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{{Short description|Adopted daughter of Walter and Lotte Ulbricht (1944–1991)}}
{{Short description|Adopted daughter of Walter and Lotte Ulbricht (1944–1991)}}

'''Beate Ulbricht''' (also known as '''Beate Matteoli'''; 6 May 1944 – 5/6 December 1991)<ref name="geipel">{{cite news |last1=Geipel |first1=Ines |title=Wie Ulbrichts Adoptivtochter dem Alkohol verfiel |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/article4187033/Wie-Ulbrichts-Adoptivtochter-dem-Alkohol-verfiel.html |access-date=December 20, 2021 |work=[[Die Welt]] |date=July 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221012901/https://www.welt.de/politik/article4187033/Wie-Ulbrichts-Adoptivtochter-dem-Alkohol-verfiel.html |archive-date=December 20, 2021 |language=German}}</ref> was the adopted daughter of [[Leadership of East Germany#Leaders of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)|First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party]] of the [[East Germany|GDR]] [[Walter Ulbricht]] and his wife [[Lotte Ulbricht|Lotte]].
{{Infobox person
| name = Beate Ulbricht
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Mariya Pestunova
| birth_date = {{birth date|1944|5|6|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Leipzig]], [[Gau Saxony|Saxony]], Germany
| death_date = {{death date and age|1991|12|5|1944|5|6|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Lichtenberg]], [[Berlin]], Germany
| occupation =
| education = [[Herzen University|Leningrad State Pedagogical Institute]]
| nationality =
| movement =
| parents =
| spouse =
| children =
}}

'''Beate Ulbricht''' (born '''Mariya Pestunova'''; 6 May 1944 – 5/6 December 1991),<ref name="geipel">,{{cite news |last1=Geipel |first1=Ines |title=Wie Ulbrichts Adoptivtochter dem Alkohol verfiel |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/article4187033/Wie-Ulbrichts-Adoptivtochter-dem-Alkohol-verfiel.html |access-date=20 December 2021 |work=[[Die Welt]] |date=24 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221012901/https://www.welt.de/politik/article4187033/Wie-Ulbrichts-Adoptivtochter-dem-Alkohol-verfiel.html |archive-date=21 December 2021 |language=de}}</ref> also known as '''Beate Matteoli''', was the adopted daughter of [[Leadership of East Germany#Leaders of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)|First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party]] of the [[East Germany|GDR]] [[Walter Ulbricht]] and his wife [[Lotte Ulbricht|Lotte]].


==Biography==
==Biography==
===Parentage and adoption===
Ulbricht was born '''Mariya Pestunova''' in 1944 in [[Leipzig]] in what was then the [[Nazi Germany|Greater German Reich]]. Her birth mother was a Ukrainian [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced laborer]]; the identity of her father was unknown. In summer 1944, shortly after Ulbricht's birth, her mother died in an air raid bombing. Ulbricht was sent to an orphanage, whereupon she was adopted for a short time before her foster mother decided to return her.<ref name="warnat">{{cite news |last1=Warnat |first1=Grit |author1-link=December 20, 2021 |title=Wie Lotte Ulbricht Mutter wurde |url=https://www.volksstimme.de/kultur/wie-lotte-ulbricht-mutter-wurde-677479 |access-date=December 20, 2021 |work=[[Volksstimme (Saxony-Anhalt)|Volksstimme]] |date=July 31, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221014720/https://www.volksstimme.de/kultur/wie-lotte-ulbricht-mutter-wurde-677479 |archive-date=December 20, 2021| language=German}}</ref> In January 1946, she was adopted a second time by [[Walter Ulbricht]], then a member of the [[Landtag of Saxony]], and his partner [[Lotte Ulbricht|Lotte]].<ref name="geipel" /> It was the second attempt at adoption for the couple,<ref name="seng">{{cite news |last1=Seng |first1=Marco |title=Papa Walter brachte Schokolade mit |url=https://www.nwzonline.de/kultur/weser-ems/papa-walter-brachte-schokolade-mit-papa-walter-brachte-schokolade-mit_a_30,1,2648481384.html# |access-date=December 20, 2021 |work=[[Nordwest-Zeitung]] |date=October 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221043456/https://www.nwzonline.de/kultur/weser-ems/papa-walter-brachte-schokolade-mit-papa-walter-brachte-schokolade-mit_a_30,1,2648481384.html |archive-date=December 20, 2021 |language=German}}</ref> who wanted children, but were unable to have them on their own because prior illnesses left Lotte Ulbricht unable to conceive.<ref name="neef">{{cite news |last1=Neef |first1=Christian |title=Wertvolles Menschlein |url=https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/wertvolles-menschlein-a-06196b7e-0002-0001-0000-000031900127?context=issue |access-date=December 20, 2021 |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=August 22, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221021116/https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/wertvolles-menschlein-a-06196b7e-0002-0001-0000-000031900127?context=issue |archive-date=December 20, 2021 |language=German}}</ref> Beate Ulbricht's birth parentage was kept secret from the public until after the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]]. Because of Soviet laws which prevented children born to Soviet citizens from being adopted by foreign parents, Ulbricht's adoption was not formally approved until August 26, 1950, with the caveat that she could not renounce Soviet citizenship in favor of East German citizenship.<ref name="neef" />
Ulbricht was born Mariya Pestunova in 1944 in [[Leipzig]] in what was then the [[Nazi Germany|Greater German Reich]]. Her birth mother was a Ukrainian [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced laborer]]; the identity of her father was unknown. In summer 1944, shortly after Ulbricht's birth, her mother died in an air raid bombing. Ulbricht was sent to an orphanage, whereupon she was adopted for a short time before her foster mother decided to return her.<ref name="warnat">{{cite news |last1=Warnat |first1=Grit |author1-link=20 December 2021 |title=Wie Lotte Ulbricht Mutter wurde |url=https://www.volksstimme.de/kultur/wie-lotte-ulbricht-mutter-wurde-677479 |access-date=20 December 2021 |work=[[Volksstimme (Saxony-Anhalt)|Volksstimme]] |date=31 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221014720/https://www.volksstimme.de/kultur/wie-lotte-ulbricht-mutter-wurde-677479 |archive-date=21 December 2021| language=German}}</ref> In January 1946, she was adopted a second time by [[Walter Ulbricht]], then a member of the [[Landtag of Saxony]], and his partner [[Lotte Ulbricht|Lotte]].<ref name="geipel" /> It was the second attempt at adoption for the couple,<ref name="seng">{{cite news |last1=Seng |first1=Marco |title=Papa Walter brachte Schokolade mit |url=https://www.nwzonline.de/kultur/weser-ems/papa-walter-brachte-schokolade-mit-papa-walter-brachte-schokolade-mit_a_30,1,2648481384.html# |access-date=20 December 2021 |work=[[Nordwest-Zeitung]] |date=10 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221043456/https://www.nwzonline.de/kultur/weser-ems/papa-walter-brachte-schokolade-mit-papa-walter-brachte-schokolade-mit_a_30,1,2648481384.html |archive-date=21 December 2021 |language=German}}</ref> who wanted children, but were unable to have them on their own because prior illnesses left Lotte Ulbricht unable to conceive.<ref name="neef">{{cite news |last1=Neef |first1=Christian |title=Wertvolles Menschlein |url=https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/wertvolles-menschlein-a-06196b7e-0002-0001-0000-000031900127?context=issue |access-date=20 December 2021 |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=22 August 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221021116/https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/wertvolles-menschlein-a-06196b7e-0002-0001-0000-000031900127?context=issue |archive-date=21 December 2021 |language=German}}</ref> Beate Ulbricht's birth parentage was kept secret from the public until after the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]]. Because of Soviet laws which prevented children born to Soviet citizens from being adopted by foreign parents, Ulbricht's adoption was not formally approved until 26 August 1950, with the caveat that she could not renounce Soviet citizenship in favor of East German citizenship.<ref name="neef" />


===Education===
At age 2, Ulbricht suffered from health problems in her infancy, but she managed to overcome them and continue her primary school education in Berlin. In 1954, she enrolled at the Russian school on Kissingenstraße in [[Pankow]], where her status made her a target of bullying from her fellow students. At the age of 15, her adoptive parents, now legally married, sent her to [[Leningrad]] for high school. There she studied history and [[Russian language|Russian]] at the [[Herzen University|Leningrad State Pedagogical Institute]].<ref name="geipel" /> In 1962, she began a romantic relationship with Ivanko Matteoli, the son of an [[Italian Communist Party]] functionary. The two married over her parents' objections in Pankow in October 1963, thereafter dropping out of her studies. After the birth of Ulbricht's daughter in February 1965, she expressed her desire to return to Leningrad in order to avoid continued rejection and hostility from her parents. After her husband left for the Soviet Union to prepare the move, their plans were thwarted when the [[East German]] government confiscated her passport. In 1967, Ulricht consented to her parents' wishes and divorced her husband, whereupon her passport was returned the following day. She flew to Leningrad to find her ex-husband, but was unsuccessful in locating him.<ref name="bildgeschichte">{{cite news |title=Die kleine Bildgeschichte |work=[[Welt am Sonntag]] |date=May 29, 2011 |language=German}}</ref> While in the Soviet Union, she met a former classmate, Yuri Polkovnikov, whom she married in March 1968. In January 1969 she gave birth to a son and resumed her studies. Ulbricht was subjected to [[domestic abuse|violence]] from her husband and became an alcoholic as a result.<ref name="geipel" />
At age 2, Ulbricht suffered from health problems, but she managed to overcome them and continue her primary school education in Berlin. In 1954, she enrolled at the Russian school on Kissingenstraße in [[Pankow]], where her status made her a target of [[bullying]] from her fellow students. When she was 15 years old, her adoptive parents, now legally married, sent her to [[Leningrad]] for high school. There she studied history and [[Russian language|Russian]] at the [[Herzen University|Leningrad State Pedagogical Institute]].<ref name="geipel" /> In 1962, she began a romantic relationship with Ivanko Matteoli, the son of an [[Italian Communist Party]] functionary. The two married over her parents' objections in Pankow in October 1963, after which Ulbricht dropped out of her studies.<ref name="geipel" />


===Relationships and marriage===
After the death of Ulbricht's father in 1973, she divorced Polkovnikov and returned to East Germany. There she lived with her two children in social circumstances made difficult by her estrangement from her parents. At the end of the 1970s, the authorities removed her children from her custody.<ref name="geipel" />
After the birth of Ulbricht's daughter in February 1965, she expressed her desire to return to Leningrad in order to avoid continued rejection and hostility from her parents. After her husband left for the Soviet Union to prepare the move, their plans were thwarted when the [[East German]] government confiscated her passport. In 1967, Ulbricht consented to her parents' wishes and divorced her husband, whereupon her passport was returned the following day. She flew to Leningrad to find her ex-husband, but was unsuccessful in locating him.<ref name="bildgeschichte">{{cite news |title=Die kleine Bildgeschichte |work=[[Welt am Sonntag]] |date=29 May 2011 |language=German}}</ref> While in the Soviet Union, she met a former classmate, Yuri Polkovnikov, whom she married in March 1968. In January 1969 she gave birth to a son and resumed her studies. Ulbricht was subjected to [[domestic abuse|violence]] from her husband and became an alcoholic as a result.<ref name="geipel" /> After the death of Ulbricht's father in 1973, she divorced Polkovnikov and returned to East Germany. There she lived with her two children in social circumstances made difficult by her estrangement from her parents. At the end of the 1970s, the authorities removed her children from her custody.<ref name="geipel" />


===Later life and death===
Between 27 August 7 September 1991, Ulricht gave an 11-part interview to the tabloid ''Super!'', wherein she discussed personal details about her life in the Ulbricht family.<ref name="burnett">{{cite book |last1=Burnett |first1=Simon |title=Ghost Strasse: Germany's East Trapped Between Past and Present |date=2007 |publisher=Black Rose Books |location=Montreal |isbn=1551642913 |page=10}}</ref>
Between 27 August and 7 September 1991, Ulbricht gave an 11-part interview to the tabloid ''Super!'', wherein she discussed personal details about life with her family.<ref name="burnett">{{cite book |last1=Burnett |first1=Simon |title=Ghost Strasse: Germany's East Trapped Between Past and Present |date=2007 |publisher=Black Rose Books |location=Montreal |isbn=978-1551642918}}</ref>{{rp|10}}


On the night of 3 December, neighbors of her apartment in the [[Lichtenberg]] borough of eastern Berlin reported loud arguments, barking dogs and many men coming and going to police. When they arrived they found Ulbricht's body, with facial injuries and showing signs of prolonged alcohol abuse. She had either fallen or been beaten; the [[manner of death]], whether an accident or homicide, has never been determined. If she was murdered, her death has been linked to that of a man, said to have once been her lover, found stabbed in his burnt apartment almost two years later. Lotte Ulbricht was apparently unsurprised, saying "Fancy that ...", when a reporter visited her to inform her of her daughter's death.<ref name="burnett" />{{rp|7–8}}
Ulbricht was murdered in her [[Lichtenberg]] apartment during the night of 5/6 December 1991. Her murder remains unsolved.<ref name="geipel" />


==Relationship with adoptive parents==
==Relationship with adoptive parents==
Upon Ulbricht's adoption, she was expected to play her part as a member of the model East German socialist family. Lotte Ulbricht wrote to adoption authorities that she aspired to raise her daughter into a "valuable member of the new Germany."<ref name="warnat" /> According to her housekeeper, "[she] wanted above all for [Beate Ulbricht] to be the best."{{sfn|Burnett|2007|p=10}} Public and private pressures became increasingly burdensome to her as she got older. When in her teenage years she began to rebel against her parents, she was punished by being sent to study in the Soviet Union.<ref name="mdr">{{cite news |title=Ulbrichts Adoptivtochter: Die Tragik der Beate Matteoli |url=https://www.mdr.de/geschichte/ddr/politik-gesellschaft/beate-matteolie-walter-ulbricht-100.html |access-date=December 20, 2021 |work=MDR.de |date=November 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221055911/https://www.mdr.de/geschichte/ddr/politik-gesellschaft/beate-matteolie-walter-ulbricht-100.html |archive-date=December 20, 2021 |language=German}}</ref>
Upon Ulbricht's adoption, she was expected to play her part as a member of the model East German socialist family. Lotte Ulbricht wrote to adoption authorities that she aspired to raise her daughter into a "valuable member of the new Germany."<ref name="warnat" /> According to her housekeeper, "[she] wanted above all for [Beate Ulbricht] to be the best."{{sfn|Burnett|2007|p=10}} Public and private pressures became increasingly burdensome to her as she got older. When in her teenage years she began to rebel against her parents, she was punished by being sent to study in the Soviet Union.<ref name="mdr">{{cite news |title=Ulbrichts Adoptivtochter: Die Tragik der Beate Matteoli |url=https://www.mdr.de/geschichte/ddr/politik-gesellschaft/beate-matteolie-walter-ulbricht-100.html |access-date=20 December 2021 |work=MDR.de |date=26 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221055911/https://www.mdr.de/geschichte/ddr/politik-gesellschaft/beate-matteolie-walter-ulbricht-100.html |archive-date=21 December 2021 |language=German}}</ref>


After Ulbricht wed her first husband, she was subjected to a campaign of harassment by East German authorities. Her parents revoked her privileges, cut off further contact, and forced her to work as a solderer at the VEB Stern-Radio plant in Berlin. She learned after her father's death that she had been disinherited from his [[Will and testament|will]].<ref name="geipel" />
After Ulbricht wed her first husband, she was subjected to a campaign of harassment by East German authorities. Her parents revoked her privileges, cut off further contact, and forced her to work as a solderer at the VEB Stern-Radio plant in Berlin. She learned after her father's death that she had been disinherited from his [[Will and testament|will]].<ref name="geipel" />


Ulbricht spoke warmly about her adoptive father, who had treated her well and doted upon her. But she referred to her mother as "the hag," calling her "cold-hearted and egotistic." According to her, Walter Ulbricht married Lotte on the orders of [[Stalin]].{{sfn|Burnett|2007|p=7}}
Ulbricht spoke warmly about her adoptive father, who had treated her well and doted upon her. But she referred to her mother as "the hag," calling her "cold-hearted and egotistic." According to her, Walter Ulbricht married Lotte on the orders of [[Stalin]].{{sfn|Burnett|2007|p=7}}

==See also==
*[[List of unsolved deaths]]


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulbricht, Beate}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulbricht, Beate}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:Political families of Germany]]
[[Category:Children of general secretaries of communist parties]]
[[Category:People from Leipzig]]
[[Category:German murder victims]]
[[Category:Adoptees]]
[[Category:German adoptees]]
[[Category:German adoptees]]
[[Category:People from Leipzig]]
[[Category:Political families of Germany]]
[[Category:Unsolved deaths in Germany]]
[[Category:Children of heads of state]]

Latest revision as of 05:48, 9 November 2024

Beate Ulbricht
Born
Mariya Pestunova

(1944-05-06)6 May 1944
Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
Died5 December 1991(1991-12-05) (aged 47)
EducationLeningrad State Pedagogical Institute

Beate Ulbricht (born Mariya Pestunova; 6 May 1944 – 5/6 December 1991),[1] also known as Beate Matteoli, was the adopted daughter of First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of the GDR Walter Ulbricht and his wife Lotte.

Biography

[edit]

Parentage and adoption

[edit]

Ulbricht was born Mariya Pestunova in 1944 in Leipzig in what was then the Greater German Reich. Her birth mother was a Ukrainian forced laborer; the identity of her father was unknown. In summer 1944, shortly after Ulbricht's birth, her mother died in an air raid bombing. Ulbricht was sent to an orphanage, whereupon she was adopted for a short time before her foster mother decided to return her.[2] In January 1946, she was adopted a second time by Walter Ulbricht, then a member of the Landtag of Saxony, and his partner Lotte.[1] It was the second attempt at adoption for the couple,[3] who wanted children, but were unable to have them on their own because prior illnesses left Lotte Ulbricht unable to conceive.[4] Beate Ulbricht's birth parentage was kept secret from the public until after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Because of Soviet laws which prevented children born to Soviet citizens from being adopted by foreign parents, Ulbricht's adoption was not formally approved until 26 August 1950, with the caveat that she could not renounce Soviet citizenship in favor of East German citizenship.[4]

Education

[edit]

At age 2, Ulbricht suffered from health problems, but she managed to overcome them and continue her primary school education in Berlin. In 1954, she enrolled at the Russian school on Kissingenstraße in Pankow, where her status made her a target of bullying from her fellow students. When she was 15 years old, her adoptive parents, now legally married, sent her to Leningrad for high school. There she studied history and Russian at the Leningrad State Pedagogical Institute.[1] In 1962, she began a romantic relationship with Ivanko Matteoli, the son of an Italian Communist Party functionary. The two married over her parents' objections in Pankow in October 1963, after which Ulbricht dropped out of her studies.[1]

Relationships and marriage

[edit]

After the birth of Ulbricht's daughter in February 1965, she expressed her desire to return to Leningrad in order to avoid continued rejection and hostility from her parents. After her husband left for the Soviet Union to prepare the move, their plans were thwarted when the East German government confiscated her passport. In 1967, Ulbricht consented to her parents' wishes and divorced her husband, whereupon her passport was returned the following day. She flew to Leningrad to find her ex-husband, but was unsuccessful in locating him.[5] While in the Soviet Union, she met a former classmate, Yuri Polkovnikov, whom she married in March 1968. In January 1969 she gave birth to a son and resumed her studies. Ulbricht was subjected to violence from her husband and became an alcoholic as a result.[1] After the death of Ulbricht's father in 1973, she divorced Polkovnikov and returned to East Germany. There she lived with her two children in social circumstances made difficult by her estrangement from her parents. At the end of the 1970s, the authorities removed her children from her custody.[1]

Later life and death

[edit]

Between 27 August and 7 September 1991, Ulbricht gave an 11-part interview to the tabloid Super!, wherein she discussed personal details about life with her family.[6]: 10 

On the night of 3 December, neighbors of her apartment in the Lichtenberg borough of eastern Berlin reported loud arguments, barking dogs and many men coming and going to police. When they arrived they found Ulbricht's body, with facial injuries and showing signs of prolonged alcohol abuse. She had either fallen or been beaten; the manner of death, whether an accident or homicide, has never been determined. If she was murdered, her death has been linked to that of a man, said to have once been her lover, found stabbed in his burnt apartment almost two years later. Lotte Ulbricht was apparently unsurprised, saying "Fancy that ...", when a reporter visited her to inform her of her daughter's death.[6]: 7–8 

Relationship with adoptive parents

[edit]

Upon Ulbricht's adoption, she was expected to play her part as a member of the model East German socialist family. Lotte Ulbricht wrote to adoption authorities that she aspired to raise her daughter into a "valuable member of the new Germany."[2] According to her housekeeper, "[she] wanted above all for [Beate Ulbricht] to be the best."[7] Public and private pressures became increasingly burdensome to her as she got older. When in her teenage years she began to rebel against her parents, she was punished by being sent to study in the Soviet Union.[8]

After Ulbricht wed her first husband, she was subjected to a campaign of harassment by East German authorities. Her parents revoked her privileges, cut off further contact, and forced her to work as a solderer at the VEB Stern-Radio plant in Berlin. She learned after her father's death that she had been disinherited from his will.[1]

Ulbricht spoke warmly about her adoptive father, who had treated her well and doted upon her. But she referred to her mother as "the hag," calling her "cold-hearted and egotistic." According to her, Walter Ulbricht married Lotte on the orders of Stalin.[9]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g ,Geipel, Ines (24 July 2009). "Wie Ulbrichts Adoptivtochter dem Alkohol verfiel". Die Welt (in German). Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b Warnat, Grit (31 July 2015). "Wie Lotte Ulbricht Mutter wurde". Volksstimme (in German). Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  3. ^ Seng, Marco (10 October 2015). "Papa Walter brachte Schokolade mit". Nordwest-Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  4. ^ a b Neef, Christian (22 August 2004). "Wertvolles Menschlein". Der Spiegel (in German). Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Die kleine Bildgeschichte". Welt am Sonntag (in German). 29 May 2011.
  6. ^ a b Burnett, Simon (2007). Ghost Strasse: Germany's East Trapped Between Past and Present. Montreal: Black Rose Books. ISBN 978-1551642918.
  7. ^ Burnett 2007, p. 10.
  8. ^ "Ulbrichts Adoptivtochter: Die Tragik der Beate Matteoli". MDR.de (in German). 26 November 2021. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  9. ^ Burnett 2007, p. 7.