Maxwhollymoralground: ←Created page with '{{Short description|German politician (1919–2008)}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Hans Albrecht | honorific_suffix = | image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-0922-300, Hans Albrecht.jpg | image_size = | caption = Albrecht in 1989 | order = | office = First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party<br />in Bezirk Suhl...'
{{Short description|German politician (1919–2008)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Hans Albrecht
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-0922-300, Hans Albrecht.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Albrecht in 1989
| order =
| office = First Secretary of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]]<br />in [[Bezirk Suhl]]
|1blankname = {{nowrap|Second Secretary}}
|1namedata = {{unbulleted list|Karl-Heinz Heiliger|Walter Weiss|Gerhard Koszycki}}
| term_start = August 1968
| term_end = 2 November 1989
| predecessor = Otto Funke
| successor = Peter Pechauf
{{Collapsed infobox section begin |last=yes |Volkskammer
|titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office1 = Member of the [[Volkskammer]] <br /> for Bad Salzungen, Hildburghausen, Meiningen, Neuhaus "*****" Rennweg, Sonneberg
| term_start1 = [[1971 East German general election|29 November 1971]]
| term_end1 = 16 November 1989
| predecessor1 = ''multi-member district''
| successor1 = Lore Götz{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
| birth_name = Hans Albrecht
| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|11|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Bochum]], [[Province of Westphalia]], [[Free State of Prussia]], [[Weimar Republic]] {{small|(now [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], [[Germany]])}}
| residence =
| occupation = {{hlist|Politician|Party Functionary|Locksmith}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2008|03|27|1919|11|22}}
| death_place = [[Berlin]], [[Germany]]
| spouse =
| children =
| party = [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]]<br />{{small|(1946–1989)}}
| otherparty = [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]]<br />{{small|(1945–1946)}}
| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|
* [[Parteihochschule Karl Marx|Party Academy Karl Marx]]
* [[Freiberg University of Mining and Technology|''Bergakademie Freiberg'']] ([[Diplom#Germany|Dipl.-Ing. oec.]])
}}
| awards = {{hlist|[[Patriotic Order of Merit]], 1st class|[[Order of Karl Marx]]}}
| website =
| module2 = {{collapsible list
| title = Central institution membership
| bullets = on
| 1963–1989: Full member,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Central Committee|Central Committee]]
| 1954–1963: Candidate member,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Central Committee|Central Committee]]
}}
----
{{collapsible list
| title = Other offices held
| bullets = on
| 1972–1989: Member,<br />[[National Defence Council (East Germany)|National Defence Council]]
| 1965–1968: First Deputy Chairman,<br />Workers' and Peasants' Inspection
| 1954–1958: First Secretary,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] in [[Eisenhüttenstadt#History|Stalinstadt]]
| 1952–1954: First Secretary,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] in [[Eberswalde]]
| 1951–1952: First Secretary,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] in [[Frankfurt (Oder)]]
}}
}}
'''Hans Albrecht''' (22 November 1919 – 27 March 2008) was a German politician and high-ranking party functionary of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] (SED).
In the [[East Germany|German Democratic Republic]], he served as the longtime First Secretary of the SED in [[Bezirk Suhl]] and was a member of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Central Committee|Central Committee of the SED]] and the [[National Defence Council (East Germany)|National Defence Council]]. In the [[List of deaths at the Berlin Wall|Berlin Wall shooting]] trials, he was sentenced to five years and one month in prison for [[manslaughter]].
