Kurt Hager (24 July 1912 – 18 September 1998) was an East German statesman, a member 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 ...

who was known as the chief ideologist of the party and decided many cultural and educational policies in 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

Hager was born in

Bietigheim Bietigheim is a village in the district of Rastatt in Baden-Württemberg in Southwestern Germany. It is located east of the Rhine river and thus the border to France, west of the Black Forest (more precisely the Northern Black Forest), south of ...

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

, on 24 July 1912, the son of a labourer and a cleaner. After attending primary and secondary school he passed the high school exam (Abitur) in 1931. He was a member of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

and Socialist Student Union. Hager worked as a journalist and joined the KPD in 1930, and the

Roter Frontkämpferbund The (, translated as "Alliance of Red Front-Fighters" or "Red Front Fighters' League"), usually called the (RFB), was a far-left paramilitary organization affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during the Weimar Republic. A lega ...

in 1932. In 1933 he took part in a sabotage of

Hitler's Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

first speech on the radio (). Hager was arrested and sent to the concentration camp

Lager Heuberg Lager Heuberg (Camp Heuberg) () is a Bundeswehr quarters located in the southern corner of the '' Truppenübungsplatz Heuberg'' (Heuberg military training area) in (Baden-Württemberg), near the city of Stetten am kalten Markt. From March to Decemb ...

. After a brief period of detention, he emigrated in 1936. Until 1937, he worked as a courier for the

Young Communist League of Germany The Young Communist League of Germany (, abbreviated KJVD) was a political youth organization in Germany. History The KJVD was formed in 1920 from the Free Socialist Youth () of the Communist Party of Germany, A prior youth wing had been formed ...

in Switzerland, France and Czechoslovakia. From 1937 to 1939 he participated in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

as a journalist, where he worked for the (German Freedom Broadcaster) and Radio Madrid's foreign program. In 1939 he was detained in France and then emigrated to England. There he was responsible for the international organization of the KPD active, writing under the pseudonym "Felix Albin". After the outbreak of war, he was

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

, first in an internment camp at

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, Liverpool Built-up Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Merseyside, Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Netherley, Liverpool, ...

near

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and later on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

East Germany

In 1945 Hager returned to Berlin. Until 1946 he first worked as forestry worker and welder, and later as a journalist for the magazine "Freie Tribüne". Upon his return, he was deputy chief editor of "Vorwärts", the Monday edition of

Neues Deutschland (, , abbr. nd) is a left-wing German daily newspaper, headquarters, headquartered in Berlin. For 43 years it was the official party newspaper of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), which governed East Germany (officially known as the ...

. In 1948, Hager graduated the Parteihochschule "Karl Marx", qualifying him to be a lecturer. In 1949 he became a full professor for

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

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. In 1946 he joined the SED, and became head of the party Training Division, then in 1949 the Head of the Propaganda Department. From 1952 he became the Head of the Science Department of SED, and from 1954 a member of the Central Committee of the SED. In 1955 he became the secretary, and was responsible for science, popular education and culture. A candidate in 1959, from 1963 he was a Member of the Politburo of the CC of SED and the Ideology committee of the Politburo. In 1958 he became a member of the Public Chamber and 1967 was made chairman of the Public Education Committee. He was also between 1976 and 1989 a Member of the Council of State and between 1979 and 1989 a member of the National Defense Council. In the SED-Politbüro Hager was "Chefideologe" and ultimately responsible for culture. In speeches and writings Hager denied the existence of a single German cultural nation and a common German history. In 1987, in an interview with the German magazine ''

Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

'' about the reforms of

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Hager gave the answer: "Would you, if your neighbor repapers his apartment, feel like you should also repaper your apartment?". This rejection of the policy of

glasnost ''Glasnost'' ( ; , ) is a concept relating to openness and transparency. It has several general and specific meanings, including a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information and the inadmissi ...

and

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

of the Soviet military power met an angry reception both in the party base, as well as in the population of the GDR. Wolf Biermann titled Hager - probably due to this occasion, in his song "The Ballad of the corrupt old men" scornfully as "Professor Tapeten-Kutte". In an encounter with GDR-journalists spontaneously visiting his residence at " Wachobjekt Wandlitz", Hager claimed he was placed there against his will at the climax of the Cold War. He had "submitted to the decisions of the party," said Hager in the presence of his wife. He described Wandlitz, which after 1989 became a symbol of the duplicity of GDR leaders, as the seventh internment camp in his life. In November 1989 Hager was removed from his functions, and in 1990 expelled from the SED- PDS. Hager won numerous awards. He received 1956 Hans-Beimler-Medaille, 1962

Banner of Labor The Banner of Labor () was an order issued in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was given for "excellent and long-standing service in strengthening and consolidating the GDR, especially for achieving outstanding results for the national ec ...

, 1964

Vaterländischer Verdienstorden The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

, 1969 entitled

Hero of Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour () was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It represented the highest degree of distinction in the USSR and was awarded for exceptional achievements in Soviet ...

, as well as 1972, 1977 and 1982

Order of Karl Marx The Order of Karl Marx () was the most important order in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The award of the order also included a prize of 20,000 East German marks. The order was founded on May 5, 1953 on the occasion of Karl Marx's 135th ...

. His daughter

Nina Hager Nina may refer to: * Nina (name), a feminine given name and surname Acronyms *National Iraqi News Agency, a news service in Iraq *Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, on the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology *No income, ...

, joined somewhat in the footsteps of her father. She is vice chairman 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 ...

(DKP), a member of the National Executive and there are other positions. Hager died in Berlin in 1998. His grave is located on the

Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde The Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery () is a cemetery in the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. It was the cemetery used for many of Berlin's Socialists, Communists, and anti-fascist fighters. History When the cemetery was founded in 1881 it ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hager, Kurt 1912 births 1998 deaths People from Bietigheim-Bissingen People from the Kingdom of Württemberg Communist Party of Germany politicians Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany German Communist Party politicians Members of the State Council of East Germany Members of the 3rd Volkskammer 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 Rotfrontkämpferbund members German people of the Spanish Civil War People interned in the Isle of Man during World War II Recipients of the Banner of Labor Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver