Karl Steinhoff (November 24, 1892 – July 19, 1981) was a Minister-president () of the German state () 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 ...

, then part of

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 ...

, and later served as East Germany's

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Biography

Born in

Herford Herford (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is situated in the cultural region of Ostwestfalen-Lippe (OWL) and the Detmold (administrat ...

, Steinhoff studied law from 1910 through 1921 at the Universities of

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

, earning his doctorate in 1921. From 1921 to 1923, he was active in the Ministry of the Interior and Justice; in 1924 served as Legation Secretary () of the

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

legation in Berlin; in 1925-26 as a government advisor () in the administration () of

Zittau Zittau (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, Upper Lusatian dialect: ''Sitte''; ) is the southeasternmost city in the Germany, German state of Saxony, and belongs to the Görlitz (district), district of Görlitz, Germany's easternmost Districts of Germ ...

; in 1927–28 as district chief () of

Zeitz Zeitz (; , ) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony. History First a Slavic pagan settlem ...

; and later as a vice president () in

Gumbinnen Gusev (; ; ; ) is a town and the administrative center of Gusevsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Pissa and Krasnaya Rivers, near the border with Poland and Lithuania, east of Chernyakhovsk. It is p ...

and vice president () in Königsberg. Politically, he had joined 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 ...

(SPD) in 1923. Amidst the turmoil of the early 1930s (see

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

), he was given time off in 1932 and dismissed from government service in 1933. From 1940 to 1945, during

World War II 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 served as lawyer for a cardboard-box wholesale business in Berlin. At the end of the war in 1945, he became president of the provincial administration () of Brandenburg. He joined 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) in 1946, and from 1946 to 1949 served as Brandenburg's Minister-President and as a member of its state parliament. From 1949-52 he was East Germany's Minister of the Interior; his dismissal at the end of that time was arranged by

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 ...

. During that time, he was a member of the German People's Council () from 1948–49, and from 1950 to 1954 a member of the . Within the SED, he was a member of the central committee of the SED from 1949-54. He also served as a professor of administrative law at

Humboldt University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III of Prussia, Frederick W ...

in Berlin from 1949-55. He received the Fatherland Order of Merit (), the honor clip () to the Fatherland Order of Merit, and the Order of Karl Marx. He was the oldest former Minister-President of East Germany. Steinhoff was preceded by Wilhelm Höcker and succeeded by

Max Seydewitz Max Seydewitz (December 19, 1892 – February 8, 1987) was a German politician (Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD, Socialist Workers' Party of Germany, SAPD and Socialist Unity Party of Germany, SED) who served as the Minister-President of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinhoff, Karl 1892 births 1981 deaths People from Herford People from the Province of Westphalia Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Government ministers of East Germany Members of the Provisional Volkskammer Minister-presidents of Brandenburg Members of the Landtag of Brandenburg Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)