==Life and career==
Albrecht came from a working-class family in the [[Ruhr|Ruhr area]]. A few months after completing his [[Apprenticeship in Germany|training]] as a [[Locksmithing|locksmith]], he was drafted into the [[Luftwaffe]] of the [[Wehrmacht]] for the duration of [[World War II]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=Albrecht, Hans |url=https://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbei...anken/biographische-datenbanken/hans-albrecht |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de |publisher=[[Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship]] |language=de}}</ref>
After the war, Albrecht settled in [[Saxony (1945–1952)|Saxony]], worked as a heating engineer, and joined the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]] (Social Democratic Party) in his hometown of [[Bennewitz]].<ref name=":0" /> He became a member of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) in 1946 following the [[Merger of the KPD and SPD|forced merger]] of the SPD and KPD ([[Communist Party of Germany]]).<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Blume |first=Dorlis |last2=Würz |first2=Markus |date=2014-09-13 |title=Zwangsvereinigung zur SED |url=https://www.hdg.de/lemo/kapitel/nachkriegsjahre/neuanfaenge/zwangsvereinigung-zur-sed.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.hdg.de |publisher=Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum, Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik |language=de}}</ref>
==Political career==
===Early career===
From 1946 he was a staff member, later until 1949 secretary of the district leadership of the new SED in Grimma.<ref name=":0" />
===Bezirk Frankfurt (Oder) career===
In 1950 he attended the [[Parteihochschule Karl Marx|"Karl Marx" Party Academy]]. Subsequently, his stations from 1951 were [[Frankfurt (Oder)]], [[Eberswalde]], and [[Eisenhüttenstadt#History|Stalinstadt]], where he became First Secretary of the SED district leadership, and from 1954 also worked in the [[Bezirk Frankfurt|Bezirk Frankfurt (Oder)]] SED leadership. In the same year, he was elected as a candidate member of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Central Committee|Central Committee of the SED]]. He held this status until January 1963 ([[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#The 4th Congress|VI. Party Congress]]), after which he became a full member.<ref name=":0" />
Since 1958 chairman of the [[People's Economic Council|Bezirk Economic Council]] and member of the Bezirk legislature, he became chairman of the Council of Bezirk Frankfurt (Oder) in 1960,<ref name=":0" /> formally making him head of government of the Bezirk. However, he was ''de facto'' subservient to the local SED leadership. From 1963 he completed a two-year study at the Industrial Institute of the [[Freiberg University of Mining and Technology]], which he completed a with a degree in [[industrial engineering]] ([[Diplom#Germany|Dipl.-Ing. oec.]]). After completing his studies in [[Freiberg]], he became the first deputy chairman of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection of the GDR,<ref name=":0" /> succeeding [[Günter Sieber]], who became Minister for Trade and Supply.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=Sieber, Günter |url=https://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbei...nken/biographische-datenbanken/guenter-sieber |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de |publisher=[[Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship]] |language=de}}</ref>
===Bezirk Suhl SED First Secretary===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1988-0224-032, Kaltensundheim, Besuch Arbeitsgruppe DDR-Staatsrat.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Albrecht (right of center) and [[Volkskammer#Presidents of the People's Chamber|Volkskammer President]] [[Horst Sindermann]] (right) visiting farmers in [[Kaltensundheim]] in February 1988]]
In August 1968, he succeeded Otto Funke as First Secretary of the [[Bezirk Suhl]] SED leadership, a position he held for 21 years until 1989.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Bezirksleitung Suhl der SED (1952 - 1989) |url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/sed-fdgb-netzwerk/html/gremien.html?mode=SED&cat=22 |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.bundesarchiv.de |publisher=[[German Federal Archives]] |language=de}}</ref> Bezirk Suhl had the smallest population and was the most geographically isolated [[Administrative divisions of East Germany#List of Bezirke|Bezirk of the GDR]]. He additionally became member of the [[Volkskammer]] in [[1971 East German general election|1971]] and a member of the presidium of the German-Arab Society of the GDR.<ref name=":0" /> In 1972, he was elected to the [[National Defence Council (East Germany)|National Defense Council of the GDR]],<ref name=":0" /> likely due to the long western border of Bezirk Suhl with [[West Germany]].
