one stage thrown into prison for a year and a half by the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
.


Published output (not a complete list)


As author

* with
Andreas Herbst Andreas Herbst (born Berlin 20 October 1955) is a German historian. His career has been divided between authorship and museum work. He has written extensively on aspects of the German Democratic Republic and since 2001 has worked for the (rec ...
: ''Deutsche Kommunisten. Biographisches Handbuch 1918–1945.'' 2nd edition: revised and much extended, Berlin 2008, . : ''Deutsche Kommunisten – Supplement to the above 1918-1945.'' Dietz Verlag, Berlin 2013, . * with Gerda Weber: ''Leben nach dem „Prinzip links“. Erinnerungen aus fünf Jahrzehnten.'' Links, Berlin 2006, . * ''Damals als ich Wunderlich hieß. Vom Parteihochschüler zum kritischen Sozialisten. Die SED-Parteihochschule „Karl Marx“ bis 1949.'' Aufbau, Berlin 2002, . * ''Erich Walter Gniffke''. In: Karl Wilhelm Fricke, Peter Steinbach, Johannes Tuchel (Ed.): ''Opposition und Widerstand in der DDR – Politische Lebensbilder.'' Beck, 2002, , S. 203–209. * ''Die DDR 1945–1990.'' (Grundriss der Geschichte, Bd. 20). 5th (updated) edition. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, München 2012, . * ''Geschichte der DDR.'' Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, München 1985, . * with Gerda Weber: ''Lenin-Chronik, Daten zu Leben und Werk.'' Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, München 1974, . * ''Aufbau und Fall einer Diktatur. Kritische Beiträge zur Geschichte der DDR.'' Bund, Frankfurt am Main 1991, . * ''Die Wandlung des deutschen Kommunismus. Die Stalinisierung der KPD in der Weimarer Republik.'' 2 vols. Europäische Verlagsanstalt, Frankfurt am Main 1969, . * ''Ulbricht fälscht Geschichte. Ein Kommentar mit Dokumenten zum „Grundriß der Geschichte der deutschen Arbeiterbewegung“.'' Neuer Deutscher Verlag, Köln 1964, .


As editor

* Hermann Weber and others (Ed.): ''Kommunisten verfolgen Kommunisten: stalinistischer Terror und „Säuberungen“ in den kommunistischen Parteien Europas seit den dreißiger Jahren''. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1993, . * ''Der Gründungsparteitag der KPD.'' Europäische Verlagsanstalt, Frankfurt am Main 1969. Neu herausgegeben und eingeleitet: ''Die Gründung der KPD, Protokoll und Materialien des Gründungsparteitages der KPD 1918/1919. Mit einer Einführung zur angeblichen Erstveröffentlichung durch die SED.'' Dietz, Berlin 1993, .


Young communist

Weber joined the KPD himself in 1945. Early in 1946 he attended a four-week course near Berlin organised by the Free German Youth (FDJ / ''Freie Deutsche Jugend'') which was in effect the newly created youth wing of the
German Communist Party The German Communist Party (, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports far-left positions and was an observer member of the European Left before leaving in February 2016. History The DKP considered itself a reconstitution of the C ...
, legalized again following the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War. In June of that year he was a delegate to the FDJ's first parliament, where he met its president,
Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the post ...
, future head of state of the German Democratic Republic (GDR/East Germany). Weber's hometown of
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
was a part of the US occupation zone, but in 1947 he headed to the
Soviet occupation zone The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...
in the east of what remained of Germany and spent two years as a student at the Karl Marx Party Academy in Berlin, leaving in 1949. A fellow student of Weber's was Herbert Mies, also from the Mannheim area. To his initial irritation, 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 ...
ruling over the Soviet occupation zone insisted that Weber study under a pseudonym, settling on "Hermann Wunderlich". Later he would joke that he was disappointed because the authorities had not permitted him to call himself "Walter", and in 2002 he published a volume of memoirs under the ironic title "Damals, als ich Wunderlich hieß" (''"Back then, when they called me Wunderlich"''). It was as a student at the "Karl Marx" Academy that he met his future wife, Gerda Röder.


