Ernst Höfner (politician)

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Ernst Höfner (1986)

Ernst Höfner (born October 1, 1929 in Liebenstein ; † November 24, 2009 in Berlin ) was a German politician and Minister of Finance of the GDR .

Life

The son of a lathe operator learned to be a glass blower after attending elementary school. He first worked in the profession and then completed an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk . In 1948 he became a member of the SED . In 1948/49 he worked as a financial accountant and, after completing his studies at a technical college, in 1949/50 as chief accountant or chief consultant in the Ministry of Finance of the GDR. From 1952 to 1955 he studied at the University of Finance with a degree in economics. He was then head of department in the Ministry of Finance from 1955 to 1970. From 1962 to 1965 he studied social sciences at the party college of the CPSU in Moscow . From 1970 to 1976 he was Deputy Minister of Finance. Then he was Walter Schindler's successor from February 1976 to January 1979 1st secretary of the SED district leadership of the central banking and financial organs and from January 1979 to 1981, as successor to Wolfram Krause, 1st secretary of the SED district leadership of the State Planning Commission . From June 26, 1981 to November 1989, he was the successor to Werner Schmieder , who had only been in office for one year, as Minister of Finance. As Minister of Finance , he was also a member of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers .

Criticism of the economic policy of the GDR

Ernst Höfner was one of the authors of the “Analysis of the Economic Situation in the GDR with Conclusions” together with Gerhard Schürer , Gerhard Beil , Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski and Arno Donda , as a template for the SED Politburo on October 30, 1989. In this also “ Schürer-Papier ” , the secret report that became known, the over-indebtedness and economic disruption of the GDR was clearly named for the first time.

On November 13, 1989, during the debate on the political situation in the GDR in the People's Chamber , the Minister of Finance Höfner (SED) spoke for the first time about the national debt and explained, among other things, that the state budget, which was always presented to the People's Chamber as balanced, was partly due to the Borrowing based. He took responsibility for failing to account for the state's financial position and national debt. He spoke about the deterioration in export performance in recent years and the devaluation of the GDR mark against the value mark, the inflation rate and price developments.

Awards

literature

Web links

Commons : Ernst Höfner  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerhard Schürer, Gerhard Beil, Alexander Schalck, Ernst Höfner, Arno Donda: Analysis of the economic situation of the GDR with conclusions. Template for the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED. October 30, 1989. Retrieved November 9, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Gerhard Schürer, Gerhard Beil, Alexander Schalck, Ernst Höfner and Arno Donda: "Submission for the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED. Analysis of the economic situation in the GDR with conclusions" October 30, 1989
  3. ^ Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv , Volkskammervideos 1989: Ernst Höfner on the national debt of the GDR at the 11th session of the 9th Volkskammer on November 13, 1989. [1] , accessed on October 6, 2010
  4. ↑ Berliner Zeitung , October 3, 1989, p. 3
personal data
SURNAME Hofner, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (SED), Minister of Finance of the GDR
DATE OF BIRTH October 1, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Love stone
DATE OF DEATH November 24, 2009
Place of death Berlin