Albrecht's leadership was viewed negatively. His leadership style was authoritarian,<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2019-11-19 |title=Vortrag über den SED-Provinzfürsten |url=https://www.insuedthueringen.de/inh...ten.85de8784-b42e-46ec-8f12-2c4c8ae25c4e.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.insuedthueringen.de |publisher=[[Freies Wort]] |language=de |publication-place=[[Suhl]]}}</ref> occasionally described as dictatorial,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aurich |first=Eberhard |url=https://www.eaurich.de/Dokumente/Vergangenheit_Erinnerungen.pdf |title=Vergangenheit will nicht vergehen |date=2021-04-16 |pages=4 |language=de |access-date=2024-05-05}}</ref> and he was viewed as a hardliner. In 1988, he unsuccessfully tried to pressure Bad Salzungen SED First Secretary Hans-Dieter Fritschler to rescind his statements in the book ''Der Erste'' ({{lang-en|The first one}}).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Hübner |first=Wolfgang |last2=Scherzer |first2=Landolf |date=2021-09-22 |title=Der Erste |url=https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1156859.ddr-der-erste.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=nd-aktuell.de |publisher=[[Neues Deutschland]] |language=de}}</ref> The book provided an unfalsified account of Fritschler's work as a local SED functionary and detailed the GDR's problems, including dysfunction stemming from the Bezirk Suhl SED leadership.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1989-10-29 |title=Sisyphus in Bad Salzungen |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/sisyphus-in-bad-salzungen-a-f855b782-0002-0001-0000-000013499921 |access-date=2024-05-05 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-03-10 |title=Der Erste |url=https://www.aufbau-verlage.de/aufbau-digital/der-erste/978-3-8412-1939-8 |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.aufbau-verlage.de |language=de}}</ref>
Albrecht was awarded the [[Patriotic Order of Merit]] in Gold in 1974, and the [[Order of Karl Marx|Karl Marx Order]] in 1979.<ref name=":0" />
===Peaceful Revolution===
During the [[Peaceful Revolution|''Wende'']], on 2 November 1989, the Bezirk Suhl SED removed him from the position of First Secretary and installed reformer Peter Pechauf as his successor.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rücktritte der 1. Sekretäre der SED-Bezirksleitungen im November 1989 |url=https://www.ddr89.de/d/SED_ruecktritte.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.ddr89.de |language=de}}</ref> He was removed by his party from the [[Volkskammer]] a week later, on 16 November 1989.
At its last session on 3 December 1989, the Central Committee expelled Albrecht from the Central Committee and from the SED shortly before its collective resignation.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Protokoll der 12. Tagung des SED-Zentralkomitees, 3. Dezember 1989 (Abschrift eines Tonmitschnitts) |url=https://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/ma...-dezember-1989-abschrift-eines-tonmitschnitts |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.chronik-der-mauer.de |language=de}}</ref>
===Reunified Germany===
Albrecht passed away in 2008 at the age of 88.<ref name=":0" />
==Prosecution after the Wende==
===Conviction for abuse of office and embezzlement===
After the [[Peaceful Revolution|''Wende'']], Albrecht was arrested for [[abuse of power]] and [[embezzlement]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Das Ende |url=https://www.stasi-unterlagen-archiv.de/informationen-zur-stasi/themen/beitrag/das-ende/ |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv |publisher=[[Stasi Records Agency]] |language=de}}</ref> In October 1992, he was sentenced by the Meiningen Regional Court to 22 months in prison for incitement to embezzlement.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1992-10-17 |title=Knast für SED-Chef |url=https://taz.de/!1647773/ |access-date=2024-05-05 |work=[[Die Tageszeitung]] |pages=4 |language=de |issn=0931-9085}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=1992-10-19 |title=Haft für SED-Mann |url=https://taz.de/!1647622/ |access-date=2024-05-05 |work=[[Die Tageszeitung]] |pages=5 |language=de |issn=0931-9085}}</ref> He did not have to serve the sentence because he had already served more than half of the time in [[pre-trial detention]].<ref name=":3" />
===Conviction for manslaughter===
