Hermann Axen

Hermann Axen (6 March 1916 – 15 February 1992) was a German political activist who became involved in political resistance during the twelve Nazi years, most of which he spent in state detention. After the war he became a national politician in the Soviet occupation zone, relaunched in 1949 as the German Democratic Republic / East Germany. He served as a relatively high-profile member of the powerful Politburo of the Central Committee between 1970 and 1989.

Hermann Axen
Axen in 1946
Editor-in-chief of
Neues Deutschland
In office
July 1956  18 February 1966
Deputy
  • Eberhard Heinrich
  • Hajo Herbell
  • Günter Kertzscher
  • Harri Czepuck
  • Walter Florath
Preceded byGeorg Stibi
Succeeded byRudolf Singer
Second Secretary of the
Socialist Unity Party in Berlin
In office
July 1953  July 1956
First Secretary
Preceded byErich Hönisch
Succeeded byWilli Kuhn
Parliamentary constituencies
Member of the Volkskammer
for Cottbus-Stadt, Cottbus-Land, Calau, Forst, Guben, Spremberg
(Berlin; 1954–1963)
In office
17 October 1954  16 November 1989
Preceded bymulti-member district
Succeeded byPetra Gündel
Member of the
German People's Council
In office
18 March 1948  30 May 1949
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded bymulti-member district
Central Committee Secretariat responsibilities
1979–1989Foreign Information
1966–1989International Relations
1949–1953Mass Agitation and Press
Personal details
Born(1916-03-06)6 March 1916
Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire (now Saxony, Germany)
Died15 February 1992(1992-02-15) (aged 75)
Berlin, Germany
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations
Socialist Unity Party
(1946–1989)
Communist Party of Germany
(1932–1946)
SpouseSonja Axen
Occupation
  • Politician
  • Civil Servant
  • Party Clerk
  • Merchant
Central institution membership
  • 1970–1989: Full member,
    Politburo of the Central Committee
  • 1963–1970: Candidate member,
    Politburo of the Central Committee
  • 1949–1989: Full member,
    Central Committee

Other offices held
  • 1962–1989: Head,
    Foreign Policy Commission at the Politburo
  • 1963–1971: Member, Commission for Agitation and Propaganda at the Politburo
  • 1963–1967: Member,
    East Berlin City Council

In November 1989 he visited Moscow for eye surgery. While he was away the entire Politburo of which he was a member, resigned in 8 November 1989, and he too was excluded from it. On his return in January 1990 he was arrested, suspected of corruption and abuse of public office. This dramatic reversal of fortune came during a period of rapid political change. At the time of his death the arrest warrant had been rescinded and the case against him remained unproven, the necessary investigations having been delayed or suspended in response to his declining health.

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