Werner Grünert (General)

Werner Grünert (born December 1, 1924 in Bobenneukirchen ; † May 31, 2012 in Berlin ) was an intelligence officer of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). He was major general and from 1960 to 1976 head of counterintelligence in the Ministry for State Security (MfS) of the GDR.

Life

After attending elementary school, Grünert learned the profession of plumber from 1939 to 1942 . From 1942 to 1945 he did military service as a soldier in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War .

After his release from British captivity in 1945, he initially worked again in his profession. He joined the German People's Police (DVP) in 1947 and began his service with the political police, in Commissariat 5 of the VP District Office (VPKA) Oelsnitz . Grünert became a member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1947 . From 1949 he was in the administration for the protection of the national economy (from February 1950 administration of the MfS) Saxony. In April 1950 he was transferred to Department IV (counter-espionage of western secret services) of the MfS in Berlin and headed Department 2 (English line). After the amalgamation of departments IV and II to form the main department (HA) II (counter-espionage) in November 1953, he also took over the management of department 2 there Head of HA II (successor to Josef Kiefel ). In 1969 he qualified as a lawyer at the Potsdam University of Law . On February 5, 1970, he was appointed major general by the Chairman of the National Defense Council of the GDR , Walter Ulbricht , and in 1974 was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold. In February 1976 he was relieved of his position for health reasons and became an officer for special tasks with the first deputy minister and in 1977 officer for special tasks in the HA cadre and training, where he was involved in the development of training programs. In 1983 he was released from service and retired.

After the reunification in the GDR, Grünert was a member of the Initiative Group for the Protection of Social Rights (ISOR) and lived in Berlin.

literature

Jens Gieseke : Werner Grünert . In: BStU : Who was who in the Ministry for State Security? (PDF, 537 KB), MfS-Handbuch V / 4, Berlin 1998, p. 29.
Jens Gieseke: Grünert, Werner . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
Roger Engelmann , Bernd Florath , Helge Heidemeyer, Daniela Münkel , Arno Polzin, Walter Süß: The MfS Lexicon. 3. updated edition, Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-86153-900-1 , page 120, bstu.de .

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Congratulations on your 80th birthday in ISOR-aktuell No. 12/2004 (accessed on October 9, 2015).

personal data
SURNAME	Grünert, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German secret service officer and major general of the MfS
DATE OF BIRTH	December 1, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bobenneukirchen
DATE OF DEATH	May 31, 2012
Place of death	Berlin

[1] Congratulations on your 80th birthday in ISOR-aktuell No. 12/2004 (accessed on October 9, 2015).