Kurt Wünsche (14 December 1929 – 14 June 2023) was a German politician who was twice

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

of 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 **Ger ...

Biography

Wünsche grew up and received his schooling in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

. In 1946, he became a member of the

Liberal Democratic Party of Germany The Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (german: Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands, LDPD) was a political party in East Germany. Like the other allied bloc parties of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in the National Front, it ...

(LDPD), and was until 1951 an official of the LDPD local district association (''Kreisverbandes'') in Dresden and the state association (''Landesverbandes'') of Saxony. From 1951 to 1954 he was the head of the LDPD department organising the party's central executive. After the events of the 17 June 1953, he was suspected as a foreign agent and temporarily detained by the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...

. After 1954, he was a member of the LDPD Political Committee, and a Secretary and Deputy Secretary General, while in 1967 he was made deputy chairman of the LDPD. Between 1954 and 1959, he completed a correspondence PhD in Law from the Walter Ulbricht Academy of Law and Political Science in collaboration with

Manfred Gerlach Manfred Gerlach (8 May 1928 – 17 October 2011) was a German jurist and politician, and the longtime leader of the East German Liberal Democratic Party. He served as ''Chairman of the Council of State'' and was thus head of state of East ...

; his thesis was entitled "Function and development of the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany in the multi-party system of the German Democratic Republic". From 1954 to 1972, he was a LDPD deputy to 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 ...

, first as a member of the Youth Committee, then of the Judiciary Committee, and finally of the Legal Committee. In 1965, he became one of the nine Deputy Chairmen of the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

. In 1967, he succeeded

Hilde Benjamin Hilde Benjamin ( Lange; 5 February 1902 – 18 April 1989) was an East German judge and Minister of Justice of the German Democratic Republic. She is most notorious for presiding over the East German show trials of the 1950s, which drew comp ...

as Minister of Justice, a position he held until 1972. After the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of eve ...

, Wünsche was again made Minister of Justice in the governments of

Hans Modrow Hans Modrow (; born 27 January 1928) is a German politician best known as the last communist premier of East Germany. Taking office in the middle of the Peaceful Revolution, he was the ''de facto'' leader of the country for much of the winter ...

and

Lothar de Maizière Lothar de Maizière (; born 2 March 1940) is a German Christian Democratic politician. In 1990, he served as the only premier of the German Democratic Republic to be democratically elected freely and fairly by the people. He was also the last ...

. Wünsche died in Berlin on 14 June 2023, at the age of 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wunsche, Kurt 1929 births 2023 deaths People from Oborniki Śląskie Politicians from the Province of Silesia Liberal Democratic Party of Germany politicians Deputy Prime Ministers of East Germany Government ministers of East Germany Members of the Volkskammer Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold Recipients of the Banner of Labor