Wolfgang Biermann

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Wolfgang Biermann with Erich Mielke (1970)
Wolfgang Biermann (2nd from left) handing over the 1 megabit memory circuit to Erich Honecker

Wolfgang Biermann (born November 29, 1927 in Leipzig ; † July 18, 2001 in Völklingen ) was General Director of VEB Carl Zeiss Jena from 1975 to 1989 and head of the project group for territorial rationalization in Jena in the 1980s . He was a member of the Central Committee of the SED .

Life

At the age of 17 Biermann joined the NSDAP in 1944 . Biermann was a member of the LDPD from 1946 to 1947 and became a member of the SED in 1952 and a member of the Central Committee of the SED in 1976. In his hometown of Leipzig , he completed an apprenticeship as a machine fitter and a distance learning course to become a mechanical engineer. For many years he was general director of the VEB machine tool combine “7. Oktober “worked in Berlin and was awarded the honorary title Hero of Work in 1966 .

In order to increase the profitability of the VEB Carl Zeiss Jena combine , he was appointed General Director of the SED Central Committee Secretary for Economic Affairs Günter Mittag in October 1975 . The VEB Kombinat Carl Zeiss Jena was able to present technical developments that corresponded to international standards. a. the development of the multi-spectral camera MKF6 - a camera for recording the earth's surface in different spectral ranges from earth orbit in the 1970s or the presentation of the first 1-Mbit memory circuit U61000 in the economic area of ​​the Comecon on September 12, 1988.

Biermann received his doctorate twice and occasionally gave lectures in the field of economics at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena with his own chair. In the official area, for example in correspondence, he attached great importance to the name additions (Prof. Dr. Dr. Biermann).

In 1977 he was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold, in 1987 the Karl Marx Order and a year later the GDR National Prize.

Newspaper article on the declaration of resignation (Dec. 1989)

In 1988, under the direction of Wolfgang Biermann and the interest group for territorial rationalization, an excursion restaurant was reconstructed on Jena’s local mountain. This was done with the aim of using it for representation purposes (reception and catering for official guests). In order to meet the deadline set by Biermann for the 39th anniversary of the GDR on October 7, 1988, members of the combat groups and other workers of the VEB Carl Zeiss were deployed. But never used in this way, after the reopening, Biermann made the property available to the general public as an excursion restaurant under the original name Wilhelmshöhe.

In 1989 he was being tried for breach of trust against socialist property . He had given exhibits from the Jena Optical Museum, which exhibits numerous exhibits from the production history of the Zeiss works, worth 280,000 marks to official visitors. An arrest warrant from the GDR could not be carried out because Biermann resigned from the position of General Director on December 8, 1989. He transferred the management of the combine to his 1st deputy Dr.-Ing. Klaus-Dieter Gattnar and applied to the Minister of Mechanical Engineering for his dismissal.

Even before German reunification , Wolfgang Biermann moved to Saarbrücken in the Federal Republic .

After reunification, Biermann worked as a business consultant in Saarland and Cologne for several years. Biermann suffered several heart attacks as early as the 1980s. In 2001 he died of the consequences of another heart attack.

assessment

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Biermann is said to have a charismatic character and a very authoritarian management style as well as an insulting and harassing treatment of the direct subordinates - the operational directors of the combine . On the other hand, he was known for the friendly dealings with the workers and employees of the factories and the citizens of the city of Jena, whose interests he often represented personally and whose sympathies he was able to win.

Biermann was known for working more than 16 hours a day on several days in a row (including weekends). He is said to have worked regularly for at least 12 hours a day. Biermann demanded this willingness to work while completely putting aside private interests from his immediate employees and subordinates, whose understanding he did not find and who therefore often referred to him as an exploiter, sadist and people-smuggler.

The Zeiss boss described his management style in front of employees as follows , who said goodbye to everyone but attached great importance to being addressed as general :

"With me every ladder has a rope around my neck, I pull it slowly, and sometimes I let it go."

In the Jena area there were already many anecdotes about Biermann during his time as general director, the truth of which is often no longer verifiable today. For example, he is said to have called the operations directors to his office on the 14th floor at short notice on a Sunday morning, but stopped the elevators and pulpit those concerned when they arrived partly exhausted and too late, arguing that one was always with them technical malfunctions would have to be expected.

Another story reports that in the 1980s, during a strong onset of winter, Biermann summoned the company directors and called them in personally after having given out the appropriate equipment to clear snow and at the same time provided a selection of workers with warm drinks in the company canteens at the expense of the combine.

Another episode occurred in the 1980s: Numerous female workers at VEB Carl Zeiss complained that they could allegedly hardly be able to buy underwear in Jena (one of the numerous supply shortages) and if there were to be bought very occasionally, they were far away was bought by other workers before the end of work. Biermann responded by selling a limited amount of underwear (imported from western countries) within the company.

With personal concerns, the citizens of Jena could turn directly to Biermann as the head of the interest group for territorial rationalization. He represented their interests, often beyond the official economic and legal possibilities. This option was often used in the case of urgent renovation measures for residential buildings or long-term supply shortages of necessary basic goods. Biermann was the ultimate authority in Jena at the time and, as a member of the central committee, also outvoted the mayor and other organs of the city council. If citizens had difficulties with the authorities, in Jena in the 1980s the mere remark "We are submitting an application to Prof. Biermann" resulted in an immediate relenting.

On the other hand, one could unexpectedly be at the mercy of Biermann's displeasure: Workers also reported on Biermann's choleric and irascible demeanor, who placed great value on work discipline. So it happened several times that Biermann personally randomly checked at the start of the shift at 7 a.m. at a factory gate of the numerous sub-companies to see whether the workers were there on time. For workers who were a few minutes late, he tore up the company ID (with which everyone had to identify themselves at the factory gate when entering and leaving the factory premises) with the analogous comment: "You are fired without notice!"

Biermann was also known in Jena for his luxurious, absolutist private lifestyle, with which he often defied existing laws and regulations: In the 1970s, for example, a listed building - the home of the theologian Karl von Hase - was demolished because it was impaired the view of the Jena area from his residence.

literature

  • Dietmar Remy: Zeiss General Director Wolfgang Biermann - A socialist manager in a traditional company. 540 pages, Gera 2018, ISBN 978-3-946964-16-2
  • Dietmar Remy: A vocal propagandist of the SED as a silent reformer of the GDR? The crushing criticism of Zeiss general director Wolfgang Biermann of the state of the planned economy. In: Gerbergasse 18 . Thuringian quarterly for contemporary history and politics . 2018, issue 83, pp. 18-22.
  • Rüdiger Stutz (2018): Biermann, Wolfgang . In: Rüdiger Stutz & Matias Mieth (eds.): Jena. Lexicon on city history . Berching, p. 81.
  • Hagen Schwärzel, Elke Reuter:  Biermann, Wolfgang . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Web links

Commons : Wolfgang Biermann  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dietmar Remy: Selection of cadres and career determinants at VEB Carl Zeiss Jena. P. 59
  2. ↑ You hit the pavement . In: Der Spiegel . No. 16 , 1990, pp. 127-129 ( online ).
personal data
SURNAME Biermann, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German SED functionary and general director of VEB Carl Zeiss Jena
DATE OF BIRTH November 29, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH July 18, 2001
Place of death Saarland