Günther Scharfenberg

Günther Scharfenberg (born November 11, 1930 in Brandenburg an der Havel ; † January 12, 2019 in Fürstenwalde / Spree ) was a German diplomat . He was ambassador of the GDR in the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (VDRJ) and in Iraq .

Life

Scharfenberg, son of a working class family, learned the trade of saddler . From 1949 to 1952 he attended the workers and farmers faculty at the Potsdam University of Education . In 1952/53 he studied history at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena , then from 1953 to 1956 foreign policy at the German Academy for Political Science and Law in Potsdam-Babelsberg . He completed his studies with a degree in political science.

From 1956 he was a member of the diplomatic service of the GDR and was initially an employee of the Middle East and Africa Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the GDR (MfAA). From 1958 to 1960 he was Third Secretary at the Commercial Mission in Damascus , from 1960 to 1962 Acting Sector Head of the United Arab Republic . From 1962 to 1964 he was secretary or second secretary at the commercial agency in Algiers . From 1964 to 1971 he worked as Sector Manager for the Near and Middle East in the MfAA. He then acted from 1972 to 1978 as the GDR's ambassador in Aden (VDRJ). Between 1978 and 1981 he was Deputy Head of the East and Central Africa Department at the MfAA. From November 25, 1982 to 1987, he was the GDR's ambassador in Baghdad . From 1987 to 1990 he finally worked in the North and West Africa department at the MfAA.

Scharfenberg was a member of the SED . He lived in Kühlungsborn , then in Fürstenwalde. Günther Scharfenberg died at the age of 88.

Fonts

• Iraq - the last mission. As an ambassador between politics and foreign trade (1982–1987) (= Blue Series. Writings on international politics , issue 38). Association for International Politics and International Law, Berlin 2012.
• Years at Bab el-Mandeb . As ambassador to the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (= Blue Series. Writings on international politics , issue 41). Association for International Politics and International Law, Berlin 2012.

Awards

• Medal of Merit of the GDR (1970)
• Order Banner of Labor Stage III (1977)
• Patriotic Order of Merit in Bronze (1987)

literature

• Günther Buch: Names and dates of important people in the GDR. 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Dietz, Berlin (West) / Bonn 1979, ISBN 3-8012-0034-5 , p. 271.
• Günther Buch: Names and dates of important people in the GDR. 4th, revised and expanded edition. Dietz, Berlin (West) / Bonn 1987, ISBN 3-8012-0121-X , p. 273.
• Gabriele Baumgartner, Dieter Hebig (Hrsg.): Biographisches Handbuch der SBZ / DDR. 1945–1990 . Volume 2: Maassen - Zylla . KG Saur, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-598-11177-0 , p. 763.
• Siegfried Bock , Ingrid Muth, Hermann Schwiesau: The GDR foreign policy, an overview. Data, facts, people (III) . LIT Verlag Dr. W. Hopf, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-643-10559-2 , p. 347.

Web links

• Contemporary witnesses as living books at www.moz.de (accessed on January 20, 2019).
• Central database of bequests in the Federal Archives (accessed on January 20, 2019).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Delivery of credentials to President Saddam Hussein . New Germany from November 26, 1982.
2. ^ Letter from around 300 scientists, ambassadors a. D. and peace activists to Chancellor Angela Merkel on July 27, 2006 .
3. ↑ Obituary notice in the Märkische Oderzeitung from January 19, 2019 (accessed on January 20, 2019).
4. ↑ High awards given . In: Berliner Zeitung of April 25, 1987.