The Party Academy

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

(''Parteihochschule Karl Marx'') was an academy (''Hochschule'') that was founded in 1946 in 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 ...

. During the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), it was subordinate to the Central Committee of the

Socialist Unity Party 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 Ma ...

. Teaching ceased on 30 June 1990.

History

During the reign of the

, the Academy was the highest institution of Marxist-Leninist education, above the ''Bezirksparteischulen'' (regional party schools) and ''Kreisparteischulen'' (district party schools). The main alternative was studying at the Party Academy of the

CPSU The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Initially, the institution was subordinate to the Section for Agitation and Propaganda in the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party. From 1983 to 1990, the Secretary for Ideology and Culture was responsible. During its existence, the academy offered studies and classes to more than 25,000 students. Among them were more than 1,200 students from socialist countries that had friendly ties with the GDR. Studies offered were Marxist-Leninist throughout. Numerous publications, both scientific and propagandist, were released. Members of the Socialist Unity Party and its organizations were delegated to studies of either one or three years duration, finishing as ''Diplom-Gesellschaftswissenschaftler'' (equivalent to a

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). Distance Studies were possible as well. From 1946 to 1948, the institution's domicile was Liebenwalde near

Oranienburg Oranienburg () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel. Geography Oranienburg is on the banks of the River Havel, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin. Division of the town Oranienburg consists of ni ...

, then from 1948 to 1955 Castle Hakeburg (later guest house of the Socialist Unity Party). Notable teachers during these early years included Wolfgang Leonhard and Carola Stern.'' ournal of Central European Affairs. United States, n.p, 1959. Journal of Central European Affairs', Volume 19. United States, n.p, 1959. 434 For 25 years from 1955 the academy was located in

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. Finally, from 1980 to 1990, it was dispersed across various institutes around Hakeburg again. During the run-up to

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller politics or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal govern ...

the Academy was dissolved. The critical date was 30 June 1990 after which the institute's approximately 150 professors, teachers and teaching assistants, the remaining students and approximately 300 support workers were dispersed.

Structure

Leadership

The principal of the Academy had the rank of a Central Committee Department head and was usually a full member of the Central Committee.

References

{{Authority control Education in East Germany 1946 establishments in Germany