Back in the Federal Republic

In 1949 Weber was sent back to what had now become the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), formally established in May 1949 from a combination of the three Allied occupation zones hitherto under US, British and French control. He became editor-in-chief of the FDJ-Zeitung, a newspaper based at this stage in
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
aimed at young West Germans. He was very soon demoted to the position of culture editor on the newspaper by FDJ chief Honecker because he had given insufficient prominence to a telegram received from
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
– Stalin's message had appeared on the front page, but only in a small box. Despite the demotion, Weber continued the political struggle against the "Revanchist Adenauer state". He was arrested in March 1953 and taken into investigative custody after the FDJ was designated a banned organisation in the west. The year was one of increased east–west tension, with a significant
uprising Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...
violently crushed in East Germany in June. Two months later, still detained, Hermann Weber spent his 25th birthday in a prison in
Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...
. He was released later in 1953, but in 1954 he was expelled from the German Communist Party.Preamble to Hermann Weber: ''Die Gründung der KPD.'' Dietz, Berlin 1993, . In 1955 he joined West Germany's "moderate left" SPD (party), though he would always be regarded as part of the party's left wing.


Academia

Between 1964 and 1968 Weber studied at
Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...
and
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
, obtaining his
doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
after only four years. Habilitation followed in 1970 and an "extraordinary professorship" in 1973. This represented an exceptionally rapid progression, which reflected both Weber's talents and many years, when a younger man, of relevant learning and experience. At the Karl Marx Party Academy in the late 1940s, Hermann and Gerda Weber had been part of an elite group of students. Guest lecturers had included
Wilhelm Pieck Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck (; 3 January 1876 – 7 September 1960) was a German communist politician who served as the Leadership of East Germany, chairman of the Socialist Unity Party from 1946 to 1950 and as the only president of the Ger ...
,
Walter Ulbricht Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; ; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar republic, Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later in the early development ...
,
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 founding in October 1949 until his death in Septembe ...
,
Anton Ackermann Anton Ackermann (born Eugen Hanisch, 25 November 1905 – 4 May 1973) was an East German politician. In 1953, he briefly served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Life and career He was born into the family of a weaver and worked as an unskilled la ...
, Fred Oelßner and Kurt Hager – men who had taken a lead role in creating 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 ...
, which was now Weber's own field of study. His youngest professor at the party academy and, he believed, among the best of them, had been
Wolfgang Leonhard Wolfgang Leonhard (16 April 1921 – 17 August 2014) was a German political author and historian of the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic and Communism. A German Communist whose family had fled Hitler's Germany and who was educated ...
who himself had subsequently defected to the west and become, like Weber, a notable academic expert on East Germany. The two remained friends despite robustly held professional differences. Hermann Weber served as Professor for
Political Sciences Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...
and
Contemporary History Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...
at the
University of Mannheim The University of Mannheim (German: ''Universität Mannheim''), abbreviated UMA, is a public university, public research university in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1967, the university has its origins in the ''Palatine Aca ...
from 1975 till his formal retirement in 1993. In 1981 he founded the university's Research division on German Democratic Republic (GDR) History, while producing a succession of well regarded publications on aspects the GDR, many of which became much cited standard works.


Post retirement career

Weber remained a board member of the National Foundation for Re-assessment of the SED Dictatorship. He was also an honorary member of the Joint Commission for research on recent German Russian relations. In 1993 he founded the Year Book for Historical Communism Research, an annual publication which he continued to edit till 2007.


Professional high point

Weber identified a high point of his research career as the discovery, in 1968, of the text of the original minutes of the Founding Congress of the
German Communist Party The German Communist Party (, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports far-left positions and was an observer member of the European Left before leaving in February 2016. History The DKP considered itself a reconstitution of the C ...
. The record had been undiscovered for fifty years. Subsequently,
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 ...
's ruling SED (party) asserted that they had found it, and they showed little urgency in making it available. However, in 1972 the party's Institute for Marxism–Leninism published an edition which was unambiguously based on Weber's version.


Notes


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Hermann Historians of communism 20th-century German historians Academic staff of the University of Mannheim German newspaper journalists German male journalists German political writers German autobiographers German editors Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1928 births 2014 deaths German male essayists 20th-century German essayists 20th-century German male writers