Rolf Sieber

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Rolf Sieber (born December 10, 1929 in Lunzenau ; † July 26, 2020 ) was a German university rector and diplomat . From 1974 to 1978 he was the first GDR ambassador in the USA and from 1979 to 1988 he was the rector of the Berlin School of Economics . From 1963 to 1976 he was a member of the People's Chamber .

Life

Sieber was born in December 1929 into a working-class family in the small town of Lunzenau in central Saxony. After attending elementary school, he completed a commercial apprenticeship from 1944 to 1947, with interruptions due to the war. After the end of the war in 1945 Sieber became a member of the re-admitted KPD , after the union with the SPD from April 1946 a member of the SED . In order to be able to achieve the Abitur required for university studies , Sieber attended the pre-study institute from the academic year 1948/49 , later ABF at Leipzig University . He passed his Abitur in 1950 and then belonged to the first class of students at the newly founded University of Planning Economics , which later became the University of Economics (HfÖ) in Berlin-Karlshorst . Due to his excellent academic achievements, Sieber was delegated to Moscow to study in 1951, presumably one of the first GDR students in the Soviet Union , where he attended lectures at the Moscow State Economic Institute and Lomonossow University . He completed his studies in 1956 with a degree in economics.

Sieber then worked in various teaching functions at the HfÖ until 1973. First, a research assistant, then assistant professor, he was in 1959 at the University with a thesis on the nature and development of some basic theses of the theory of "organized capitalism" and the views of the "economic democracy" in Germany in the years 1918 to 1933 to the Dr. oec doctorate. In 1963 he received his habilitation with the work Economic Theories that the Right Socialists Defend and in 1964 he was appointed professor with teaching assignment, at the same time he was Vice-Rector of the university. From 1969 Sieber held the chair for the history of political economy at the Marxism-Leninism section of the HfÖ. In addition, he had been a member of the company union leadership since 1961 and of the central SED party leadership of the university since 1963.

From 1963 to 1967 Sieber was a representative of the FDGB in Berlin in the People's Chamber . From 1967 to 1976 he was a member of the Volkskammer in the FDGB parliamentary group. Within the People's Chamber, Sieber was chairman of the interparliamentary group from 1967 to 1974, which, under his leadership , endeavored to join the International Parliamentary Union (IPU). This took place in September 1972 at the 60th IPU conference in Rome and was an important step for the worldwide diplomatic recognition of the GDR from 1973.

Because of his appearances on the international stage as head of the inter-parliamentary group of the People's Chamber and because of his origins, which did not arise from the party apparatus, the GDR foreign ministry considered him suitable to take on an ambassadorial post in western countries. As early as the early 1970s, he was asked whether he could envisage a post as an ambassador in the USA, for example. On the condition that he did not finally switch to the diplomatic service and be prepared accordingly, Sieber agreed. He then stayed for a long time at the GDR embassy in Stockholm , where Ambassador Peter Steglich introduced him to the tools of diplomacy. In addition, there was an intensive course in English at the Foreign Language Institute of the GDR Foreign Ministry. After the USA and the GDR had established diplomatic relations with effect from September 4, 1974, Sieber began his service as ambassador in November 1974. The embassy in Washington was opened on December 4, 1974, Sieber's accreditation was granted on December 20, 1974 by US President Gerald Ford . Sieber's activity as the first GDR ambassador was primarily characterized by diplomatic relations with the United States, despite the GDR's double-track approach to the United States (willingness to cooperate on the one hand, condemnation of society and politics in the United States on the other) while deferring different ideological views build pragmatically. From 1974 to 1978 he was also ambassador to Canada.

During Sieber's time as GDR ambassador, the first bilateral agreements were concluded between the USA and the GDR, the effects of which he and his embassy staff had to prepare and oversee. For the first time, from January 1, 1977, GDR merchant ships were allowed to call at US ports directly in order to transport goods from there to the GDR. Until then, the GDR had to use foreign shipping companies at often overpriced prices. The preliminary talks with the relevant port authorities took place via the GDR embassy. The GDR merchant ships transported, among other things, feed grain from the USA for GDR agriculture. In addition, there were first contracts between GDR companies and US corporations such as Dow Chemical or Standard Oil . Another highlight in Sieber's work as ambassador was the diplomatic preparation and partial supervision of a nine-month exhibition of the Dresden State Art Collections in the USA under the title The Splendor of Dresden - 500 Years of the Art Collection - An Exhibition from the German Democratic Republic . The 710 art objects were shown for three months each in Washington, New York and San Francisco , with the new building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington opening on June 1, 1978 with the exhibition from the GDR. In the fall of 1978, Sieber was then replaced as Ambassador to the USA by Horst Grunert , until then Deputy Foreign Minister.

After his return to the GDR, Sieber was appointed rector of the Berlin School of Economics on January 12, 1979 , replacing Walter Kupferschmidt . In this function he was also a member of the SED district leadership in Berlin. From 1982 Sieber was also chairman of the GDR-USA friendship society. One of his last official acts in August 1988 was the incorporation of the Josef Orlopp School of Foreign Trade into the HfÖ. On October 28, 1988, Sieber was replaced as Rector by Christa Luft . He remained a professor at the university until the HfÖ was dissolved.

In retirement, Sieber was involved in the Society for the Protection of Civil Rights and Human Dignity (GBM) and published several papers there. Rolf Sieber died at the age of 90.

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary notice in Neues Deutschland from August 8, 2020, p. 27.
  2. ↑ Berliner Zeitung of September 28, 1984 p. 6
personal data
SURNAME Sieber, Rolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German economist, GDR ambassador, rector of the HfÖ
DATE OF BIRTH December 10, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Lunzenau
DATE OF DEATH July 26, 2020