Erich Honecker
| Erich Honecker | |
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Honecker in May 1976
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General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (to 1976 as First Secretary) |
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In office 3 May 1971 – 18 October 1989 |
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| Preceded by | Walter Ulbricht |
| Succeeded by | Egon Krenz |
| Chairman of the State Council of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) |
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In office 29 October 1976 – 18 October 1989 |
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| Preceded by | Willi Stoph |
| Succeeded by | Egon Krenz |
| Chairman of the National Defence Council of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) |
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In office 1971–1989 |
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| Preceded by | Walter Ulbricht |
| Succeeded by | Egon Krenz |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
25 August 1912 Neunkirchen, Germany |
| Died | 29 May 1994 (aged 81) Santiago, Chile |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party |
KPD (1922–1946) SED (1946–1989) KPD (1990–1994) |
| Spouse(s) |
Charlotte Schanuel, née Drost, a.k.a. "Lotte Grund" (m. 1945; d. 1947) Edith Baumann (m. 1947; div. 1953) Margot Feist (m. 1953-94); an open relationship acknowledged by the Party, 1952) |
| Children | Erika (b. 1950) Sonja (b. 1952) |
| Profession | Politician |
| Signature |  |
Erich Honecker (German: [ˈeːʁɪç ˈhɔnɛkɐ]; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German politician who, as the General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party, led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until the weeks preceding the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. From 1976 onward he was also the country's official head of state as chairman of the State Council following Willi Stoph's relinquishment of the post.
Honecker's political career began in the 1930s when he became an official of the Communist Party of Germany, a position for which he was imprisoned during the Nazi era. Following World War II, he was freed and soon relaunched his political activities, founding the youth organisation the Free German Youth in 1946 and serving as the group's chairman until 1955. As the Security Secretary of the Party’s Central Committee in the new East German state, he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and, in this function, bore responsibility for the "order to fire" along the Inner German border.
In 1971, he initiated a political power struggle that led, with Soviet support, to his replacing Walter Ulbricht as First Secretary of the Central Committee and as chairman of the state's National Defense Council. Under his command, the country adopted a programme of "consumer socialism" and moved toward the international community by normalising relations with West Germany and also becoming a full member of the UN, in what is considered one of his greatest political successes.
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