Bundesarchiv Bild 183-F0421-0204-001, Kurt Seibt

Kurt Seibt (13 February 1908 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 ...

– 21 June 2002) was chairman of the Central Revision Commission 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 ...

(''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands''; SED) and

East Germany 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 ...

's Minister for Direction and Control of Regional and District Councils.

Biography

Seibt completed training as a metal spinner in 1922–1926 and worked until 1933 as a civil engineering worker and a stone setter. In 1922, he joined the Socialist Worker Youth, in 1924 the

Young Communist League of Germany The Young Communist League of Germany (, abbreviated KJVD) was a political youth organization in Germany. History The KJVD was formed in 1920 from the Free Socialist Youth () of the Communist Party of Germany, A prior youth wing had been forme ...

(''Kommunistischer Jugendverband Deutschlands''; KJVD) and in 1932 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). From 1927 to 1930, he was First Secretary of the KJVD subdistrict of

Berlin-Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it has ...

, from 1930 to 1931 State Youth Leader of the

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

Red Sport Unit (''Rote Sporteinheit'') and a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg KJVD district leadership. From 1934 to 1939, Seibt was a stagehand and a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

master at the ''Deutsches Theater Berlin'', and also a member of the outlawed KPD's party leadership. In 1939 he was arrested and in 1941, he was sentenced by the '' Volksgerichtshof'' to life at hard labour in a ''

Zuchthaus The prisons in Germany are run solely by the federal states but governed by a federal law. The aim of prison confinement in Germany is twofold: emphasis is placed on enabling prisoners to lead a life of "social responsibility free of crime" upon rel ...

'' for "undermining German fighting forces and conspiracy to commit

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

". Thereafter he was an inmate at

Brandenburg-Görden Prison Brandenburg-Görden Prison is located on Anton-Saefkow-Allee in the Görden quarter of Brandenburg an der Havel. Erected between 1927 and 1935, it was built to be the most secure and modern prison in Europe. Both criminal and political prisoners we ...

Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der Havel () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417. With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the H ...

until 1945. From 1945 to 1946, Seibt was the first secretary of the Brandenburg district leadership and a member of the KPD Brandenburg state leadership. From 1946 to 1952, he was secretary of the SED Brandenburg state leadership, and from 1947 to 1952, he was a member of the

Landtag of Brandenburg The Landtag of Brandenburg is the unicameral legislature of the state of Brandenburg in Germany. Its 88 members of parliament are usually elected every 5 years. It is responsible for deciding on state laws, controlling the state government an ...

. From 1952 to 1964, he was first secretary of the SED

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

district leadership, although this was interrupted by his studies at the

CPSU "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

Party College in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in 1956–1957. Moreover, he was from 1950 a candidate, from 1954 to 1989 a member of the SED Central Committee, and from 1953 to 1989 a Member of the ''

Volkskammer __NOTOC__ The Volkskammer (, ''People's Chamber'') was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic (colloquially known as East Germany). The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house ...

''. From 1964 to 1966, Seibt was Minister for Direction and Control of Regional and District Councils and a member of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers, and from 1967 to 1989, succeeding

Fritz Gäbler Fritz Gäbler (12 January 1897 – 26 March 1974) was an East German communist politician. In 1932, he was a representative in the Thuringia state parliament. Gäbler was imprisoned for most of the Nazi era, having been one of the first prisone ...

, he was chairman of the SED Central Revision Commission."Liste von DDR-Persönlichkeiten"
List of famous people from politics, science, culture and sports from the German Democratic Republic. Retrieved March 24, 2010 Seibt received 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 ...

(''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'') in 1965, the ''

Karl-Marx-Orden 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 1968 and 1988, the Clip of Honour for the Fatherland Order of Merit in 1973, the Star of the Friendship of Peoples (''Stern der Völkerfreundschaft'') in 1978, and the Great Star of the Friendship of Peoples (''Großer Stern der Völkerfreundschaft'') in 1983.

References

External links

* Helmut Müller-Enbergs and Elke Reuter. ''Wer war wer in der DDR?'' (''Who was who in the German Democratic Republic?'') Entry for Seibt, Kurt. 4th Edition, Vol. 2. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin (2006) {{DEFAULTSORT:Seibt, Kurt 1908 births 2002 deaths East German politicians Politicians from Berlin People from the Province of Brandenburg