Paul Wandel (February 16, 1905,

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

– June 3, 1995,

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 ...

) was a German communist politician and statesman 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 **Ger ...

who served as the first Minister of People's Education.

Biography

In 1919 Wandel completed his apprenticeship as an electrical engineer and later worked as a technician. In the same year he joined the Sozialistischen Arbeiterjugend and later on 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 ...

and finally 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 ...

in 1926. He quickly rose through the ranks and became the first secretary of the KPD district committee in Baden and later became chairman of the parliamentary group of the KPD in Mannheim. In 1931 he was sent to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and graduated from the International Lenin School, joined the

All-Union Communist Party (b) The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),; abbreviated in Russian as or also known by #Name, various other names during its history, was the founding and ruling party of the Soviet Union. The CPSU was the One-party state, sole governing ...

and worked at the Marx–Engels–Lenin Institute. After the end of

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 ...

, Wandel returned to Germany and served as the chairman of the Central Administration for People's Education from 1945 to 1949 and then Minister of People's Education from 1949 to 1952. After his term as minister ended he was the secretary of Culture and Education Department at the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party. From 1958 to 1961 he served as DDR's ambassador to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and then was appointed deputy Foreign Minister. From 1964 to 1976 he was Chairman of League of Friendship Among Nations and from 1982 to 1989 he was chairman of the DDR–People's Republic of China Friendship Committee. After

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

he became a member of the Party of Democratic Socialism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wandel, Paul 1905 births 1995 deaths Politicians from Mannheim People from the Grand Duchy of Baden Communist Party of Germany politicians Members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Government ministers of East Germany Members of the 1st Volkskammer Members of the 2nd Volkskammer Ambassadors of East Germany to China German expatriates in the Soviet Union German Comintern people International Lenin School alumni Recipients of the Order of Karl Marx Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)