After the [[German reunification]], he was indicted in May 1991 as part of the Mauerschützen trials with another arrest warrant. As part of the trials against former members of the [[National Defence Council (East Germany)|National Defense Council of the GDR]], he was charged with "complicity in [[manslaughter]]" (political responsibility for the [[List of deaths at the Berlin Wall|fatal shootings at the Berlin Wall]]) before the [[Landgericht Berlin|Berlin Regional Court]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=1996-11-08 |title=Informationen über das Verfassungsbeschwerde-Verfahren „Strafgerichtliche Verurteilungen im Zusammenhang mit der Tötung von DDR-Flüchtlingen an der innerdeutschen Grenze” |url=https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/1996/bvg96-066.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de |publisher=[[Federal Constitutional Court]] |language=de}}</ref>
On 16 September 1993, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for incitement to manslaughter. The verdict was changed in the appeal by the [[Federal Court of Justice]] on 26 July 1994, to manslaughter as an indirect perpetrator and the sentence was increased to five years and one month.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=2004-08-06 |title=Krankheit oder Schuldspruch |url=https://www.stern.de/politik/deutsc...rung-krankheit-oder-schuldspruch-3068620.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=stern.de |language=de}}</ref> Since Albrecht's defense raised constitutional complaints, he initially remained free.<ref name=":0" />
On 12 November 1996, the [[Federal Constitutional Court]] dismissed the constitutional complaints of Albrecht and others.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-11-15 |title=Urteile gegen SED-Funktionäre bestätigt |url=https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article651685/Urteile-gegen-SED-Funktionaere-bestaetigt.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=DIE WELT |language=de}}</ref> The killing of refugees was the most serious injustice that precluded the justification of those responsible by GDR laws.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> Albrecht served his sentence in a Berlin prison.<ref name=":0" />
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category
eople from Bochum]]
[[Category:Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians]]
[[Category:Members of the Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 6th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 7th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 8th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 9th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Candidate members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany]]
[[Category:Members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Karl Marx]]
[[Category:German communists]]
[[Category:Freiberg University of Mining and Technology alumni]]
[[Category:German politicians convicted of crimes]]
[[Category:German people convicted of manslaughter]]
Okumaya devam et...
{{Short description|German politician (1919–2008)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Hans Albrecht
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-0922-300, Hans Albrecht.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Albrecht in 1989
| order =
| office = First Secretary of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]]<br />in [[Bezirk Suhl]]
|1blankname = {{nowrap|Second Secretary}}
|1namedata = {{unbulleted list|Karl-Heinz Heiliger|Walter Weiss|Gerhard Koszycki}}
| term_start = August 1968
| term_end = 2 November 1989
| predecessor = Otto Funke
| successor = Peter Pechauf
{{Collapsed infobox section begin |last=yes |Volkskammer
|titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office1 = Member of the [[Volkskammer]] <br /> for Bad Salzungen, Hildburghausen, Meiningen, Neuhaus "*****" Rennweg, Sonneberg
| term_start1 = [[1971 East German general election|29 November 1971]]
| term_end1 = 16 November 1989
| predecessor1 = ''multi-member district''
| successor1 = Lore Götz{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
| birth_name = Hans Albrecht
| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|11|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Bochum]], [[Province of Westphalia]], [[Free State of Prussia]], [[Weimar Republic]] {{small|(now [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], [[Germany]])}}
| residence =
| occupation = {{hlist|Politician|Party Functionary|Locksmith}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2008|03|27|1919|11|22}}
| death_place = [[Berlin]], [[Germany]]
| spouse =
| children =
| party = [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]]<br />{{small|(1946–1989)}}
| otherparty = [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]]<br />{{small|(1945–1946)}}
| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|
* [[Parteihochschule Karl Marx|Party Academy Karl Marx]]
* [[Freiberg University of Mining and Technology|''Bergakademie Freiberg'']] ([[Diplom#Germany|Dipl.-Ing. oec.]])
}}
| awards = {{hlist|[[Patriotic Order of Merit]], 1st class|[[Order of Karl Marx]]}}
| website =
| module2 = {{collapsible list
| title = Central institution membership
| bullets = on
| 1963–1989: Full member,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Central Committee|Central Committee]]
| 1954–1963: Candidate member,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Central Committee|Central Committee]]
}}
----
{{collapsible list
| title = Other offices held
| bullets = on
| 1972–1989: Member,<br />[[National Defence Council (East Germany)|National Defence Council]]
| 1965–1968: First Deputy Chairman,<br />Workers' and Peasants' Inspection
| 1954–1958: First Secretary,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] in [[Eisenhüttenstadt#History|Stalinstadt]]
| 1952–1954: First Secretary,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] in [[Eberswalde]]
| 1951–1952: First Secretary,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] in [[Frankfurt (Oder)]]
}}
}}
'''Hans Albrecht''' (22 November 1919 – 27 March 2008) was a German politician and high-ranking party functionary of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] (SED).
In the [[East Germany|German Democratic Republic]], he served as the longtime First Secretary of the SED in [[Bezirk Suhl]] and was a member of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Central Committee|Central Committee of the SED]] and the [[National Defence Council (East Germany)|National Defence Council]]. In the [[List of deaths at the Berlin Wall|Berlin Wall shooting]] trials, he was sentenced to five years and one month in prison for [[manslaughter]].
==Life and career==
Albrecht came from a working-class family in the [[Ruhr|Ruhr area]]. A few months after completing his [[Apprenticeship in Germany|training]] as a [[Locksmithing|locksmith]], he was drafted into the [[Luftwaffe]] of the [[Wehrmacht]] for the duration of [[World War II]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=Albrecht, Hans |url=https://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbei...anken/biographische-datenbanken/hans-albrecht |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de |publisher=[[Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship]] |language=de}}</ref>
After the war, Albrecht settled in [[Saxony (1945–1952)|Saxony]], worked as a heating engineer, and joined the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]] (Social Democratic Party) in his hometown of [[Bennewitz]].<ref name=":0" /> He became a member of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) in 1946 following the [[Merger of the KPD and SPD|forced merger]] of the SPD and KPD ([[Communist Party of Germany]]).<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Blume |first=Dorlis |last2=Würz |first2=Markus |date=2014-09-13 |title=Zwangsvereinigung zur SED |url=https://www.hdg.de/lemo/kapitel/nachkriegsjahre/neuanfaenge/zwangsvereinigung-zur-sed.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.hdg.de |publisher=Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum, Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik |language=de}}</ref>
==Political career==
===Early career===
From 1946 he was a staff member, later until 1949 secretary of the district leadership of the new SED in Grimma.<ref name=":0" />
===Bezirk Frankfurt (Oder) career===
In 1950 he attended the [[Parteihochschule Karl Marx|"Karl Marx" Party Academy]]. Subsequently, his stations from 1951 were [[Frankfurt (Oder)]], [[Eberswalde]], and [[Eisenhüttenstadt#History|Stalinstadt]], where he became First Secretary of the SED district leadership, and from 1954 also worked in the [[Bezirk Frankfurt|Bezirk Frankfurt (Oder)]] SED leadership. In the same year, he was elected as a candidate member of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Central Committee|Central Committee of the SED]]. He held this status until January 1963 ([[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#The 4th Congress|VI. Party Congress]]), after which he became a full member.<ref name=":0" />
