Hermann Axen

Hermann Axen
Axen in 1946
Editor-in-chief of Neues Deutschland
In office July 1956 – 18 February 1966
Deputy	Eberhard Heinrich Hajo Herbell Günter Kertzscher Harri Czepuck Walter Florath
Preceded by	Georg Stibi
Succeeded by	Rudolf Singer
Second Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party in Berlin
In office July 1953 – July 1956
First Secretary	Alfred Neumann
Preceded by	Erich Hönisch
Succeeded by	Willi Kuhn
Parliamentary constituencies Member of the Volkskammer for Cottbus-Stadt, Cottbus-Land, Calau, Forst, Guben, Spremberg (Berlin; 1954–1963) In office 17 October 1954 – 16 November 1989 Preceded by multi-member district Succeeded by Petra Gündel Member of the German People's Council In office 18 March 1948 – 30 May 1949 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by multi-member district
Central Committee Secretariat[a] responsibilities[1]
1985–1989; 1981–1984	International Politics and Economics
1979–1989	Foreign Information
1977–1984	General Department
1966–1989	International Relations
1949–1953	Mass Agitation and Press
Personal details
Born	(1916-03-06)6 March 1916 Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire (now Saxony, Germany)
Died	15 February 1992(1992-02-15) (aged 75) Berlin, Germany
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Socialist Unity Party (1946–1989) Communist Party of Germany (1932–1946)
Spouse	Sonja Axen
Occupation	Politician Civil Servant Party Clerk Merchant
Central institution membership 1970–1989: Full member, Politburo of the Central Committee 1963–1970: Candidate member, Politburo of the Central Committee 1949–1989: Full member, Central Committee Other offices held 1962–1989: Head, Foreign Policy Commission at the Politburo 1963–1971: Member, Commission for Agitation and Propaganda at the Politburo 1963–1967: Member, East Berlin City Council

Hermann Axen (6 March 1916 – 15 February 1992) was a German political activist who became involved in political resistance during the twelve Nazi years, most of which he spent in state detention. After the war he became a national politician in the Soviet occupation zone, relaunched in 1949 as the German Democratic Republic / East Germany. He served as a relatively high-profile member of the powerful Politburo of the Central Committee between 1970 and 1989.^[2][3][4][5]

In November 1989 he visited Moscow for eye surgery. While he was away the entire Politburo of which he was a member, resigned in 8 November 1989, and he too was excluded from it. On his return in January 1990 he was arrested, suspected of corruption and abuse of public office. This dramatic reversal of fortune came during a period of rapid political change. At the time of his death the arrest warrant had been rescinded and the case against him remained unproven, the necessary investigations having been delayed or suspended in response to his declining health.^[2]

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