Jump to content

Bernard Koenen: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Tweak
typo
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit Advanced mobile edit
 
(48 intermediate revisions by 36 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|German politician (1889–1964)}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Bernard Koenen
| name = Bernard Koenen
| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-83285-0007, Bernhard Koenen.jpg
| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-83285-0007, Bernhard Koenen.jpg
| caption = Bernard Koenen (1961)
| caption = Bernard Koenen (1961)
| image_size = 295px
| image_size =
⚫
| birth_name = Bernard Johann Heinrich Koenen
| office = [[Czechoslovakia–East Germany relations|Ambassador of the German Democratic Republic to Czechoslovakia]]
| birth_date = 17 February 1889
| term_start = 1953
⚫
| birth_place = [[Hamburg]], [[German empire|Germany]]
| term_end = 1958
| death_date = 30 April 1964
| predecessor = [[Fritz Große]]
⚫
| death_place = [[Berlin]], [[German Democratic Republic|GDR (East Germany)]]
| successor = {{ill|Georg Stibi|de}}
⚫
| party = [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]] (1907)<br>[[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany|USDP]] (1917)<br>[[Communist Party of Germany|KPD]] (1920)<br>[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] (1946)
| religion =
| office2 = Member of the [[Volkskammer]]
| term_start2 = 1949
⚫
| occupation = [[Politician]]
| term_end2 = 1964
⚫
| parents =
| office3 = Member of the [[Landtag of Saxony]]
⚫
| spouse = [[:de:Frieda Koenen|Frieda Bockentien/Koenen]] (1890-1968)
| term_start3 = 1946
⚫
| children = [[:de:Viktor Koenen|Viktor Koenen]] (1920-1942)<br>Alfred Koenen (1921-1995)
| website =
| term_end3 = 1952
| office4 = Member of the Landtag of the [[Province of Saxony]]
| term_start4 = 1922
| term_end4 = 1933
⚫
| birth_name = Bernard Johann Heinrich Koenen
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1889|02|17|df=y}}
⚫
| birth_place = [[Hamburg]], [[German Empire]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1964|04|30|1889|02|17|df=y}}
⚫
| death_place = [[East Berlin]], [[German Democratic Republic]]
| resting_place = [[Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde]], [[Berlin]]
⚫
| party = [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany]] (1946-) <br> [[Communist Party of Germany]] (1920-1946) <br> [[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (1917-1920) <br> [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (1907-1917)
⚫
| occupation = [[Politician]]
⚫
| parents =
⚫
| spouse = {{ill|Frieda Bockentien/Koenen|de|Frieda Koenen}} (1890–1968)
⚫
| children = {{ill|Viktor Koenen|de}} (1920–1942)<br />Alfred Koenen (1921–1995)
| relatives = [[Wilhelm Koenen]] (brother)
| allegiance = [[German Empire]]
| serviceyears = 1914-1916
| battles = [[First World War]]
}}
}}


'''Bernard Koenen''' (born [[Hamburg]] 17 February 1889: died [[Berlin]] 30 April 1964) was a [[Germany|German]] [[politician]].<ref name=rosaluxstifBK>{{cite web |url=http://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/Manuskripte_53_2.pdf|pages=107-108|title=Koenen, Bernhard, 17.2.1889 (Hamburg) – 30.4.1964 (Berlin) |author= GOTTFRIED HAMACHER unter Mitarbeit von André Lohmar, Herbert Mayer, Günter Wehner & Harald Wittstock|work=Kurzbiographien| publisher= [[:de:Karl Dietz Verlag Berlin|Karl Dietz Verlag]], Berlin & [[Rosa Luxemburg Foundation]], [[Berlin]]|date=2005|accessdate=31 January 2015}}</ref><ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK>{{cite web|url=http://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/wer-war-wer-in-der-ddr-%2363%3B-1424.html?ID=1798|author1= [[Helmut Müller-Enbergs]] |author2= [[Bernd-Rainer Barth]] |title =Koenen, Bernard (Johann Heinrich) * 17.2.1889, † 30.4.1964 1. Sekretär der SED-Bezirksleitung Halle, Diplomat|publisher= Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur: Biographische Datenbanken |accessdate= 31 January 2015}}</ref>
'''Bernard Johann Heinrich Koenen''' (17 February 1889 – 30 April 1964) was a German [[politician]].<ref name=rosaluxstifBK>{{cite web |url=http://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/Manuskripte_53_2.pdf|pages=107–108|title=Koenen, Bernhard, 17.2.1889 (Hamburg) – 30.4.1964 (Berlin) |author= GOTTFRIED HAMACHER unter Mitarbeit von André Lohmar |author2= Herbert Mayer |author3= Günter Wehner |author4= Harald Wittstock |name-list-style= amp|work=Kurzbiographien| publisher= [[:de:Karl Dietz Verlag Berlin|Karl Dietz Verlag]], Berlin & [[Rosa Luxemburg Foundation]], [[Berlin]]|date=2005|accessdate=31 January 2015}}</ref><ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK>{{cite web|url=http://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/wer-war-wer-in-der-ddr-%2363%3B-1424.html?ID=1798|author1= Helmut Müller-Enbergs|author-link= Helmut Müller-Enbergs|author2= Bernd-Rainer Barth|author2-link= Bernd-Rainer Barth |title =Koenen, Bernard (Johann Heinrich) * 17.2.1889, † 30.4.1964 1. Sekretär der SED-Bezirksleitung Halle, Diplomat|publisher= Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur: Biographische Datenbanken |accessdate= 31 January 2015}}</ref>

⚫
Between 1953 and 1958 he was the East German ambassador to [[Czechoslovakia]].<ref name=spiegel201964/>


⚫
Between 1953 and 1958 he served as his country's ambassador to [[Czechoslovakia]].<ref name=spiegel201964/>
⚫
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-S88901, Halle, DDR-Gründung, Kundgebung, Rede Koenen.jpg|thumb|right|Bernard Koenen giving a speech, in a city square on Halle, to celebrate the birth of the German Democratic Republic on 8 October]]
==Life==
==Life==

===Early years===
===Early years===
Koenen was born in Hamburg, the son of a [[joiner|carpenter-joiner]] and of a cook. His father was a [[Socialism|Socialist activist]] who participated in the founding of the [[Second International]] in [[Paris]] five months after the boy's birth.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/> By the beginning of the twentieth century his father was a leading member of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]].<ref name=DKPSachsBK/> On 17 January 1906 they were among an estimated 80,000 people in [[Hamburg]] to take part in Germany's first ever mass-political protest march.<ref name=DKPSachsBK/> The protestors' target was an electoral [[Prussian three-class franchise|system]] which privileged the ruling classes at the expense of the working classes, and among those taking part, Bernard Koenen was distributing leaflets.<ref name=DKPSachsBK>{{cite web|url=http://parteilehrjahr.dkp-lsa.de/html/bernhard_koenen.html |title=Bernard Koenen (17. Februar 1889 – 30. April 1964) ....."Das war ein echter Kommunist"|author=Günter Freyer|publisher=[[German Communist Party|DKP]] [[Saxony-Anhalt]]|work=Rote Kalenderblätter DKP Brandenburg |date=|accessdate=31 January 2015}}</ref>
Koenen was born in Hamburg, the son of a [[joiner|carpenter-joiner]] and a cook. His father was a [[socialism|Socialist activist]] who participated in the founding of the [[Second International]] in [[Paris]] five months after his birth.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/> By the turn of the century his father was a leading member of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]].<ref name=DKPSachsBK/> On 17 January 1906 they were among an estimated 80,000 people in [[Hamburg]] to take part in Germany's first ever mass-political protest march,<ref name=DKPSachsBK/> protesting an [[Prussian three-class franchise|electoral system]] which privileged the upper classes at the expense of the working class; Bernard Koenen distributed leaflets at the march.<ref name=DKPSachsBK>{{cite web|url=http://parteilehrjahr.dkp-lsa.de/html/bernhard_koenen.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150131175954/http://parteilehrjahr.dkp-lsa.de/html/bernhard_koenen.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 January 2015|title=Bernard Koenen (17. Februar 1889 – 30. April 1964) ....."Das war ein echter Kommunist"|author=Günter Freyer|publisher=[[German Communist Party|DKP]] [[Saxony-Anhalt]]|work=Rote Kalenderblätter DKP Brandenburg|accessdate=31 January 2015}}</ref>

⚫
On leaving school Koenen had embarked on an apprenticeship as a [[Machinist|Machinist-Fitter]] and in 1906 joined the [[German Metal Workers' Union]].<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> The next year he turned 18 and joined the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party (SPD)]].<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> His skills evidently made him readily employable and a period of travelling followed, taking in [[Lausanne]], Brussels, [[Lille]], and Tunisia, where, in [[Bizerte]], he was among those who founded the [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist Party]] in Tunisia.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/> He undertook his military service between 1910 and 1912 and then returned to working abroad in industry. He was called up into the army in 1914, but released from military service in 1916 on account of "anti-military activities". By 1917 he had relocated to [[Leuna]] in [[Saxony-Anhalt]] where he worked as an electrician. In 1917 he joined the break-away [[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany|Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD)]]<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> which had split primarily on account of the mainstream SPD's continuing support for the war. During the [[German Revolution of 1918–19|November Revolution]], Koenen was deputy leader of the Workers' Council at the [[Leuna#Leunawerke|Leuna Chemicals Plant]] where he was then working.<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/>


