Peter-Michael Diestel
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Peter-Michael Diestel (born 14 February 1952 in
Prora The Colossus of Prora, commonly known as simply "Prora", is a building complex in the municipality of Binz on the island of Rügen, Germany. It was built by Nazi Germany between 1936 and 1939 as part of the Strength Through Joy (Kraft durch F ...
) is a German lawyer and former politician (independent, formerly DSU, CDU). He was the last Interior Minister of
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 ...
, under Prime Minister
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 ...
(1990). As such, he represented the DDR in the negotiations on the unification treaty. He was then a member of the Brandenburg state parliament until 1994.


Biography

Diestel's father was a
major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
, first in the
armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
, later in the NVA and
lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...
at the
Friedrich Engels Military Academy The Friedrich Engels Military Academy (German: Militärakademie „Friedrich Engels“) was the first military institution founded in East Germany and the highest leveled military teaching and research institution. Located in Dresden, the academy ...
. Diestel was born in
Prora The Colossus of Prora, commonly known as simply "Prora", is a building complex in the municipality of Binz on the island of Rügen, Germany. It was built by Nazi Germany between 1936 and 1939 as part of the Strength Through Joy (Kraft durch F ...
,
Kreis Rügen Kreis is the German word for circle. Kreis may also refer to: Places * , or circles, various subdivisions roughly equivalent to counties, districts or municipalities ** Districts of Germany (including and ) ** Former districts of Prussia, als ...
into an East German military family. He completed vocational training in 1972 as a skilled worker for cattle breeding, but was initially not allowed to study for political reasons. He was therefore active as a swimming instructor, lifeguard and cattle breeder before he studied law at Karl Marx University Leipzig from 1974 to 1978. As a high school graduate, Diestel said he joined the East German party CDU and left again after a few months. “They cheered even louder than the
SED sed ("stream editor") is a Unix utility that parses and transforms text, using a simple, compact programming language. It was developed from 1973 to 1974 by Lee E. McMahon of Bell Labs, and is available today for most operating systems. sed w ...
, and that really. Irritated me that Christians placed their Christian faith under the dogma of Marxism-Leninism. That was nothing for me. That’s why I was out there again quickly,” said Diestel in November 2019, looking back. According to Diestel, he was always a “big fan of
Franz-Josef Strauss Franz Josef Strauss ( ; 6 September 1915 – 3 October 1988) was a German politician. He was the long-time chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions between ...
”. He saw Strauss as his role mode, he said. He was honored as a "Honored Milker of the People".Peter-Michael Diestel
from ddr89.de.
He later worked as head of the legal department of the Agricultural Industry Association
Delitzsch Delitzsch (; Slavic: ''delč'' or ''delcz'' for hill) is a town in Saxony in Germany, 20 km north of Leipzig and 30 km east of Halle (Saale). With 24,850 inhabitants at the end of 2015, it is the largest town in the district of Nordsach ...
from 1978 to 1989. In 1986, he earned his doctorate's degree with a doctoral thesis on LPG law. In December 1989, Diestel co-founded the German Social Union (''Christlich-Soziale Partei Deutschlands'' or CSPD) and, in January 1990, the German Social Union (DSU), where he was the general secretary until June. From March to October 1990, Diestel was 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 ...
and from April to October, Deputy Prime Minister and successor to
Lothar Ahrendt Lothar Ahrendt (born 13 March 1936) is one of the former interior ministers of German Democratic Republic, the German Democratic Republic. Biography Ahrendt was born on 13 March 1936 in Erfurt. He was trained as a car mechanic. Ahrendt was a me ...
as
Minister of Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...
of the GDR. In June 1990, he left the DSU and was, by 3 August, a member of the CDU. On 7 June 1990, on the initiative of Diestel,
RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
terrorist Susanne Albrecht was arrested, and thereafter, the admission of nine other RAF members into the GDR became known. On 1 July 1990, together with
Wolfgang Schäuble Wolfgang Schäuble (; born 18 September 1942) is a German lawyer, politician and statesman whose political career has spanned for more than five decades. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he is one of the longest-serving politi ...
, he signed the contract for the dismantling of the border fortifications between the GDR and the Federal Republic. In his term in 1990, there was a transfer of Stasi-intercepted files about
West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
politicians to the
Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (german: Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz or BfV, often ''Bundesverfassungsschutz'') is Germany's federal domestic intelligence agency. Together with the Landesämter für Verfassungss ...
. Critics accused him during his time as Minister of Interior for the perceived trivial handling of former employees of 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 ...
, who remained employed at the Ministry of Interior. Diestel later explained this decision as follows: "If you command a hundred police officers, you have to have learned that. If you want to lead a thousand police officers or a ministry, then you have to have graduated from an academy, then you have to be qualified for it. And that's why I didn't kick out
colonels Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
and
generals A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...
During my term in office not a single politically motivated shot was fired there were no upheavals and I'm with these people just the way they were into German unity. And that is a result that I could not have achieved without these Stasi officers, without these police generals, customs generals " In mid-May 1990, the press reported on the plans of the Ministry of Interior, the former head of the foreign intelligence service of the Ministry for State Security,
Markus Wolf Markus Johannes Wolf (19 January 1923 – 9 November 2006), also known as Mischa, was head of the Main Directorate for Reconnaissance (), the foreign intelligence division of East Germany's Ministry for State Security (, abbreviated MfS, commonl ...
, to consult on the dismantling of the State Security Service. Diestel was clearly criticized for this by the federal government and the SPD. Wolf was not appointed to the GDR government committee, but Diestel announced, according to the press, that he would make use of Wolf's knowledge. A few days later, the Ministry of the Interior denied that Wolf should have been hired as a
consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...
. In the course of May 1990, the parliamentary group in his party called for Diestel's resignation as Minster of the Interior. Furthermore, many Stasi files were destroyed in his administration, including the destruction of files of the
Main Directorate for Reconnaissance The Main Directorate for Reconnaissance (german: ; german: , ) was the foreign intelligence service of the Ministry of State Security (''Stasi''), the main security agency of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), from 1955 to 1990. ...
. According to Diestel's own statements, he had nothing to do with the exterminations, which are said to have been carried out before the beginning of his term of office. Diestel sued journalists and publishers who had reported that he was "the last interior minister in the GDR to be jointly responsible for the destruction of some of the Stasi files". On 10 July, 1995, the
Hanseatic Higher Regional Court The (Hanseatic Higher Regional Court, abbreviated HansOLG, officially without a suffix "Hamburg") is the Higher Regional Court (OLG) of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany, and thus part of the Hamburg ordinary jurisdiction. It ...
in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
ruled that Diestel was politically responsible for the destruction of files from the Ministry for State Security during his tenure as Interior Minister of the GDR. Diestel later explained that he had campaigned politically for the files to be destroyed and had been supported in this regard by
Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...
and Interior Minister
Wolfgang Schäuble Wolfgang Schäuble (; born 18 September 1942) is a German lawyer, politician and statesman whose political career has spanned for more than five decades. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he is one of the longest-serving politi ...
. In 2019, he said in retrospect, "The opinion later changed when it was noticed that the files that relate to the actual one's own comrade, namely from the old federal territory were already gone and that the Russians already have alike. The files were sorted out. Before the free, democratic De Maizière government came to power, the state security had six to nine months to remove their own people from these files. That's why you can say that the state security took care of it: Who can survive after the fall of communism and who is killed in the Stasi files? The simple ones were beaten to death." According to Diestel, he did not give the order for the files to be destroyed; that was illegal during his tenure. During the first election 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 ...
on 14 October 1990, he was vetted as the CDU's top candidate, but was defeated by
Manfred Stolpe Manfred Stolpe (16 May 1936 – 29 December 2019) was Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs of Germany from 2002 until 2005. Before, he was Ministerpräsident of the state Brandenburg from 1990 until 2002. Stolpe was, after ...
of the
SPD 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 t ...
, who formed the first democratic state government of the re-established state of
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 ...
. Subsequently, Diestel belonged to the Landtag of Brandenburg as a member until 1994. From 1990 until his resignation in 1992, partly because of the controversial petrol station privatization in Brandenburg, he was the first faction leader of the CDU, as well as the first opposition leader in the Landtag. As a co-initiator of the "Committee for Justice", he encouraged the committee to launch an inquiry into Stolpe - however, later in connection with his still controversial
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 ...
contacts, Stolpe made a personal declaration of honor for him. Diestel published a statement in 1993 with others calling for "reconciliation instead of retribution". Diestel has been running a law firm in
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 ...
since 1993; he also manages other offices 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 ...
,
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
,
Güstrow Güstrow (; la, Gustrovium) is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is capital of the Rostock district; Rostock itself is a district-free city and regiopolis. It has a population of 28,999 (2020) and is the seventh largest town in Me ...
and
Zislow Zislow is a municipality in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country i ...
, his place of residence. In his practice, he represented, inter alia, former full-time Stasi staff, Stasi IM, those suspected of doping former East German athletes, and GDR sports officials. In 2004, he worked as legal counsel for
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'' ...
' leading candidate for the Landtag election in Saxony, Peter Porsch, who was suspected of being involved in Stasi activities. In 2005, he took over as part of the football betting scandal, the mandate for football referee . Furthermore, he represented the athletics coach in 2005, who had administered the injection of drugs in minors. In 2006, he represented the ARD sports coordinator , who was accused of being a Stasi agent. He also initially represented
Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in front of a home crow ...
during the
Operación Puerto doping case Operación Puerto (''Operation Mountain Pass'') is the code name of a still unfinished Spanish Police operation against the pro sports doping network of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. It started in May 2006, which resulted in a scandal that involved se ...
. On 24 May 2007, however, he ended his representation for Ullrich; Ullrich's manager Wolfgang Strohband said that Ullrich had him withdraw representation because of a television appearance where Diestel said he had resigned due to disagreements. In the Volkswagen corruption affair regarding the bribery of Volkswagen work councils, Diestel was defender of the former VW Work Council Chairman . From 1994 to 1997, Diestel served as president of the football club
Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the forme ...
and is the honorary president of . In the Puhdys' club song, the group described Diestel as the "most beautiful soccer president in the world". During his tenure as Hansa chairman, Diestel had his headquarters as a lawyer in a
villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...
in Güstrow. In November 1994, Focus described Diestel as a "PR monomaniac" who loved "the public eye above all else". Whenever things get tricky for him, he "gets out of the way to show up somewhere else". Diestel was "a bit dazzling, a bit vague, a bit flirtatious," the news magazine continued.
Gregor Gysi Gregor Florian Gysi (; born 16 January 1948) is a German attorney, former president of the Party of the European Left and a prominent politician of The Left (''Die Linke'') political party. He belonged to the reformist wing of the governing So ...
, whom Diestel met in December 1989 and whom he describes as his friend ("who has a world view that is not mine"), said of Diestel that he "didn't really fit in with politics from the start" since it also doesn't matter to him "whether he messes with his party, with me or with someone else". According to Manfred Stolpe, Diestel is “an important and interesting personality in the transition from the GDR to German unity,"who courageously stood at the forefront "of the mass protests in Leipzig autumn 1989." In April 2021, Diestel announced his resignation from the CDU, which had become a "spongy and helpless chancellor electoral association." Diestel has had three marriages, the most recent of which has been ongoing since 2014. 0At the wedding in Zislow, Gregor Gysi and Lothar de Maizière were the witnesses.
Egon Krenz Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz (; born 19 March 1937) is a German former politician who was the last Communist leader of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) during the Revolutions of 1989. He succeeded Erich Honecker as the General Secretary ...
was also among the guests. Diestel has had three marriages, the most recent of which has been ongoing since 2014. At the wedding in Zislow, Gregor Gysi and Lothar de Maizière were the witnesses.
Egon Krenz Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz (; born 19 March 1937) is a German former politician who was the last Communist leader of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) during the Revolutions of 1989. He succeeded Erich Honecker as the General Secretary ...
was also among the guests.


Infidelity proceedings

Diestel was found guilty of
Embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...
in 2001, the Berlin district court imposed a fine of 9,900 marks on probation and issued a warning. In addition, a fine of 20,000 marks was imposed. In 1990 he had acquired a villa in
Zeuthen Zeuthen is a municipality in the district of Dahme-Spreewald in Brandenburg in Germany. Geography It is located near the southeastern Berlin city limits on the western shore of the Dahme River and the Zeuthener See. It borders Eichwalde in the ...
, which had previously been used as a guest house by the GDR Ministry of the Interior, at a price well below its value. He bought the 3,500 square meter lake property from his ministry for 193,00 marks – estimated on the basis of the old GDR's price law. The property is said to have been worth 770,00 marks. In 1994 he had to return the property.


Works

* Peter-Michael Diestel, , Dieter Mechtel: ''D wie Diestel.'' Bouvier, Bonn 1990, . *
Gregor Gysi Gregor Florian Gysi (; born 16 January 1948) is a German attorney, former president of the Party of the European Left and a prominent politician of The Left (''Die Linke'') political party. He belonged to the reformist wing of the governing So ...
, Peter-Michael Diestel,
Guido Westerwelle Guido Westerwelle (; 27 December 1961 – 18 March 2016) was a German politician who served as Foreign Minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice-Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011, being the first openly gay person ...
,
Gabi Zimmer Gabriele "Gabi" Zimmer (born 7 May 1955) is a German politician who served as leader of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) from 2000 to 2003. After leaving office as leader, she was a member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2019. Zi ...
: ''Neue Gespräche über Gott und die Welt.'' Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, .


Further reading

* : ''Peter-Michael Diestel, "Rebellion tut gut": ein Populist teilt aus.'' Dietz, Berlin 1998, . * Hannes Hofmann: ''Diestel. Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts?'' Das Neue Berlin, Berlin 2010, . * Peter-Michael Diestel, Oskar Lafontaine: ''Sturzgeburt. Vom geteilten Land zur europäischen Vormacht.'' Das Neue Berlin, Berlin 2015, .


References


External links

*
Website of the law firm of Peter-Michael Diestel

Peter-Michael Diestel: Biography and interview about his appointment as Minister of the Interior
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diestel, Peter-Michael 1952 births Living people People from Vorpommern-Rügen Members of the 10th Volkskammer Government ministers of East Germany Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians Christian Democratic Union (East Germany) politicians German football chairmen and investors Members of the Landtag of Brandenburg 20th-century German lawyers Leipzig University alumni Jurists from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania