Erich Honecker
1912 – 1994 German Leader of Communist East Germany
East German leader who oversaw the Berlin Wall and the Stasi state.
- Religion
- Raised in a Communist working-class family; an atheist aligned with the officially secular state, which kept the Protestant churches under close surveillance.
- Affiliations
- Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). No occult ties.
Honecker led East Germany from 1971, presiding over the Berlin Wall he had helped build and the pervasive Stasi surveillance system. His regime maintained a rigid Communist order while economic stagnation set in. Ousted as the state collapsed in 1989, he fled abroad and died in exile in 1994.
Connections
- ally of Leonid Brezhnev — Backed the East German leader within the bloc.
- ally of Leonid Brezhnev — Loyal to Moscow and personally close to Brezhnev.
- successor of Walter Ulbricht — Eased out his predecessor Ulbricht to take power.
- successor of Walter Ulbricht — Honecker maneuvered to replace him.