Werner Felfe
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Werner Felfe (4 January 1928 – 7 September 1988) was a German politician and high-ranking party functionary 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 ...
(SED). Felfe served as the longtime First Secretary of the SED in
Bezirk Halle The Bezirk Halle was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Halle. History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 October 19 ...
, center of the GDR's large and important chemical industry, and was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED. In the 1980s, he was the powerful SED Agriculture Secretary, instituting various reforms to the GDR's collectivized agricultural sector. Until his surprising death in September 1988, he was thought of as a potential successor to
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 ...
.


Life and career


Early career

Felfe, the son of a machine worker from the Bischofswerda district, undertook a commercial
apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...
as an industrial clerk and subsequently worked as a commercial employee. In 1945, Felfe joined 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), becoming a member 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 ...
(SED) in 1946 following the forced merger of the KPD with the
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...
(SPD). In 1946, he also joined the newly founded
Free German Youth The Free German Youth (; FDJ) is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth wing of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The organization was meant for young adults, both male a ...
(FDJ), being made secretary of the Kamenz district FDJ. Felfe became a full-time SED party functionary later in 1946, initially as clerk of the Kamenz district SED, eventually being promoted to department head and later secretary. In 1950, he was made instructor of the
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 ...
SED and in 1950, he joined the SED's
nomenklatura The ''nomenklatura'' (; from , system of names) were a category of people within the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key administrative positions in the bureaucracy, running all spheres of those countries' activity: ...
as First Secretary of the SED in the district of Flöha, a heavily industrialized in the
Ore Mountains The Ore Mountains (, or ; ) lie along the Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic (German: ''Keilberg'') at ab ...
. In 1953, he was delegated to the SED's "Karl Marx" Party Academy in Berlin for a one-year course. He thereafter made Second Secretary of the FDJ, candidate member of the Central Committee of the SED and a member of the Volkskammer in 1954. Felfe's political rise eventually was slowed down. In 1957, he was demoted to a local government functionary in heavily industrialized
Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt The Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt, also known as Bezirk Chemnitz, was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The district existed from 1952 until the Reunification of Germany in 1990. The administrative seat and the main town was Karl-Marx-Stadt, ren ...
and had to leave the Volkskammer the next year. From 1957 to 1960, Felfe eventually headed the Zschopau district government and from March 1960 to September 1963, he chaired the Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt government. In all of these positions, he was ''de facto'' subservient to the respective local SED leadership. In January 1963 ( VI. Party Congress), he was finally made a full member of the Central Committee of the SED, additionally being delegated to study at the
Dresden University of Technology TU Dresden (for , abbreviated as TUD), also as the Dresden University of Technology, is a public research university in Dresden, Germany. It is the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, the largest university in Saxony a ...
's Industrial Institute. He graduated in 1965 with a degree in
industrial engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...
( Dipl.-Ing.-Ökon.) and was subsequently promoted to the Central Committee apparatus as deputy head of the Agitation and Propaganda Department, first working under
Horst Sindermann Horst Sindermann (; 5 September 1915 – 20 April 1990) was an East German politician. He became Chairman of the Council of Ministers in 1973, but in 1976 he became President of the Volkskammer, the only member of the Socialist Unity Party ...
.


Bezirk Halle SED career

In 1966, Felfe joined the Bezirk Halle SED led by Sindermann as Secretary for Agitation and Propaganda. In 1968, he became its Second Secretary after longtime
incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...
Gerhard Frost left for university and in May 1971, he became the First Secretary, succeeding Sindermann, who joined the
Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...
as First Deputy Chairman. From
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
, he was once again a member of 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 ...
, nominally representing the district of Merseburg of
Bezirk Halle The Bezirk Halle was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Halle. History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 October 19 ...
, then the rural southeast of
Bezirk Neubrandenburg The Bezirk Neubrandenburg was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Neubrandenburg. History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. A ...
. Since 1973, he was additionally a candidate member and since 1976 ( IX. Party Congress) a full member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED, the ''de facto'' highest leadership body in
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 ...
,
Bezirk Halle The Bezirk Halle was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Halle. History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 October 19 ...
being an important centre for the
chemical industry The chemical industry comprises the companies and other organizations that develop and produce industrial, specialty and other chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, the chemical industry converts raw materials ( oil, natural gas, air, ...
. He joined the
National Defense Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...
the same year. Felfe was awarded the
Patriotic Order of Merit 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 ...
in 1974 and the
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 ...
in 1978.


