Hans Bentzien

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Hans Bentzien
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B0522-0023-001, Johannes-R.-Becher-Preis für Franz Fühmann.jpg
Hans Bentzien (left) awarding the Johannes R. Becher Prize to the poet and storyteller Franz Fühmann, 1963
Minister of Culture
In office
February 1961 – January 1966
Chairman of the
Council of Ministers
Preceded byAlexander Abusch
Succeeded byKlaus Gysi
Personal details
Born(1927-01-04)4 January 1927
Greifswald, German Empire
Died18 May 2015(2015-05-18) (aged 88)
Bad Saarow, Germany
Political partySocialist Unity Party of Germany
Alma mater

Hans Bentzien (4 January 1927 – 18 May 2015) was a German writer and politician who served as the culture minister of East Germany from 1961 to 1966. Being a member of the ruling party Socialist Unity Party (SED), he held several political and public posts in East Germany.

Early life and education

Bentzien was born in Greifswald, Germany, on 4 January 1927.[1] He became a member of the Nazi Party in 1944.[2][3] He joined the German Army and fought in World War II.[1] He was arrested by the British forces in 1945.[1] Following his release he joined the KPD and subsequently the SED in 1946.[1] Bentzien graduated from the University of Greifswald and the University of Jena obtaining a degree in history.[1] He also studied history and social sciences in Moscow between 1955 and 1958.[1]

Career

Bentzien worked as a teacher in his hometown between 1946 and 1948.[1] He was assistant to the director of culture in VEB Carl Zeiss in Jena.[1] Then he became the first secretary of the SED in Jena-Stadt and was the secretary for culture and popular education of the SED from 1954 to 1955.[1] He served as the secretary for culture and education of the SED in Halle between 1958 and 1961.[1][3] Bentzien was appointed culture minister in February 1961, replacing Alexander Abusch in the post.[1][4] Bentzien was removed from office in January 1966 due to the alleged violation of the SED rules.[4][5] The reason for his removal was the publication of several writings in Neue Deutsche Literatur (German: New German Literature) which supported views opposite to the position of the SED.[5] In the same move Kurt Turba, head of the youth commission at the Politburo of the SED's Central Committee, was also fired.[5] Klaus Gysi succeeded Bentzien as minister of culture.[3] Then Bentzien was made the publishing director of a publishing house, Neues Leben, which he held between 1966 and 1975.[1] In 1975 he was appointed deputy chairman of the state committee for television and served in the post until 1979 when he was dismissed.[1] In the period between 1 December 1989 and 13 June 1990 he served as the television manager of East Germany.[6] He was succeeded by Michael Albert in the post.[6]

Work

Bentzien wrote several television plays and published some books on history.[4]

Death

Bentzien died in Bad Saarow, Germany, on 18 May 2015.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 "Bentzien, Hans" (in Deutsch). Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  2. ↑ David Childs (January 1966). "The East German Élite: Red Jesuits and Others". The World Today. 22 (1): 35. JSTOR 40393788.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ursula Hoffmann-Lange (1971). Die Veränderungen in der Sozialstruktur des Ministerrates der DDR: 1949-1969 (in Deutsch). Düsseldorf: Droste Verlag. pp. 47, 73, 101. ISBN 978-3-7700-0281-8.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Unsere Autoren. Hans Bentzien" (in Deutsch). Eulenspiegel Verlagsgruppe. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Regina K. Ernest (2011). "Ein Staat der Jugend": The Politics of Socialist Patriotism and National Consciousness in Shaping Youth Policy in the German Democratic Republic, 1961-1967 (MA thesis). University of Nebraska–Lincoln. p. 82.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Wolfgang Mühl-Benninghaus (23 March 2022). "Die Demokratisierung von Rundfunk und Fernsehen der DDR". Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (in Deutsch). Retrieved 14 August 2022.

External links

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