Günter Sieber

Günter Sieber
Sieber (right) with SWAPO president Sam Nujoma in 1989
Head of the International Relations Department of the Central Committee
In office
7 July 1980 – 8 November 1989
Secretary
Deputy
  • Bruno Mahlow
Preceded byEgon Winkelmann
Succeeded byBruno Mahlow
Ambassador to the
Polish People's Republic
In office
July 1973 – December 1980
Preceded byRudolf Rossmeisl
Succeeded byHorst Neubauer
Minister for Trade and Supply
In office
25 March 1965 – 22 November 1972
Chairman of the
Council of Ministers
First Deputy
  • Helmut Richter
  • Kurt Lemke
  • Kurt Bernheier
Preceded byGerhard Lucht
Succeeded byGerhard Briksa
Volkskammer
Member of the Volkskammer
for Burg, Schönebeck, Staßfurt, Zerbst
In office
25 June 1981 – 5 April 1990
Preceded byLeonhard Helmschrott
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Central Committee Secretariat responsibilities
Nov. – Dec. 1989International Relations Department
Nov. – Dec. 1989International Politics and Economics Department
Personal details
Born
Günter Sieber

(1930-03-11)11 March 1930
Ilmenau, Free State of Thuringia, Weimar Republic (now Germany)
Died26 November 2006(2006-11-26) (aged 76)
Strausberg, Brandenburg, Germany
Political partySocialist Unity Party
(1948–1989)
Alma mater
  • Deutsche Verwaltungsakademie
  • "Karl Marx" Party Academy
  • Zentralinstitut für sozialistische Wirtschaftsführung beim ZK der SED
Occupation
  • Politician
  • Party Functionary
  • Diplomat
  • Civil Servant
Awards
Central institution membership
Other offices held

Günter Sieber (11 March 1930 – 26 November 2006) was an East German politician, diplomat and party functionary of the Socialist Unity Party (SED).

During his forty-year-long career in East Germany, Sieber served as Trade and Supply Minister, ambassador to the Polish People's Republic and, most notably, as the longtime head of the International Relations Department of the Central Committee of the SED.

During the Peaceful Revolution, he was also briefly part of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED as a candidate member.

Life and career

Early life

Günter Sieber was born in 1930 in Ilmenau to a working-class family.[1][2] After attending Volksschule, he completed apprenticeship as a forestry worker from 1944 to 1947.[1][2][3]

Immediately after the war, he joined the newly founded Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB), soon taking on local functionary roles.[1] In 1948, he joined the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED) and became an employee of the German Economic Commission.[1][2]

After a year at the DWK, he attended the Deutsche Verwaltungsakademie in Forst Zinna, de facto a Marxist-Leninist cadre factory of the SED,[4] from 1949 to 1950. Concurrently, from 1949, he served as a Referent, a low to mid-level ministerial position in the GDR,[5]: 101  in the Ministry of Planning, rising to Hauptreferent and head of the forestry department in its successor, the State Planning Commission, the following year.[1][2][3]

After a one-year course at the SED's "Karl Marx" Party Academy in Berlin, he was made First Secretary of the SED in the State Planning Commission in 1954, a position he would hold for the next eight years.[1][2][3]

In 1962, he was appointed deputy chairman of the Central Commission for State Control (German: Zentrale Kommission für Staatliche Kontrolle) (ZKSK) at the Council of Ministers, a disciplinary organ for the economy and state apparatus. When the ZKSK was replaced by the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection the following year, he was promoted to first deputy chairman in May 1963,[1][3] having already been elected to the SED's Central Auditing Commission for one term in January (VI. Party Congress).[1][2]

Following distance learning at the SED's Central Institute for Socialist Economic Management,[1] Sieber was made Minister for Trade and Supply in March 1965.[1][2][3] He had to leave this position in November 1972 following criticism by the Central Committee targeted at the ministry's work.[2]

He was transferred to the GDR's diplomatic service in July 1973 as ambassador to the Polish People's Republic.[1][2][6]: 73  During his diplomatic tenure, in May 1976 (IX. Party Congress), he was elected to the Central Committee of the SED as a candidate member.[1] He returned to East Berlin in December 1980.[6]: 73 

International Relations Department

On 7 July 1980,[7] he was appointed head of the International Relations Department of the Central Committee,[1][7][8][9] succeeding Egon Winkelmann,[7][9] who was made ambassador to the Soviet Union after only two years as department head.[7][10]

Sieber furthermore rose to become a full member of the Central Committee of the SED in April 1981 (X. Party Congress), serving until its collective resignation in December 1989. He additionally became member of the Volkskammer in 1981,[1] nominally representing a mostly rural constituency in southern Bezirk Magdeburg.[11]

The International Relations Department was responsible for preparing Politburo decisions that concerned foreign policy issues and to control their implementation.[9] As department head, Sieber met foreign leaders, especially leaders of other communist parties and national liberation movements such as SWAPO president Sam Nujoma.

