Gerd König

This article deals with the politician and diplomat Gerd König. For other people see Gerhard König .

Gerd König (born June 24, 1930 in Klettwitz ; † November 27, 2009 in Prieros ) was a German politician ( SED ) and diplomat . He was deputy foreign minister of the GDR and ambassador to the ČSSR and the USSR .

Life

König, son of a miner, attended elementary school in Klettwitz (1937–1944) and high school in Senftenberg (1944/45). From 1945 to 1949 he trained as a chemical laboratory assistant at the Schwarzheide synthesis plant . Between 1946 and 1949 he worked there as a functionary for the FDJ . From 1949 to 1952 he attended the workers and farmers faculty in Potsdam . In 1952 he joined the SED. In 1952/1953 he studied at the German Academy for Political Science and Law in Potsdam, from 1953 to 1959 at the Institute for International Relations in Moscow , where he graduated with a degree in political science.

After graduating, he joined the GDR diplomatic service. 1959/1960 he was an employee in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the GDR (MfAA) and from 1960 to 1962 cultural attaché in Yugoslavia .

From 1962 to 1973, König worked in the International Relations Department of the Central Committee (ZK) of the SED . From 1962 to 1966 he acted as an instructor for Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Yugoslavia, from 1966 to 1971 as head of the Socialist Countries sector and finally from 1971 to 1973 as deputy head of the International Relations Department of the Central Committee of the SED. From 1970 to 1974 he was a member of the central board of the Society for German-Soviet Friendship (DSF).

From 1973 he worked again in the MfAA and from November 1973 to December 1980 ambassador of the GDR in Prague . In 1976 he became a candidate and was a member of the Central Committee of the SED from 1986 to 1989. From January 1981 to 1982 he was - as the successor to Rudi Stern - first secretary of the SED district leadership in the MfAA. From November 1982 to 1986 he was Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs. From 1987 to 1990, König was the GDR's last ambassador in Moscow .

From December 1989 to February 1990 he was a member of the party executive of the SED-PDS and there a member of the International Politics Commission.

Fonts

• Relations with the USSR (1985–1990) . In: Siegfried Bock, Ingrid Muth, Hermann Schwiesau (eds.): GDR foreign policy in the rearview mirror. Diplomats in conversation . LIT Verlag, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-8258-7539-3 , pp. 142-169.
• Fiasco of a brother union. Memories of the last GDR ambassador in Moscow . edition ost, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-360-01830-4 .

Awards

• Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze
• Order Banner of Labor Stage I (1979)
• Order of the Star of Friendship of Nations in Silver (1985)
• Medal of Merit of the GDR

literature

• Gabriele Baumgartner, Dieter Hebig (Hrsg.): Biographisches Handbuch der SBZ / DDR. 1945–1990. Volume 1: Abendroth - Lyr. KG Saur, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-598-11176-2 , p. 419.
• Andreas Herbst , Gerd-Rüdiger Stephan, Jürgen Winkler (eds.): The SED. History, organization, politics. A manual. Dietz, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-320-01951-1 , p. 999.
• Helmut Müller-Enbergs :  König, Gerd . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
• Siegfried Bock , Ingrid Muth , Hermann Schwiesau: The GDR foreign policy, an overview. Data, facts, people (III) . LIT Verlag Dr. W. Hopf, Berlin 2010, p. 322.