Kurt Ranke (politician)

Kurt Ranke (born July 28, 1920 in Benndorf , Mansfelder Land district , † February 26, 1999 in Magdeburg ) was a German politician ( SED ). From 1960 to 1985 he was chairman of the Magdeburg District Council .

Life

Ranke, the son of a locksmith , visited the elementary and middle school. After completing secondary school, he initially worked as an unskilled worker in 1937/1938. From 1938 to 1940 he was drafted into the Reich Labor Service , then for military service in the Wehrmacht . As a corporal, he was taken prisoner by the Soviets in 1944 , where he attended Antifa schools .

In 1947 he returned to Germany and became the main clerk at the Mansfeld Mountain District Council . He joined the SED in 1948 and worked from 1950 to 1952 as a department head in the council of the Eisleben district . 1952/1953 he was secretary in the council of the Hettstedt district , from 1953 to 1959 then chairman of the council of the Hettstedt district.

1959/1960 he studied at the party college of the CPSU in Moscow . On July 30, 1960, he was elected chairman of the Magdeburg District Council at an extraordinary session of the district assembly as the successor to Paul Hentschel, who died on November 20, 1959 , and remained in office until September 2, 1985. From 1960 he was a member of the office and from 1967 a member of the secretariat of the SED district leadership in Magdeburg. After his replacement as council chairman, he resigned from the secretariat of the SED district leadership and was then a simple member of the SED district leadership until 1989. From 1963 to 1986 he was a member of the Magdeburg district assembly . He retired in 1985.

From 1962 to 1972 Ranke was also chairman of the Magdeburg district board of the Society for German-Soviet Friendship . From 1970 to 1985 he was head of civil defense in the Magdeburg district. On November 1, 1985 he was confirmed with Werner Eberlein as a member of the Magdeburg district committee of the anti-fascist resistance fighters.

Awards and honors

• Ernst Moritz Arndt Medal (1962)
• Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze (1963), in silver (1969) and in gold (1974)
• Dr. Theodor Neubauer Medal (1971)
• Karl Marx Order (1980)
• Honorary Title Hero of Labor (1984)
• Honorary title of Honored Member of the Civil Defense of the German Democratic Republic (1984)
• Ranke was an honorary citizen of Magdeburg from 1980 to 1990 . On November 15, 1990, his honorary citizenship was revoked by a resolution of the city council.

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. 254.
• 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. 683.
• Andreas Herbst :  Ranke, Kurt . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
• Mario Niemann, Andreas Herbst (Ed.): SED-Kader The middle level. Biographical Lexicon 1946 to 1989 . Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2010, ISBN 978-3-506-76977-0 , p. 400/401.

Web links

• Kurt Hermann Ranke in the Magdeburg Biographical Lexicon (accessed on March 16, 2018).
• New tiles in the service Volga in Volksstimme from September 3, 2013 (accessed on March 16, 2018).

Individual evidence

1. ^ New council chairman in Magdeburg . In: Neue Zeit , August 2, 1960, p. 6.
2. ^ Volksstimme of September 3, 1985.
3. ^ Meeting of the District Committee of Resistance Fighters . In: Volksstimme of November 2, 1985.
4. ↑ Berliner Zeitung , October 4, 1974, p. 6.
5. ↑ Kurt Ranke honored on his 60th birthday . In: Neues Deutschland , July 29, 1980, p. 2.