According to Manfred Uschner, personal assistant to Hermann Axen, the Central Committee Secretary responsible for the International Relations Department, Sieber's sturdiness and experience meant that he had an easier time working with the often choleric Axen compared to his more sensitive predecessor Winkelmann. Uschner also notes Sieber's sarcastic and self-ironic tendencies and praises his efforts to keep alive the comparatively open atmosphere of the department the late department head Paul Markowski was known for cultivating.[5]: 39–40 

Response to martial law in Poland

On 12 December 1981, shortly before midnight, martial law was declared in Poland to crackdown on the growing opposition movement, especially the Solidarność trade union. When Sieber was informed by the GDR embassy in Warsaw, he first called defence minister Heinz Hoffmann and Stasi head Erich Mielke, but both of them thought it was a hoax, expecting to have been informed beforehand.[6]: 73–74 

Sieber then attempted to call Erich Honecker directly but was unable to do so as he had taken a sleeping pill after meeting with West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt at Lake Werbellin. On his own and in what he later described as his "only power grab", Sieber convened a meeting of the Politburo at 3 a.m. to discuss the situation. He had already sent an Interflug plane to evacuate GDR citizens, including 90 children, from Warsaw.[6]: 74–75 

Peaceful Revolution

On 8 November 1989, on the eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Sieber rose to the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED, the de facto highest leadership body in East Germany, as a candidate member.[1][12][13] He was additionally elected as a Secretary of the Central Committee,[1][12][14] responsible for his own former International Relations Department and the International Politics and Economics Department,[1][15] succeeding retiring Hermann Axen.[15]

Sieber had just returned home when the Berlin Wall fell. Concerned about the foreign relations ramifications, he reached out to General Secretary Egon Krenz and Hans-Joachim Willerding, but neither one of them was able to explain what was going on.[15]

Sieber's career advancement would prove to be short-lived, as the SED quickly lost power. At its last session on 3 December 1989, the Central Committee elected Sieber to a commission tasked with analyzing the causes of the crisis in the SED and in society.[16] He remained a member of the Volkskammer until its first free and fair elections in 1990, going into early retirement afterwards.

