Herbert Barth (diplomat)

Herbert Barth (born May 20, 1929 in Leipzig ) is a former German diplomat . He was Ambassador of the GDR in Switzerland and Liechtenstein .

Life

Barth, son of a worker, learned the trade of telecommunications construction craftsman. He later completed a distance learning course at the German Academy for Political Science and Law in Potsdam . He received his PhD in 1967 for Dr. rer. oec.

Barth worked since 1951 for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the GDR (MfAA) and was deployed in the embassy in Hungary . In 1955 he became head of department in Main Department III (fundamental issues) of the MfAA. From 1961 to 1963 he was head of the policy department and from 1963 to 1965 head of the office of Foreign Minister Lothar Bolz . From 1965 to 1966 he worked as counselor at the embassy in Budapest . From 1966 to 1974 he was the personal advisor to the Politburo member Hermann Axen , who was responsible for the International Relations Department in the SED Central Committee. In 1975/1976 Barth worked as a research assistant at the MfAA. From 1976 to May 1980 he was ambassador of the GDR in Bern and from there received a second accreditation in Liechtenstein . From June 1980 to 1990 he headed the USA , Canada , Japan and Australia department at the MfAA.

Barth was a member of the SED .

Awards

• Patriotic Order of Merit in Bronze (1970)
• Labor Banner (1979)
• Patriotic Order of Merit in Silver (1989)

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. 25.
• Siegfried Bock , Ingrid Muth , Hermann Schwiesau (eds.): GDR foreign policy. An overview. Volume 3: data, facts, people (= political science. Volume 173). LIT-Verlag, Münster 2010, ISBN 978-3-643-10559-2 , p. 289 f.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Berliner Zeitung , 29./30. April 1989, p. 4.