Since 1958 chairman of the [[People's Economic Council|Bezirk Economic Council]] and member of the Bezirk legislature, he became chairman of the Council of Bezirk Frankfurt (Oder) in 1960,<ref name=":0" /> formally making him head of government of the Bezirk. However, he was ''de facto'' subservient to the local SED leadership. From 1963 he completed a two-year study at the Industrial Institute of the [[Freiberg University of Mining and Technology]], which he completed a with a degree in [[industrial engineering]] ([[Diplom#Germany|Dipl.-Ing. oec.]]). After completing his studies in [[Freiberg]], he became the first deputy chairman of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection of the GDR,<ref name=":0" /> succeeding [[Günter Sieber]], who became Minister for Trade and Supply.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=Sieber, Günter |url=https://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbei...nken/biographische-datenbanken/guenter-sieber |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de |publisher=[[Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship]] |language=de}}</ref>
===Bezirk Suhl SED First Secretary===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1988-0224-032, Kaltensundheim, Besuch Arbeitsgruppe DDR-Staatsrat.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Albrecht (right of center) and [[Volkskammer#Presidents of the People's Chamber|Volkskammer President]] [[Horst Sindermann]] (right) visiting farmers in [[Kaltensundheim]] in February 1988]]
In August 1968, he succeeded Otto Funke as First Secretary of the [[Bezirk Suhl]] SED leadership, a position he held for 21 years until 1989.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Bezirksleitung Suhl der SED (1952 - 1989) |url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/sed-fdgb-netzwerk/html/gremien.html?mode=SED&cat=22 |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.bundesarchiv.de |publisher=[[German Federal Archives]] |language=de}}</ref> Bezirk Suhl had the smallest population and was the most geographically isolated [[Administrative divisions of East Germany#List of Bezirke|Bezirk of the GDR]]. He additionally became member of the [[Volkskammer]] in [[1971 East German general election|1971]] and a member of the presidium of the German-Arab Society of the GDR.<ref name=":0" /> In 1972, he was elected to the [[National Defence Council (East Germany)|National Defense Council of the GDR]],<ref name=":0" /> likely due to the long western border of Bezirk Suhl with [[West Germany]].
Albrecht's leadership was viewed negatively. His leadership style was authoritarian,<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2019-11-19 |title=Vortrag über den SED-Provinzfürsten |url=https://www.insuedthueringen.de/inh...ten.85de8784-b42e-46ec-8f12-2c4c8ae25c4e.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.insuedthueringen.de |publisher=[[Freies Wort]] |language=de |publication-place=[[Suhl]]}}</ref> occasionally described as dictatorial,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aurich |first=Eberhard |url=https://www.eaurich.de/Dokumente/Vergangenheit_Erinnerungen.pdf |title=Vergangenheit will nicht vergehen |date=2021-04-16 |pages=4 |language=de |access-date=2024-05-05}}</ref> and he was viewed as a hardliner. In 1988, he unsuccessfully tried to pressure Bad Salzungen SED First Secretary Hans-Dieter Fritschler to rescind his statements in the book ''Der Erste'' ({{lang-en|The first one}}).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Hübner |first=Wolfgang |last2=Scherzer |first2=Landolf |date=2021-09-22 |title=Der Erste |url=https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1156859.ddr-der-erste.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=nd-aktuell.de |publisher=[[Neues Deutschland]] |language=de}}</ref> The book provided an unfalsified account of Fritschler's work as a local SED functionary and detailed the GDR's problems, including dysfunction stemming from the Bezirk Suhl SED leadership.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1989-10-29 |title=Sisyphus in Bad Salzungen |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/sisyphus-in-bad-salzungen-a-f855b782-0002-0001-0000-000013499921 |access-date=2024-05-05 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-03-10 |title=Der Erste |url=https://www.aufbau-verlage.de/aufbau-digital/der-erste/978-3-8412-1939-8 |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.aufbau-verlage.de |language=de}}</ref>
Albrecht was awarded the [[Patriotic Order of Merit]] in Gold in 1974, and the [[Order of Karl Marx|Karl Marx Order]] in 1979.<ref name=":0" />
===Peaceful Revolution===
During the [[Peaceful Revolution|''Wende'']], on 2 November 1989, the Bezirk Suhl SED removed him from the position of First Secretary and installed reformer Peter Pechauf as his successor.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rücktritte der 1. Sekretäre der SED-Bezirksleitungen im November 1989 |url=https://www.ddr89.de/d/SED_ruecktritte.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.ddr89.de |language=de}}</ref> He was removed by his party from the [[Volkskammer]] a week later, on 16 November 1989.
At its last session on 3 December 1989, the Central Committee expelled Albrecht from the Central Committee and from the SED shortly before its collective resignation.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Protokoll der 12. Tagung des SED-Zentralkomitees, 3. Dezember 1989 (Abschrift eines Tonmitschnitts) |url=https://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/ma...-dezember-1989-abschrift-eines-tonmitschnitts |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.chronik-der-mauer.de |language=de}}</ref>
===Reunified Germany===
Albrecht passed away in 2008 at the age of 88.<ref name=":0" />
==Prosecution after the Wende==
===Conviction for abuse of office and embezzlement===
After the [[Peaceful Revolution|''Wende'']], Albrecht was arrested for [[abuse of power]] and [[embezzlement]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Das Ende |url=https://www.stasi-unterlagen-archiv.de/informationen-zur-stasi/themen/beitrag/das-ende/ |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=Stasi-Unterlagen-Archiv |publisher=[[Stasi Records Agency]] |language=de}}</ref> In October 1992, he was sentenced by the Meiningen Regional Court to 22 months in prison for incitement to embezzlement.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1992-10-17 |title=Knast für SED-Chef |url=https://taz.de/!1647773/ |access-date=2024-05-05 |work=[[Die Tageszeitung]] |pages=4 |language=de |issn=0931-9085}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=1992-10-19 |title=Haft für SED-Mann |url=https://taz.de/!1647622/ |access-date=2024-05-05 |work=[[Die Tageszeitung]] |pages=5 |language=de |issn=0931-9085}}</ref> He did not have to serve the sentence because he had already served more than half of the time in [[pre-trial detention]].<ref name=":3" />
===Conviction for manslaughter===
After the [[German reunification]], he was indicted in May 1991 as part of the Mauerschützen trials with another arrest warrant. As part of the trials against former members of the [[National Defence Council (East Germany)|National Defense Council of the GDR]], he was charged with "complicity in [[manslaughter]]" (political responsibility for the [[List of deaths at the Berlin Wall|fatal shootings at the Berlin Wall]]) before the [[Landgericht Berlin|Berlin Regional Court]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=1996-11-08 |title=Informationen über das Verfassungsbeschwerde-Verfahren „Strafgerichtliche Verurteilungen im Zusammenhang mit der Tötung von DDR-Flüchtlingen an der innerdeutschen Grenze” |url=https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/1996/bvg96-066.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de |publisher=[[Federal Constitutional Court]] |language=de}}</ref>
On 16 September 1993, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for incitement to manslaughter. The verdict was changed in the appeal by the [[Federal Court of Justice]] on 26 July 1994, to manslaughter as an indirect perpetrator and the sentence was increased to five years and one month.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=2004-08-06 |title=Krankheit oder Schuldspruch |url=https://www.stern.de/politik/deutsc...rung-krankheit-oder-schuldspruch-3068620.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=stern.de |language=de}}</ref> Since Albrecht's defense raised constitutional complaints, he initially remained free.<ref name=":0" />
On 12 November 1996, the [[Federal Constitutional Court]] dismissed the constitutional complaints of Albrecht and others.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-11-15 |title=Urteile gegen SED-Funktionäre bestätigt |url=https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article651685/Urteile-gegen-SED-Funktionaere-bestaetigt.html |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=DIE WELT |language=de}}</ref> The killing of refugees was the most serious injustice that precluded the justification of those responsible by GDR laws.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> Albrecht served his sentence in a Berlin prison.<ref name=":0" />
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category
eople from Bochum]][[Category:Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians]]
[[Category:Members of the Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 6th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 7th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 8th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 9th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Candidate members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany]]
[[Category:Members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Karl Marx]]
[[Category:German communists]]
[[Category:Freiberg University of Mining and Technology alumni]]
[[Category:German politicians convicted of crimes]]
[[Category:German people convicted of manslaughter]]
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