Herbert Kurt Fechner (27 August 1913 – 28 December 1998) was an

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

politician who served as the second

Lord Mayor of East Berlin The Governing Mayor (german: Regierender Bürgermeister) of Berlin is the head of government, presiding over the Berlin Senate. As Berlin is an independent city as well as one of the constituent States of Germany (''Bundesländer''), the office ...

from 1967 to 1974.

Biography

Fechner was born on 27 August 1913 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, the capital of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

at the time. His father was a carpenter. He joined the Socialistche Arbeiter Jugend (SAJ) or Socialist Workers' Youth (in English) in 1927 at the age of 13. He did various jobs as a child in Berlin from 1928 to 1933 and worked as a construction worker from 1933 to 1935, then as a telegraph construction worker until 1948. Fechner served for

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the end of the war in 1945, he joined the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

(SPD) and was a member until 1946 when the SPD and the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...

(KPD) merged, then remained a member of the newly formed

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

. He was also a member of the

Free German Trade Union Federation The Free German Trade Union Federation (german: Freier Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund or ''FDGB'') was the sole national trade union centre of the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) which existed from 1946 and 1990. As a mass organisat ...

. In 1951, Fechner became a member of the

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

city council (until 1961). He served as the

from 1967 to 1974. Additionally, Fechner was the President of the Federation of German Sailors for nearly thirty years, serving from 1961 to 1990. Fechner died on 28 December 1998 and was buried in Waldfriedhof Oberschöneweide in

Oberschöneweide Oberschöneweide (, literally ''Upper Schöneweide'') is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Treptow-Köpenick. It is, with Niederschöneweide (''Lower Schöneweide''), part of the geographic area of Schön ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fechner, Herbert 1913 births 1998 deaths Mayors of East Berlin Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians