Wolfgang Herger (born 10 August 1935) is a German former politician and high-ranking functionary of the

Free German Youth The Free German Youth (german: Freie Deutsche Jugend; FDJ) is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth movement of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The organization was meant ...

(FDJ) and the Socialist Unity Party (SED). A longtime associate of Egon Krenz, in the German Democratic Republic, he served as the longtime head of the powerful Department of Security Affairs at the Central Committee of the SED. During the ''Wende'', he also briefly served in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED.

Life and career

East Germany

Herger pursued a degree in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

from 1953 to 1958 at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. Until 1962, he worked as an assistant at the Institute of Philosophy while also being active in the FDJ and later the SED. In 1963, he earned his

Dr. phil Phillip Calvin McGraw (born September 1, 1950), better known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality and author best known for hosting the talk show '' Dr. Phil''. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, though he ceased rene ...

from the University of Jena with a thesis titled "On the Dialectics of Social Necessity and Moral Freedom in Our Era: Investigations into Fundamental Questions of Marxist-Leninist Ethics."

Reunified Germany

After the ''Wende'', Herger became unemployed and worked as a gatekeeper and employee of various trading companies. In November 1992, Herger briefly worked as a recreational supervisor at a Civilian Service school of the Federal Office for Civilian Service in Kablow-Ziegelei, south of Berlin.

Political career

East Germany

Wolfgang Herger became a member of the

(FDJ) in 1949 and joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1957. From 1964 to 1976, Herger served as a secretary in the Central Council of the FDJ, from 1971 to 1976 as Second Secretary under Günther Jahn and later Egon Krenz, succeeding Dieter Itzerott, who joined the Bezirk Halle SED leadership. From

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, he was a member of the Volkskammer. During his time in the Volkskammer, he served various roles, including as a member of the Committee for National Defense (1971-1976), chairman of the Youth Committee (1976-1985), and deputy chairman/chairman of the Committee for National Defense (1987-1990). Herger was also a member of the Central Committee of the SED from 1976 ( IX. Party Congress) to its dissolution in 1989, where he led the Youth Department from 1976 to 1985 and the powerful Department of Security Issues from 1985 to 1989. In both roles, he worked under the supervision of responsible Secretary Egon Krenz. Additionally, he served in the Collegium of the

Ministry of National Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in stat ...

from 1985 to 1989 and the National Defence Council of the GDR from 1986 to 1989. In recognition of his service, Herger was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in 1973.

Peaceful Revolution

During the ''Wende'', Herger succeeded Krenz, now General Secretary of the SED, as Secretary responsible for Security as well as State and Legal Affairs, also being elected as a full member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

. Alongside Krenz, he played a role in ensuring the peaceful transition of events in the autumn of 1989.

Reunified Germany

In the ''Mauerschützenprozesse'' ( Berlin Wall shooting trials) on 24 July 1998, Herger was convicted by the Berlin Regional Court of "complicity in manslaughter" (political responsibility for the fatal shootings at the Berlin Wall) and sentenced to 22 months of suspended imprisonment. Alongside Herger, the former Deputy Minister of Defence

Horst Brünner Horst Brünner (1929–2008) was deputy Defense Minister in the East Germany, East German Council of Ministers of the GDR, Council of Ministers and chief of the Central Political Administration of the National People's Army. Life The son o ...

and two other prominent DDR military figures (Manfred Grätz and Heinz Tappert) were also convicted. The court held these four defendants partially responsible for the GDR's fundamental orders regarding "border security," arguing that they had tacitly accepted the deaths of refugees.{{Cite web , date=2011-11-15 , title=Gericht verurteilt hohe DDR-Funktionäre - WELT , url=https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article624076/Gericht-verurteilt-hohe-DDR-Funktionaere.html , access-date=2023-09-23 , website=DIE WELT , language=de

References

1935 births People from Rudolstadt Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians Members of the 6th Volkskammer Members of the 7th Volkskammer Members of the 8th Volkskammer Members of the 9th Volkskammer Members of the Volkskammer University of Jena alumni Members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany) politicians German politicians convicted of crimes Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit Living people German people convicted of manslaughter