Kurt Hager (24 July 1912 – 18 September 1998) was an East German statesman, a member of the
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 ...
who was known as the chief ideologist of the party and decided many cultural and educational policies in the
German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**G ...
.
Life
Hager was born at
Bietigheim
Bietigheim is a village in the district of Rastatt in Baden-Württemberg in Southwestern Germany. It is located east of the Rhine river and thus the border to France, west of the Black Forest (more precisely the Northern Black Forest), south of ...
,
[ ]Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
. The son of a laborer and a cleaner,[ he passed the high school exam (Abitur) in 1931, after a visit of Primary and High School. He was a member of the ]YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...
and Socialist Federal Student, worked as a journalist and entered the KPD
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 ...
in 1930, and the Red Front fighters covenant in 1932. In 1933 he took part in a sabotage against Hitler's
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
first speech on the radio ("Cable assassination"), was arrested and sent to the KZ Heuberg. After a brief detention, he emigrated in 1936.
Until 1937, he worked as a courier for the Communist Youth Organization of Germany in Switzerland, France and the CSR. From 1937 to 1939 he participated in the Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
as a journalist, where he worked for the "German freedom broadcasting station" and the foreign radio program from Madrid.[
In 1939 he was detained in France and then emigrated to ]England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. There he was responsible for the international organization of the KPD active, writing under the pseudonym "Felix Albin". After the outbreak of war, he was interned
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
, first in an internment camp at Huyton
Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Belle Vale, and the neighbouring village of Roby, with which ...
near Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, and later on the Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
.
East Germany
In 1945 Hager returned to Berlin. Until 1946 he first worked as forestry worker and welder, and later as a journalist for the magazine "Freie Tribüne".
Upon his return, he was deputy chief editor of the "Forward" and graduated 1948, a lecturer in the course of the Parteihochschule "Karl Marx" Kleinmachnow
Kleinmachnow is a municipality of about 20,000 inhabitants in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated South-West of the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf and East of Potsdam.
First mentioned in the Landbuch of Karl ...
and in 1949 he became a full professor for philosophy at the Humboldt University
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiati ...
in Berlin.
In 1946 he joined the SED, and became head of the party Training Division, then in 1949 the Head of the Propaganda Department. From 1952 he became the Head of the Science Division of the Code of SED, and from 1954 a member of the Central Committee of the SED. In 1955 he became the secretary, and was responsible for science, popular education and culture. A candidate in 1959, from 1963 he was a Member of the Politburo of the CC of SED and the Ideology committee of the Politburo. In 1958 he became a member of the Public Chamber and 1967 was made chairman of the Public Education Committee. He was also between 1976-1989 a Member of the Council of State and between 1979-1989 a member of the National Defense Council. In the SED-Politbüro Hager was "Chefideologe" and ultimately responsible for culture.
In speeches and writings Hager denied the existence of a single German cultural nation and a common German history. In 1987, in an interview with the German magazine '' Stern'' about the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, Hager gave the answer: "Would you, if your neighbor repapers his apartment, feel like you should also repaper your apartment?". This rejection of the policy of glasnost and perestroika of the Soviet military power met an angry reception both in the party base, as well as in the population of the GDR. Wolf Biermann titled Hager - probably due to this occasion, in his song "The Ballad of the corrupt old men" scornfully as "Professor Tapeten-Kutte". In a spontaneous encounter with GDR-journalists - when they came into his residence, the "Wachobjekt Wandlitz", for the first time - Hager said he was placed there against his will at the climax of the Cold War. It had "bent the decisions of the party," said Hager in the presence of his wife. Wandlitz, which after 1989 became the epitome of the duplicity of DDR-Oberen made a name for himself had he described as its seventh internment camp, in which he had come.
In November 1989 Hager was removed from his functions, and in 1990 expelled from the SED-PDS
PD, P.D., or Pd may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''People's Democracy'' (newspaper), weekly organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
* ''The Plain Dealer'', a Cleveland, Ohio, US newspaper
* Post Diaspora, a time frame in the ''Honorverse'' ...
.
Hager won numerous awards. He received 1956 Hans-Beimler-Medaille, 1962 Banner of Labor
The Banner of Labor () was an order issued in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
It was given for "excellent and long-standing service in strengthening and consolidating the GDR, especially for achieving outstanding results for the national e ...
, 1964 Vaterländischer Verdienstorden
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 ...
, 1969 entitled hero of the work, as well as 1972, 1977 and 1982 Karl-Marx-Orden.
His daughter Nina Hager, joined somewhat in the footsteps of her father. She is vice chairman of the German Communist Party
The German Communist Party (german: Deutsche Kommunistische Partei, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports left positions and was an observer member of the European Left. At the end of February 2016 it left the European party.
His ...
(DKP), a member of the National Executive and there are other positions.
Hager died in Berlin in 1998.[ His grave is located on the ]Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde
The Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery (german: Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde) 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
W ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hager, Kurt
1912 births
1998 deaths
People from Bietigheim-Bissingen
People from the Kingdom of Württemberg
Communist Party of Germany politicians
Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
German Communist Party politicians
Members of the State Council of East Germany
Members of the 3rd Volkskammer
Members of the 4th Volkskammer
Members of the 5th Volkskammer
Members of the 6th Volkskammer
Members of the 7th Volkskammer
Members of the 8th Volkskammer
Members of the 9th Volkskammer
Rotfrontkämpferbund members
German people of the Spanish Civil War
People interned in the Isle of Man during World War II
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold
Recipients of the Banner of Labor