Heinz Knobbe

Heinz Knobbe (born April 14, 1932 in Magdeburg ) is a former German diplomat . He was the GDR's ambassador in Libya .

Life

Knobbe, the son of a working-class family, attended middle school and completed an apprenticeship as a bricklayer between 1948 and 1950 . In 1948 he became a member of the FDGB , in 1949 a member of the FDJ and in 1951 of the SED . From 1950 to 1953 he attended the workers and farmers faculty in Halle (Saale) and passed the Abitur there. He then studied from 1953 to 1959 at the Institute for International Relations in Moscow , where he graduated with a degree in political science. From 1959 to 1966 he worked in the Foreign Policy and International Relations Department at the Central Committee of the SED .

From 1966 to 1971 he worked as counselor and deputy ambassador at the embassy of the GDR in Budapest . From 1971 to 1976 Knobbe was a member of the People's Chamber , a member of the Foreign Committee of the People's Chamber and the Council of the Interparliamentary Union and first deputy chairman of the GDR's Interparliamentary Group. From 1976 to 1978 he was a research assistant in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the GDR (MfAA). From 1978 to 1983 Knobbe worked as an envoy at the GDR embassy in London . He then worked until 1986 as deputy head of the Near and Middle East department at the MfAA. From 1986 to 1990 he was the GDR ambassador in Tripoli .

Knobbe was chairman of the board of the Middle East Forum, founded in 1996, from 2003 to 2010. V. and from 2005 to 2010 chairman of the German Association of Graduates of the Moscow State Institute for International Relations. He continues to be honorary chairman of both organizations.

Fonts (selection)

• The Democratic Republic of Vietnam is building socialism . In: Einheit (1961), No. 2, pp. 310-320.
• The IPU - the international organization of parliamentarians . In: German Foreign Policy (1972), Issue 5, pp. 998-1011.
• II. Interparliamentary Conference on European Cooperation and Security. Conference report . In: German Foreign Policy (1975), No. 4, pp. 583-586.
• Do we have to come to terms with fear? Islam, Islamism, Jihad - a danger for Germany? Instead of hysteria, dialogue and education are needed . In: Neues Deutschland , 13./14. November 2004.
• Fundamentalism - a phenomenon only in Islam? Excerpts in: Neues Deutschland , 29./30. January 2005 ( online )
• Islam and human rights. Is it possible to align the understanding of democracy between the Islamic and the Western world? . In: Neues Deutschland , 18./19. June 2005.
• Dialogue with the militants too? - Reflections on strategies for solving global and regional conflicts . In: Neues Deutschland , 21./22. January 2006 ( online )
• From bricklayer to ambassador. Thirty years in the service of foreign policy in the GDR , publications on international politics by the Association for International Politics and Völkerrecht eV: Issue 40, April 2012. Extended edition 2015.
• The Middle East. My activities, publications, speeches . Self-published, printed in Central Station Berlin, May 2017.

Awards

• Medal of Merit of the GDR

literature

• 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. 163.
• 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. 408.
• 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 , pp. 321f.