⚫
On leaving school Koenen had embarked on an apprenticeship as a [[Machinist|Machinist-Fitter]] and in 1906 joined the [[German Metal Workers' Union]].<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> The next year he became 18 and joined the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party (SPD)]].<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> His skills evidently made him readily employable and a period of travelling followed, taking in Lausanne, Brussels, Lille and Tunis where, in [[Bizerta]], he was among those who founded the [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist Party ]] in Tunisia.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/> He undertook his military service between 1910 and 1912 and then returned to working abroad in industry. He was called back into the army in 1914, but released from military service in 1916 on account of "anti-military activities". By 1917 he had relocated to [[Leuna]] in [[Saxony-Anhalt]] where he was working an an electrician. In 1917 he joined the break-away [[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany|Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD)]]<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> which had split primarily on account of the mainstream SPD's continuing support for the [[First World War|war]] (though the USPD proved to be more left-wing on a range of issues in the months ahead). During the [[German Revolution of 1918–19|November Revolution]] Koenen was deputy leader of the Workers' Council at the [[Leuna#Leunawerke|Leuna Chemicals Plant]] where he was by then working.<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/>
===Weimar Germany===
===Weimar Germany===
Bernard Koenen joined the recently formed [[Communist Party of Germany|German Communist Party]] in 1920 and became a member of the party leadership team for [[:de:Regierungsbezirk Merseburg|Halle-Merseburg]].<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> In 1923 he joined the party's national leadership team.<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> From 1922 till 1933 he also sat as a member of the [[:de:Provinziallandtag (Preußen)|regional legislaive assembly (''Landtag'')]] for [[Province of Saxony|Saxony]]. Factionalism continued to be a feature of left-wing politics during the 1920s, and from the middle of the decade Koenen was identified with the so-called [[Conciliator faction|Conciliator faction (''Versöhnler'')]], which led in 1929 to his being relieved of some of his party offices by the party leader, [[Ernst Thälmann]].
Koenen joined the recently formed [[Communist Party of Germany|German Communist Party]] in 1920 and became a member of the party leadership team for {{ill|Regierungsbezirk Merseburg|de}}.<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> In 1923 he joined the party's national leadership.<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> From 1922 till 1933 he also sat as a member of the [[:de:Provinziallandtag (Preußen)|regional legislative assembly (''Landtag'')]] for [[Province of Saxony|Saxony]]. Factionalism continued to be a feature of left-wing politics during the 1920s, and from the middle of the decade Koenen was identified with the so-called [[Conciliator faction|Conciliator faction (''Versöhnler'')]], which led in 1929 to his being relieved of some of his party offices by the party leader, [[Ernst Thälmann]].

===Nazi Germany===
===Nazi Germany===
In January 1933 the [[NSDAP|NSDAP (Nazi Party)]] [[Machtergreifung|took power]] and set about establishing [[one-party state|one-]][[Nazi party|party]] government in Germany. Leading members of the Communist party were particular targets. On 12 February 1933, during the course of the [[Eisleben]] [[:de:Eisleber Blutsonntag|"Bloody Sunday" Nazi propaganda march]] several Communist leaders were killed: Koenen was merely assaulted and badly injured by [[Sturmabteilung|S.A. members]], as a result of which he lost an eye.<ref name=spiegel151949>{{cite web |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-44436242.html |title=Ein Auge genügt
In January 1933, the [[NSDAP|NSDAP (Nazi Party)]] [[Machtergreifung|took power]] and set about establishing [[one-party state|one-]][[Nazi Party|party]] government in Germany. Leading members of the Communist party were particular targets. On 12 February 1933, during the course of the [[Eisleben]] {{ill|Eisleber Blutsonntag|de}} (Bloody Sunday) Nazi propaganda march, several Communist leaders were killed; Koenen, however, was merely assaulted and badly injured by [[Sturmabteilung|SA]] members, as a result of which he lost an eye.<ref name=spiegel151949>{{cite web |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-44436242.html |title=Ein Auge genügt Ueber Leichen gehen beide|publisher=[[Der Spiegel]] (online)|author=|date=9 April 1959|accessdate=1 February 2015}}</ref> For the next few months, with a warrant out for his arrest, he was concealed in a private clinic by a doctor who was sympathetic to the communist cause.

