Max Seydewitz (December 19, 1892 – February 8, 1987) was a German

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

(

SPD 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 wi ...

, SAPD and SED) who served as the Minister-President of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

from 1947 to 1952. He also served in the Reichstag of 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 ...

and the

Volkskammer The Volkskammer (, "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of East Germany. It was the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs were subservient to it. The Volkskammer was initia ...

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 ...

Life

Max Seydewitz was born in a small town some 25 km (15 miles) east of

Cottbus Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...

and 150 km (90 miles) south-east of

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 ...

. His father was a tanner. He attended school locally and undertook an apprenticeship as a book printer. He joined a socialist youth movement in 1907 and in 1910 became a member of the

. He served as a soldier in the war between 1914 and 1915 when he was released from the army on grounds of "unsuitability" for war. From 1918 till 1920 he worked as contributing editor on the "Volksblatt" (''"People's Voice"''), a socialist newspaper in Halle before moving to

Zwickau Zwickau (; ) is the fourth-largest city of Saxony, Germany, after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, with around 88,000 inhabitants,. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ''Zwickauer Mulde''; progression: ), ...

where from 1920 till 1931 he served as Editor in Chief with "Saxony Volksblatt", a daily newspaper of the political left. Max Seydewitz 1924 Edit

Seydewitz was elected to the Reichstag in May 1924, representing Chemnitz–Zwickau. In 1931, the left-wing of the SPD was expelled and Seydewitz alongside members such as Kurt Rosenfeld established

Socialist Workers' Party of Germany The Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (, SAPD) was a centrist Marxist political party in Germany. It was formed as a left-wing party with around 20,000 members which split off from the SPD in the autumn of 1931. In 1931, the remnants of the ...

, which he became the co-chair. After the

Nazi seizure of power The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...

, Seydewitz fled Germany and eventually settled in Stockholm and worked as a journalist. During his exile he established contact with 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 ...

. For a period he was a resident 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 ...

and during the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

he was suppressed although he was later relieved of all charges. His two sons however were sent to gulags and weren't released until after 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 ...

. In 1945 he arrived at Berlin and in 1946 he became 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 ...

and was for a brief period editor of the theoretical organ of SED, ''

Einheit ''Einheit – Zeitschrift für Theorie und Praxis des Wissenschaftlichen Sozialismus'' (English: Unity – Journal for Theory and Practice of Scientific Socialism) was the theoretical journal of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. History The ...

''. From 1946 to 1947 he was director of the

Berliner Rundfunk The Berliner Rundfunk (BERU) was a radio station set in East Germany. The station formerly had a political focus and discussed events in East Berlin. Nowadays, it is a commercial radio station with a classic hits music format with the name "Berli ...

. Seydewitz was elected by the Saxon state parliament as Prime Minister of Saxony and became a member of the

. In 1951 was attacked as part of an internal party campaign against former SAPD members and had to practice “self-criticism”. With the dissolution of the federal states in 1952, he lost his position as Prime Minister of Saxony, but remained a member of the Volkskammer until his death in 1987. From 1955 to 1968 Seydewitz was director of

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (, ''Dresden State Art Collections'') is a cultural institution in Dresden, Germany, owned by the State of Saxony. It is one of the most renowned and oldest museum institutions in the world, originating from the ...

. Seydewitz died in 1987 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 ...

Statistical comparisons

Born in

Forst (Lausitz) Forst (Lausitz) ( German, ) or Baršć (Łužyca) (Lower Sorbian, ; Polish: Barść) is a town in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. It lies east of Cottbus, on the Lusatian Neisse river which is also the German- Polish border. It i ...

, Seydewitz was the oldest former Minister-President of Germany from November 26, 1985 to May 5, 1991 preceded by

Hans Ehard Hans Ehard (10 November 1887 – 18 October 1980) was a German lawyer and politician, a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU) party. Biography Hans Ehard was born in Bamberg in 1887, the son of a local official, August Ehard. He was marri ...

and succeeded by Bruno Diekmann. If one only counts the minister-presidents of the

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

he was oldest from August 1981 to October 8, 1991; preceded by

Karl Steinhoff Karl Steinhoff (November 24, 1892 – July 19, 1981) was a Minister-president () of the German state () of Brandenburg, then part of East Germany, and later served as East Germany's Minister of the Interior. Biography Born in Herford, Stei ...

and succeeded by Werner Bruschke.

Publications

* ''Die Krise des Kapitalismus und die Aufgabe der Arbeiterklasse''. Verlag der Marxistischen Büchergemeinde, Berlin 1931 * ''Todesstrahlen und andere neue Kriegswaffen'', mit Kurt Doberer. Malik-Verlag, London 1936 * ''Stalin oder Trotzki? Die UdSSR und der Trotzkismus. Eine zeitgeschichtliche Untersuchung.'' Malik-Verlag, London 1938. * ''Hakenkreuz über Europa?'' Vannier, Paris 1939 * ''Civil Life in Wartime Germany. The Story of the Home Front.'' New York 1945. * ''Es geht um Deutschland''. Sachsen-Verlag, Dresden 1949. (gesammelte Rundfunkkommentare 1946–1947). * ''Der Antisemitismus in der Bundesrepublik''. Mit Ruth Seydewitz, Hrsg. Ausschuß für deutsche Einheit, Berlin 1956 * ''Das Dresdener Galerie Buch: 400 Jahre Dresdener Gemäldegalerie'', mit Ruth Seydewitz, Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 1957 * ''Deutschland zwischen Oder und Rhein: Ein Beitr. zur neuesten dt. Geschichte''. Kongress-Verlag, Berlin 1958 * ''Zerstörung und Wiederaufbau von Dresden'' Berlin (Ost) 1955. (ab 3. Auflage: ''Die unbesiegbare Stadt'') * ''Die Dresdener Kunstschätze: Zur Geschichte d. Grünen Gewölbes u.d. anderen Dresdener Kunstsammlungen'', mit Ruth Seydewitz, VEB Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 1960 * Ruth und Max Seydewitz, ''Die Dame mit dem Hermelin: Der grösste Kunstraub aller Zeiten.'' Henschelverlag, Berlin (Ost) 1963 * ''Es hat sich gelohnt zu leben. Lebenserinnerungen eines alten Arbeiterfunktionärs.'' Dietz Verlag, Berlin (Ost) 1976. * ''Dresden, Musen und Menschen. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Stadt, ihrer Kunst und Kultur.'' Buchverlag Der Morgen, Berlin, 1988

External links

References