Otto Winzer (3 April 1902 – 3 March 1975) was an East German diplomat who served as East Germany's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1965 to 1975.
Otto Winzer | |
|---|---|
 Winzer in 1972 | |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 29 June 1965 – 20 January 1975 | |
| Chairman of the Council of Ministers | |
| First Deputy | Ernst Scholz |
| Preceded by | Lothar Bolz |
| Succeeded by | Oskar Fischer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 April 1902 Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire |
| Died | 3 March 1975 (aged 72) East Berlin, German Democratic Republic |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) |
| Profession | Typesetter |
Biography
editWinzer was born in Berlin in 1902.[1] He was a son of worker. Otto Winzer learned the typesetter craft.[1]
In 1919, he became a member of the Communist Party of Germany.[1] Then he became the head of Communist Youth publication. He was involved in underground activities against Adolf Hitler's regime from 1933 to 1935.[1] In 1935, Winzer went to the Soviet Union, and he stayed there until the end of World War II. During World War II, he used the code name Lorenz.[1] He returned from exile in the Soviet Union as part of the Ulbricht Group, charged with setting up the Soviet Military Administration in Germany after World War II in April 1945.[2]
Winzer joined the Socialist Unity Party, the East German communist party, in 1946, and he became a member of its central committee in 1946.[3] He was named the deputy editor of the party's official paper Neues Deutschland in 1949.[4] Winzer was Secretary of State from 1949 to 1956 and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1956 to 1965.[3] He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1965 to 1975. He was removed from his post due to ill health[5] and died at age 72 on 3 March 1975.[6]
Awards and decorations
edit- Patriotic Order of Merit (1955 and 1972)
- Order of Karl Marx (1962)
- Grand Star of People's Friendship (1975)
- Otto-Winzer-Straße in Berlin-Marzahn (1978–1992, now Mehrower Allee)
- Officer College of the National People's Army, for foreign military cadres, in Prora on Rügen was named after him (1981–1990)
- The international school of the East German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Königs Wusterhausen bore his name
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "Otto Winzer". Die Zeit. 13 December 1963. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ "Die Tätigkeit der "Gruppe Ulbricht" in Berlin von April bis Juni 1945" German Federal Archives. Retrieved 22 November 2011 (in German)
- ^ a b "Winzer, Otto". The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ "Ex-E. Diplomat dies". The Telegraph. Berlin. United Press International. 4 March 1975. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
- ^ "E. German Post Goes to Fischer". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Berlin. NYT. 21 January 1975. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
- ^ "Dies at 73". The Tuscaloosa News. 4 March 1975. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
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