Ueber Leichen gehen beide|author=|publisher=[[Der Spiegel]] (online)|author=|date=9 April 1959|accessdate=1 February 2015}}</ref> For the next few months, with a warrant issued for his capture, he was concealed in a private clinic by a doctor who was sympathetic to the Communist cause.
===Exile===
===Exile===
In May 1933, along with several other fugitive Comminists, he managed to get to the [[Saarland#Interwar history|Saarland]]<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> which was the only part of Germany still under [[Saar (League of Nations)|foreign military occupation]] following the end of the [[First World War]]. In July 1933 Bernard Koenin emigrated to the [[Soviet Union]] where he would remain till 1945.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/> Initially he worled as the Organisation Secretary of the [[International Red Aid]] organisation. Then, in 1937, he was caught up in one of [[Great Purge|Stalin's purges]] and detained by the [[NKVD]] till 1939.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/> However, in 1940 he was again trusted, by the Communist Party, to undertake assignments.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/> Between 1941 and 1943 he was working for the "Deutschen Volkssender" ("''German People's Radio''") radio station, transferring in August 1943 to Radio "Freies Deutschland" ("''Free Germany''").<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> He started to work for the Soviet sponsored [[National Committee for a Free Germany]] in 1943, which was also the year in which he joined the Central Committee of the (exiled German) [[Communist Party of Germany|Communist Party]].<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/>
In May 1933, along with several other fugitive communists, he managed to get to the [[Saarland#Interwar history|Saarland]],<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> the only part of Germany still under [[Saar (League of Nations)|foreign military occupation]] following the end of the [[First World War]]. In July 1933 Koenen emigrated to the [[Soviet Union]], where he would remain till 1945.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/> Initially he worked as the Organisation Secretary of the [[International Red Aid]] organisation. Then, in 1937, he was caught up in [[Great Purge|Stalin's purges]] and detained by the [[NKVD]] till 1939.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/> However, in 1940 he was again trusted to undertake assignments.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/> Between 1941 and 1943 he worked for the "Deutschen Volkssender" ("''[[German People's Radio]]''") radio station, transferring in August 1943 to Radio "Freies Deutschland" ("''Free Germany''").<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> He started to work for the Soviet sponsored [[National Committee for a Free Germany]] in 1943, which was also the year in which he joined the [[Central committee|Central Committee]] of the (exiled) [[Communist Party of Germany]].<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/>
===Home to the Soviet occuption zone and the German Democratic Republic===
⚫
Bernard Koenen returned in 1945 to the [[Soviet occupation zone]] in what remained of Germany.<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> In April 1946 he became a founder member of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED / ''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands'')]]. The creation of the party came about through a [[Merger of the KPD and SPD into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany|contentious merger]] in the area under [[Soviet Military Administration in Germany|Soviet Administration]] of the old Communist Party and the more moderately left-wing [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]]. The merger was in theory one of equals, but by the time the [[German Democratic Republic]] was formally founded in 1949 it was noteworthy that the positions of party influence and leadership were almost all held by men who, like Koenen, had been members of the [[Communist Party of Germany|Communist Party]] until 1946. With right wing policies discredited by twelve diastrous years of Nazi government, the de facto neutralising of the moderate left created the basis for a return to [[one-party state|one-]][[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|party]] government, but this time the template had been prepared, in some detail, in Moscow. During the later 1940s Koenen worked as a party officer in the [[Halle]] region.<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> Between 1946 and 1952 he was also a member and leader of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] group in the [[Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt|regional legislature]] of [[Saxony-Anhalt]].<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/>