He passed away on 26 November 2006 at age 76 in Strausberg, the former seat of much of the East German military establishment.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Müller-Enbergs, Helmut (2010). "Sieber, Günter". www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de. Wer war wer in der DDR? (in German). Berlin: Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Günther Sieber". www.munzinger.de. Munzinger Biographie (in German). Munzinger-Archiv. Retrieved 2025-06-14.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Sieber, Günther". A bis Z – Ein Taschen- und Nachschlagebuch über den anderen Teil Deutschlands (in German) (11th ed.). Bonn: Gesamtdeutsche Institut – Bundesanstalt für gesamtdeutsche Aufgaben. 1969. p. 771. Retrieved 2025-06-14. * 1930 in Ilmenau. Minister für Handel und Versorgung seit 1965. Mitgl. der SED seit 1946. Nach 1945 Waldfacharbeiter im Kreis Suhl. Besuch der Verwaltungsakademie. Anfang der fünfziger Jahre Mitarbeiter der Staatl. Plankommission, dort auch 1. Sekretär der SED-Kreisleitung. 1962–1963 stellv. Vors. der Zentralen Kommission für Staatl. Kontrolle. Mai 1963–März 1965 1. stellv. Vors. der Arbeiter-und-Bauern-Inspektion. Seit März 1965 in jetziger Funktion.
  4. ^ Appelius, Stefan (2009-08-29). "DDR-Kaderschmiede". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  5. ^ a b Uschner, Manfred (1995). Die zweite Etage: Funktionsweise eines Machtapparates. Zeitthemen (in German). Berlin: Dietz. ISBN 978-3-320-01792-7.
  6. ^ a b c d Sieber, Günter (1995-10-15). "Schwierige Beziehungen". In Modrow, Hans (ed.). Das Grosse Haus: Insider berichten aus dem ZK der SED (in German) (2nd ed.). Berlin: Edition Ost. ISBN 978-3-929161-20-5.
  7. ^ a b c d Räuber, Ute, ed. (2007). "Protokoll Nr. 85/80 Umlauf am 7. Juli 1980". www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de. Protokolle des Sekretariats des ZK der SED (in German). Berlin: German Federal Archives. Retrieved 2025-06-07. 8. MfAA u. Abt. Int Verb., Veränderungen in der Kadernomenklatur des ZK der SED, Botschafter in UdSSR E. Winkelmann Leiter Abt. Int. Verb. im ZK G. Sieber usw.
  8. ^ "Sieber, Günter". www.chronik-der-mauer.de. Retrieved 2024-04-27. SED, Leiter der SED-ZK-Abteilung Internationale Verbindungen (1984)
  9. ^ a b c Gräfe, Sylvia, ed. (2007). "Abteilung Internationale Verbindungen im ZK der SED". www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de (in German). Berlin: German Federal Archives. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  10. ^ Müller-Enbergs, Helmut (2009). "Winkelmann, Egon". www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de (in German). Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship. Retrieved 2024-04-28. 1968 – 80 Ltr. der Abt. Int. Verbindungen des ZK der SED (Nachf. von Paul Markowski); […] 1980 – 86 Botschafter der DDR in der UdSSR (Nachf. von Harry Ott)
  11. ^ Volkskammer der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik 1986-1990 (PDF) (in German). Berlin: VEB Staatsverlag der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. 1986. p. 38. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  12. ^ a b "Kommuniqué der 10. Tagung des Zentralkomitees der SED". Neues Deutschland (in German). Berlin: Berlin State Library. 1989-11-11. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-06-14. Zu Kandidaten des Politbüros wurden […] die Genossen Günter Sieber und Hans-Joachim Willerding gewählt. Zu Sekretären wählte das Zentralkomitee die Genossen […] Günter Sieber und Hans-Joachim Willerding.
  13. ^ "Übersicht über die Mitglieder und Kandidaten des Politbüros des ZK der SED (1949-1989)". www.bundesarchiv.de (in German). German Federal Archives. 2006. Retrieved 2025-06-07.
  14. ^ "Übersicht über die gewählten Mitglieder des Sekretariats des ZK der SED (1949-1989)". www.bundesarchiv.de (in German). German Federal Archives. 2006. Retrieved 2025-06-07.
  15. ^ a b c Hertle, Hans-Hermann (1999). Chronik des Mauerfalls: die dramatischen Ereignisse um den 9. November 1989 (in German) (1st ed.). Berlin: CH. Links Verlag. pp. 204–205. ISBN 978-3-86153-541-6. Retrieved 2025-06-14. Nach einem kurzen Fußweg erreichte Günter Sieber seine Wohnung […] Über den Fernseher drang die Kunde von Schabowskis Pressekonferenz und die Lage an den Grenzübergängen in seine Stube. Sieber, dem als langjährigem Leiter der ZK-Abteilung Internationale Verbindungen vor allem die außenpolitische Dimension der Grenzöffnung vor Augen stand, stürzte ans Telefon, um Krenz zu den Hintergründen zu befragen. Doch der Generalsekretär erwies sich als nicht auskunftsfähig: Er verstünde selbst nicht, was passiert sei, vernahm Sieber nur. Auch ein Telefonat mit Jochen Willerding, ebenfalls seit einemTag im Politbüro und als Nachfolger Axens ZK-Sekretär für Außenpolitik, brachte ihm keine neuen Erkenntnisse.
  16. ^ "Protokoll der 12. Tagung des SED-Zentralkomitees, 3. Dezember 1989 (Abschrift eines Tonmitschnitts)". www.chronik-der-mauer.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-04-28. Das Zentralkomitee erachtet es in Wahrnehmung der ihm verbliebenen Verantwortung als notwendig, dem einberufenen außerordentlichen Parteitag Rechenschaft abzulegen. Zur Erarbeitung des Rechenschaftsberichtes über die Ursachen für die Krise in der SED und in der Gesellschaft wird eine Kommission von Mitgliedern des Zentralkomitees gebildet. Es folgen Namen: […] Günter Sieber.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.