Herbert Warnke (24 February 1902 – 26 March 1975) was an

East German 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 ...

trade unionist and politician who served as both Chairman of the Free German Trade Union Federation and a member of the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party.

Biography

Warnke was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

on 24 February 1902 to a working-class family. He joined 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) in 1923 and became actively involved in trade union activism. In 1932 he was elected to the Reichstag and held his seat until the

Nazi seizure of power Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...

in 1933. Later that same year he became secretary of

Profintern The Red International of Labor Unions (russian: Красный интернационал профсоюзов, translit=Krasnyi internatsional profsoyuzov, RILU), commonly known as the Profintern, was an international body established by the Comm ...

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

and actively opposed the Nazis during the remainder of the

Interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

. He lived in a number of countries during his exile from Nazi Germany. During

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he was in Sweden where he worked with a number of organizations for exiled Germans. After the defeat of the Nazis, Warnke returned to Soviet-occupied Germany and helped found the Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB). He succeeded

Hans Jendretzky Gustav Ernst Hans Jendretzky (20 July 1897 – 2 July 1992) was a German Communist politician. He was a prominent politician of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). He became a member of the Ind ...

as First Chairman of the organization, serving from 1948 until his death in 1975. He was elected 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 w ...

in 1949 and was also elected to the State Council of East Germany in 1971. Herbert Warnke was a passionate fan of 1. FC Union Berlin.

References

1902 births 1975 deaths Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Members of the State Council of East Germany Members of the 1st Volkskammer Members of the 2nd Volkskammer Members of the 3rd Volkskammer Members of the 4th Volkskammer Members of the 5th Volkskammer Members of the 6th Volkskammer Free German Trade Union Federation members Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold {{Germany-SED-politician-stub