===Postwar===
⚫
At a national level Koenen was a member of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Central Committee|Party Central Committee]] from 1946 till his death in 1964.<ref name=spiegel201964>{{cite web|url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-46173549.html|title=GESTORBEN BERNARD KOENEN |author=|publisher=[[Der Spiegel]] (online)|date=13 May 1964|accessdate=1 February 2015|}}</ref> Under the Soviet system, on which the [[East Germany|new country's]] constitutional arrangements were modelled, the responsibilities of government ministers were restricted to implementing the decisions of the Party Central Committee, while a [[East German general election, 1950|Single List voting system]] ensured that the [[People's Chamber|National Legislative Assembly (''Volkskammer'')]] was also controlled by the ruling [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] (controlled by its Central Committee). In terms of power and influence Koenen's Central Committee membership was therefore of greater significance than membership of regional or national legislatures, though in practice there were plenty of Central Committee members who simulataneously held office in national or regional legislatures and/or as government ministers. Koenen himself combined Central Committee membership with membership of the national legislature (''Volkskammer''), although it was reported that he had declined ministerial office in order to avoid having to cut back on party duties.<ref name=SachswikiBK>{{cite web |url=http://www.sachsen-anhalt-wiki.de/index.php/Bernard_Koenen|title=Bernard Koenen|work = Ein Projekt der [[Mitteldeutsche Zeitung]]|author=Benutzer:Rudelsburg|date=7 February 2013|accessdate=1 February 2015}}</ref>
⚫
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-S88901, Halle, DDR-Gründung, Kundgebung, Rede Koenen.jpg|thumb|Koenen giving a speech in a city square in Halle to celebrate the birth of the German Democratic Republic on 8 October 1949]]
⚫
Koenen returned in 1945 to the [[Soviet occupation zone of Germany|Soviet occupation zone]] in what remained of Germany.<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> In April 1946 he became a founder member of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED / ''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands'')]]. The creation of the party came about through a [[Merger of the KPD and SPD into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany|contentious merger]], in the Soviet zone, of the Communist Party and the more moderately left-wing [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]]. The merger was in theory one of equals, but by the time the [[German Democratic Republic]] was formally founded in 1949 it was noteworthy that the positions of party influence and leadership were almost all held by men who, like Koenen, had been members of the [[Communist Party of Germany|Communist Party]] until 1946. With right wing policies discredited by twelve disastrous years of Nazi government, the de facto neutralising of the moderate left allowed a return to [[one-party state|one-]][[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|party]] government, but this time the template had been prepared, in some detail, in Moscow. During the late 1940s, Koenen worked as a party officer in the [[Halle (Bezirk)|Halle region]].<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> Between 1946 and 1952 he was also a member and leader of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] group in the [[Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt|regional legislature]] of [[Saxony-Anhalt]].<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/>


⚫
At the national level, Koenen was a member of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Central Committee|Party Central Committee]] from 1946 till his death in 1964.<ref name=spiegel201964>{{cite web|url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-46173549.html|title=GESTORBEN BERNARD KOENEN |author=|publisher=[[Der Spiegel]] (online)|date=13 May 1964|accessdate=1 February 2015}}</ref> Under the Soviet system, on which the East German constitution was modelled, the responsibilities of government ministers were restricted to implementing the decisions of the Party Central Committee, while a [[1950 East German general election|Single List voting system]] ensured that the [[People's Chamber|National Legislative Assembly (''Volkskammer'')]] was also controlled by the ruling [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] (that is to say, by its Central Committee). In terms of power and influence Koenen's Central Committee membership was therefore of greater significance than membership of regional or national legislatures, though in practice there were plenty of Central Committee members who simultaneously held office in national or regional legislatures and/or as government ministers. Koenen himself combined Central Committee membership with membership of the national legislature (''Volkskammer''), although it was reported that he had declined ministerial office in order to avoid having to cut back on party duties.<ref name=SachswikiBK>{{cite web|url=http://www.sachsen-anhalt-wiki.de/index.php/Bernard_Koenen|title=Bernard Koenen|work=Ein Projekt der [[Mitteldeutsche Zeitung]]|author=Benutzer:Rudelsburg|date=7 February 2013|accessdate=1 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204012502/http://www.sachsen-anhalt-wiki.de/index.php/Bernard_Koenen|archive-date=4 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
⚫
From 1946 till 1964 Koenen also held a seat in the [[People's Chamber|National Legislative Assembly]]. However, in 1952 he lost his seat and leadership position in the regional legislature of Saxony-Anhalt when regional legislatures were abolished in the context of a wider programme of regional government reform. Partly as a consequence of those reforms, local and municipal councils became more important. Between 1952 and 1953, and again, in succession to [[:de:Franz Bruk|Franz Bruk]], from 1958 till 1963 Bernard Koenen served as First Secretary to the SED Regional Leadeership (''Berzirksleitung'') in the city of Halle.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/>


⚫
From 1946 till 1964 Koenen also held a seat in the [[People's Chamber|National Legislative Assembly]]. However, in 1952 he lost his seat and leadership position in the regional legislature of [[Saxony-Anhalt]] when regional legislatures were abolished in the context of a wider programme of regional government reform. Partly as a consequence of those reforms, local and municipal councils became more important. Between 1952 and 1953, and again, in succession to [[:de:Franz Bruk|Franz Bruk]], from 1958 till 1963 Koenen served as First Secretary to the SED Regional Leadership (''Bezirksleitung'') in [[Halle (Saale)|Halle]].<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/>