Agriculture Secretary

In April 1981, shortly before the X. Party Congress, SED Agriculture Secretary Gerhard Grüneberg unexpectedly died of a tumour at age 59. Felfe was chosen as his successor, also joining the
State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative authority of China, headed by the Premier * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of S ...
. the GDR's collective
head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "
he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
. The agriculture portfolio was considered a difficult one. As Central Committee Secretariat Secretary responsible for Agriculture, he was the most powerful agricultural policymaker in the country and continued the course correction of his predecessor, eliminating the devastating separation between animal and plant production, reducing
bureaucracy Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...
and saving resources. Felfe enjoyed high popularity during his tenure. Central Committee employee Manfred Uschner later recounted Felfe as being one of the few Politburo members open to criticism. In this capacity, he also traveled to
socialist countries A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. This article is about states that refer to themselves as socialist states, and not specifically ab ...
and, in 1985 and 1987, to
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
, where he met with Chancellor's Office Minister
Wolfgang Schäuble Wolfgang Schäuble (; 18 September 1942 – 26 December 2023) was a German politician whose political career spanned more than five decades. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he was the longest-serving member of any democratic G ...
,
Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
Ignaz Kiechle Ignaz Kiechle (23 February 1930 in Kempten im Allgäu, Bavaria – 2 December 2003 in Kempten) was a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). After the 1983 West German federal election, chancellor Helmut Kohl appointe ...
and his predecessor Josef Ertl. He overall became known as a reformer. Felfe was awarded an
honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of the GDR and the ''Hero of Labour'' title in 1988.


Support for the Perestroika

After publicly warning in 1984 about the "growing
revanchist Revanchism (, from ''revanche'', "revenge") is the political manifestation of the will to reverse the territorial losses which are incurred by a country, frequently after a war or after a social movement. As a term, ''revanchism'' originated i ...
forces" in West Germany, an article was published on 8 August 1988, in the West German news magazine
Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
, speculating about potential successors to
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 ...
. The article suggested the autumn of 1989 as the time for the change, presuming that the 40th anniversary of the founding of the GDR would be an appropriate date. Alongside eventual successor
Egon Krenz Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz (; born 19 March 1937) is a German former politician who was the last Communist leader of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) during the Revolutions of 1989. He succeeded Erich Honecker as the Secretary (title), ...
, Siegfried Lorenz, and
Günter Schabowski Günter Schabowski (; 4 January 1929 – 1 November 2015) was a German politician who served as an official of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands'' abbreviated ''SED''), the ruling party during m ...
, Felfe was mentioned as a potential candidate for Honecker's succession in the article. Felfe was (approximately) quoted in the article as saying, "The political
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 ...
must not stop at the GDR." This put Felfe into a difficult situation, the SED and Honecker in particular being known as hardliners.


Death

Just under a month after the article was published, Felfe surprisingly died at the age of 60 due to acute
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...
, according to official reports in
East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...
, according to another source while
hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
near
Strasburg (Uckermark) Strasburg (officially: Strasburg (Uckermark)) is a town in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. It is situated in the historic Uckermark region, about west of Pasewalk, and east of Neubrandenbu ...
. His death was attributed to stress from excessive work as well as
hypertension Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a Chronic condition, long-term Disease, medical condition in which the blood pressure in the artery, arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms i ...
and heart disease. His urn was interred in the ''Memorial of the Socialists'' at the
Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery 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 ...
in
Berlin-Lichtenberg Lichtenberg () is a quarter (''Ortsteil'') of Berlin in the homonymous borough (''Bezirk'') of Lichtenberg. Until 2001 it was an autonomous district with the localities of Fennpfuhl, Rummelsburg, Friedrichsfelde and Karlshorst. History The ...
. He was the last person to whom the Politburo granted a grave site there. The search for a successor proved to be difficult. He eventually was succeeded as Agriculture Secretary by
Werner Krolikowski Werner Krolikowski (12 March 1928 – 27 November 2016) was a German politician and high-ranking party functionary of the Socialist Unity Party (SED). In the German Democratic Republic, he served as the First Secretary of the SED in Bezirk Dres ...
in December 1988.


References

{{Reflist 1928 births 1988 deaths Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians Members of the Volkskammer Members of the 2nd Volkskammer Members of the 6th Volkskammer Members of the 7th Volkskammer Members of the 8th Volkskammer Members of the 9th Volkskammer Candidate members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Candidate members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit Recipients of the Order of Karl Marx Recipients of the Banner of Labor TU Dresden alumni German communists