In 1953 Koenen was appointed as his country's ambassador to neighbouring [[Czechoslovakia]], an important diplomatic role in which he succeeded [[:de:Fritz Große|Fritz Große]]: he held the Prague job till 1958.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/>
From 1953 to 1958 Koenen was appointed as his country's ambassador to neighbouring [[Czechoslovakia]], an important post, succeeding [[Fritz Große]].<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenBK/>


Between 1960 and 1964 he was a member of the [[State Council of East Germany]].<ref>Hermann Weber: ''Die Wandlung des deutschen Kommunismus'', Bd. 2''; p. 186f</ref>
Between 1960 and 1964 he was a member of the [[State Council of East Germany]].<ref>Hermann Weber: ''Die Wandlung des deutschen Kommunismus'', Bd. 2''; p. 186f</ref>


Beyond his political offices, Bernard Koenen worked at teaching and journalism.
Outside politics, he also worked as a teacher and journalist.
⚫
==Family matters==
⚫
Bernard Koenen's elder brother, [[Wilhelm Koenen]] (1886-1963), was also a German Communist politician.


⚫
==Family==
⚫
Bernard Koenen married [[:de:Frieda Koenen|Frieda Bockentien]] (1890-1968). Their sons [[:de:Viktor Koenen|Victor]] and Alfred both joined the Soviet [[Red army]] in order to be part of the fight against [[Nazi Germany]]. Viktor Koenen (1920-1942) was killed over or in Poland in 1942.<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> (There are conflicting reports as to how he died.) Alfred Koenen (1921-1995) survived the war, however, and had a career as an [[National People's Army|army]] officer and, later, as a diplomat.<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/>
⚫
Koenen's elder brother, [[Wilhelm Koenen]] (1886-1963), was also a German Communist politician.

⚫
Koenen married [[:de:Frieda Koenen|Frieda Bockentien]] (1890-1968) during the [[First World War]].<ref name=HandBuchDeuKom>{{cite web |url=http://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/wer-war-wer-in-der-ddr-%2363%3B-1424.html?ID=1798|title=Koenen, Bernard (Johann Heinrich)|work=Biographische Angaben aus dem Handbuch der Deutschen Kommunisten|date=|author1=Hermann Weber|author-link=Hermann Weber|author2=Andreas Herbst|author2-link=Andreas Herbst (Historian)|publisher=Karl Dietz Verlag Berlin|accessdate=10 February 2015}}</ref> Their sons [[:de:Viktor Koenen|Victor]] and Alfred both joined the [[Red Army]] in order to fight [[Nazi Germany]]. Viktor (1920-1942) was killed over or in Poland in 1942.<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/> (There are conflicting reports as to how he died.) Alfred (1921-1995) survived the war and had a career as an [[National People's Army|army]] officer and, later, as a diplomat.<ref name=rosaluxstifBK/>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
{{reflist|2}}


==External links==
{{Normdaten|TYP=p|GND=126847347|VIAF=3478083}}
*{{commons category-inline}}


{{Authority control}}
⚫
[[Category:Members of the State Council of the German Democratic Republic]]

⚫
[[Category:Members of the People's Chamber]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koenen, Bernard}}
⚫
[[Category:Ambassadors of East Germany to Czechoslovakia]]
[[Category:1889 births]]
[[Category:1964 deaths]]
[[Category:Politicians from Hamburg]]
[[Category:Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians]]
[[Category:Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians]]
[[Category:Independent Social Democratic Party politicians]]
[[Category:Independent Social Democratic Party politicians]]
[[Category:Communist Party of Germany politicians]]
[[Category:Communist Party of Germany politicians]]
[[Category:Socialist Unity Party of Germany members]]
[[Category:Members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Karl Marx]]
[[Category:Members of the State Council of East Germany]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit]]
[[Category:Members of the Provisional Volkskammer]]
[[Category:People condemned by Nazi courts]]
[[Category:Members of the 1st Volkskammer]]
[[Category:1889 births]]
[[Category:Members of the 2nd Volkskammer]]
[[Category:1964 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the 3rd Volkskammer]]
⚫
[[Category:Members of the 4th Volkskammer]]
⚫
[[Category:Ambassadors of East Germany to Czechoslovakia]]
⚫
[[Category:Members of the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt]]
[[Category:Refugees from Nazi Germany in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:National Committee for a Free Germany members]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold]]

Latest revision as of 20:31, 6 June 2024

Bernard Koenen
Bernard Koenen (1961)
Ambassador of the German Democratic Republic to Czechoslovakia
In office
1953–1958
Preceded byFritz Große
Succeeded byGeorg Stibi [de]
Member of the Volkskammer
In office
1949–1964
Member of the Landtag of Saxony
In office
1946–1952
Member of the Landtag of the Province of Saxony
In office
1922–1933
Personal details
Born
Bernard Johann Heinrich Koenen

(1889-02-17)17 February 1889
Hamburg, German Empire
Died30 April 1964(1964-04-30) (aged 75)
East Berlin, German Democratic Republic
Resting placeZentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde, Berlin
Political partySocialist Unity Party of Germany (1946-)
Communist Party of Germany (1920-1946)
Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (1917-1920)
Social Democratic Party of Germany (1907-1917)
SpouseFrieda Bockentien/Koenen [de] (1890–1968)
ChildrenViktor Koenen [de] (1920–1942)
Alfred Koenen (1921–1995)
RelativesWilhelm Koenen (brother)
OccupationPolitician
Military service
AllegianceGerman Empire
Years of service1914-1916
Battles/warsFirst World War

Bernard Johann Heinrich Koenen (17 February 1889 – 30 April 1964) was a German politician.[1][2]

Between 1953 and 1958 he was the East German ambassador to Czechoslovakia.[3]

Life

[edit]

Early years

[edit]

Koenen was born in Hamburg, the son of a carpenter-joiner and a cook. His father was a Socialist activist who participated in the founding of the Second International in Paris five months after his birth.[2] By the turn of the century his father was a leading member of the Social Democratic Party.[4] On 17 January 1906 they were among an estimated 80,000 people in Hamburg to take part in Germany's first ever mass-political protest march,[4] protesting an electoral system which privileged the upper classes at the expense of the working class; Bernard Koenen distributed leaflets at the march.[4]

On leaving school Koenen had embarked on an apprenticeship as a Machinist-Fitter and in 1906 joined the German Metal Workers' Union.[1] The next year he turned 18 and joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD).[1] His skills evidently made him readily employable and a period of travelling followed, taking in Lausanne, Brussels, Lille, and Tunisia, where, in Bizerte, he was among those who founded the Socialist Party in Tunisia.[2] He undertook his military service between 1910 and 1912 and then returned to working abroad in industry. He was called up into the army in 1914, but released from military service in 1916 on account of "anti-military activities". By 1917 he had relocated to Leuna in Saxony-Anhalt where he worked as an electrician. In 1917 he joined the break-away Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD)[1] which had split primarily on account of the mainstream SPD's continuing support for the war. During the November Revolution, Koenen was deputy leader of the Workers' Council at the Leuna Chemicals Plant where he was then working.[1]

Weimar Germany

[edit]

Koenen joined the recently formed German Communist Party in 1920 and became a member of the party leadership team for Regierungsbezirk Merseburg [de].[1] In 1923 he joined the party's national leadership.[1] From 1922 till 1933 he also sat as a member of the regional legislative assembly (Landtag) for Saxony. Factionalism continued to be a feature of left-wing politics during the 1920s, and from the middle of the decade Koenen was identified with the so-called Conciliator faction (Versöhnler), which led in 1929 to his being relieved of some of his party offices by the party leader, Ernst Thälmann.

Nazi Germany

[edit]

In January 1933, the NSDAP (Nazi Party) took power and set about establishing one-party government in Germany. Leading members of the Communist party were particular targets. On 12 February 1933, during the course of the Eisleben Eisleber Blutsonntag [de] (Bloody Sunday) Nazi propaganda march, several Communist leaders were killed; Koenen, however, was merely assaulted and badly injured by SA members, as a result of which he lost an eye.[5] For the next few months, with a warrant out for his arrest, he was concealed in a private clinic by a doctor who was sympathetic to the communist cause.

Exile

[edit]

In May 1933, along with several other fugitive communists, he managed to get to the Saarland,[1] the only part of Germany still under foreign military occupation following the end of the First World War. In July 1933 Koenen emigrated to the Soviet Union, where he would remain till 1945.[2] Initially he worked as the Organisation Secretary of the International Red Aid organisation. Then, in 1937, he was caught up in Stalin's purges and detained by the NKVD till 1939.[2] However, in 1940 he was again trusted to undertake assignments.[2] Between 1941 and 1943 he worked for the "Deutschen Volkssender" ("German People's Radio") radio station, transferring in August 1943 to Radio "Freies Deutschland" ("Free Germany").[1] He started to work for the Soviet sponsored National Committee for a Free Germany in 1943, which was also the year in which he joined the Central Committee of the (exiled) Communist Party of Germany.[1]

Postwar

[edit]
Koenen giving a speech in a city square in Halle to celebrate the birth of the German Democratic Republic on 8 October 1949

Koenen returned in 1945 to the Soviet occupation zone in what remained of Germany.[1] In April 1946 he became a founder member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED / Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands). The creation of the party came about through a contentious merger, in the Soviet zone, of the Communist Party and the more moderately left-wing Social Democratic Party. The merger was in theory one of equals, but by the time the German Democratic Republic was formally founded in 1949 it was noteworthy that the positions of party influence and leadership were almost all held by men who, like Koenen, had been members of the Communist Party until 1946. With right wing policies discredited by twelve disastrous years of Nazi government, the de facto neutralising of the moderate left allowed a return to one-party government, but this time the template had been prepared, in some detail, in Moscow. During the late 1940s, Koenen worked as a party officer in the Halle region.[1] Between 1946 and 1952 he was also a member and leader of the SED group in the regional legislature of Saxony-Anhalt.[2]

At the national level, Koenen was a member of the Party Central Committee from 1946 till his death in 1964.[3] Under the Soviet system, on which the East German constitution was modelled, the responsibilities of government ministers were restricted to implementing the decisions of the Party Central Committee, while a Single List voting system ensured that the National Legislative Assembly (Volkskammer) was also controlled by the ruling SED (that is to say, by its Central Committee). In terms of power and influence Koenen's Central Committee membership was therefore of greater significance than membership of regional or national legislatures, though in practice there were plenty of Central Committee members who simultaneously held office in national or regional legislatures and/or as government ministers. Koenen himself combined Central Committee membership with membership of the national legislature (Volkskammer), although it was reported that he had declined ministerial office in order to avoid having to cut back on party duties.[6]

From 1946 till 1964 Koenen also held a seat in the National Legislative Assembly. However, in 1952 he lost his seat and leadership position in the regional legislature of Saxony-Anhalt when regional legislatures were abolished in the context of a wider programme of regional government reform. Partly as a consequence of those reforms, local and municipal councils became more important. Between 1952 and 1953, and again, in succession to Franz Bruk, from 1958 till 1963 Koenen served as First Secretary to the SED Regional Leadership (Bezirksleitung) in Halle.[2]

From 1953 to 1958 Koenen was appointed as his country's ambassador to neighbouring Czechoslovakia, an important post, succeeding Fritz Große.[2]

Between 1960 and 1964 he was a member of the State Council of East Germany.[7]

Outside politics, he also worked as a teacher and journalist.

Family

[edit]

Koenen's elder brother, Wilhelm Koenen (1886-1963), was also a German Communist politician.

Koenen married Frieda Bockentien (1890-1968) during the First World War.[8] Their sons Victor and Alfred both joined the Red Army in order to fight Nazi Germany. Viktor (1920-1942) was killed over or in Poland in 1942.[1] (There are conflicting reports as to how he died.) Alfred (1921-1995) survived the war and had a career as an army officer and, later, as a diplomat.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n GOTTFRIED HAMACHER unter Mitarbeit von André Lohmar; Herbert Mayer; Günter Wehner & Harald Wittstock (2005). "Koenen, Bernhard, 17.2.1889 (Hamburg) – 30.4.1964 (Berlin)" (PDF). Kurzbiographien. Karl Dietz Verlag, Berlin & Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Berlin. pp. 107–108. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Helmut Müller-Enbergs; Bernd-Rainer Barth. "Koenen, Bernard (Johann Heinrich) * 17.2.1889, † 30.4.1964 1. Sekretär der SED-Bezirksleitung Halle, Diplomat". Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur: Biographische Datenbanken. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  3. ^ a b "GESTORBEN BERNARD KOENEN". Der Spiegel (online). 13 May 1964. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Günter Freyer. "Bernard Koenen (17. Februar 1889 – 30. April 1964) ....."Das war ein echter Kommunist"". Rote Kalenderblätter DKP Brandenburg. DKP Saxony-Anhalt. Archived from the original on 31 January 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Ein Auge genügt Ueber Leichen gehen beide". Der Spiegel (online). 9 April 1959. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  6. ^ Benutzer:Rudelsburg (7 February 2013). "Bernard Koenen". Ein Projekt der Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  7. ^ Hermann Weber: Die Wandlung des deutschen Kommunismus, Bd. 2; p. 186f
  8. ^ Hermann Weber; Andreas Herbst. "Koenen, Bernard (Johann Heinrich)". Biographische Angaben aus dem Handbuch der Deutschen Kommunisten. Karl Dietz Verlag Berlin. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Bernard_Koenen&oldid=1227616274"