Velfe, Werner

Velfe received a commercial education. In 1945 he joined the Communist Party of Germany , in 1946 - the Union of Free German Youth . Until 1953, he held various positions in the district departments of the SED in Kamenets and Flee, as well as in the land administration of Saxony. In 1953 he studied at the Higher Party School named after Karl Marx , until 1957 he was the second secretary of the Central Council of the SSNM. In 1954-1958, Felfe was the chairman of the youth committee of the People’s Chamber of the GDR , in 1954-1963 he was a candidate, then a member of the SED Central Committee.

In 1957-1960, Felfe worked as deputy chairman and chairman of the Chopau district council, until 1963 - chairman of the Karl-Marx-Stadt district council. In 1963-1965 he studied at the Industrial Institute of the Dresden Technical University . Upon completion, he worked as deputy head of the department, and since 1966 - secretary for propaganda and agitation under the SED Central Committee.

In 1968, Felfe was appointed second secretary, and in 1971, the first secretary of the SED district government in Halle , replacing Horst Sinderman . Since 1973, Felfe has been a candidate, and since 1976, a member of the Politburo of the SED Central Committee and the National Defense Council of the GDR . Since 1981, as a secretary of the SED Central Committee on Agriculture, Felfe has introduced changes in the course on agriculture, which include the abolition of the separation of livestock and crop production, the elimination of bureaucracy and an economical approach to resources.

In the West German magazine Der Spiegel of August 8, 1988, Felfe was named one of Erich Honecker 's possible successors. The magazine suggested that the change of leadership would occur in the fall of 1989, a convenient occasion could be the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the GDR. Other candidates for Honecker's successors were Egon Krenz , Siegfried Lorenz and Gunther Schabowski . A month after this publication, Werner Felfe suddenly died at the age of 60 of acute heart failure . He was buried at the Socialist Memorial in the Central Cemetery of Friedrichsfeld in Berlin.

• Die Aufgaben bei der weiteren Verwirklichung der Beschlüsse des X. Parteitages der SED und des XII. Bauernkongresses der DDR in der Land-, Forst- und Nahrungsgüterwirtschaft , Berlin 1983
• Unsere marxistisch-leninistische Agrarpolitik in Durchführung der Beschlüsse des X. Parteitages der SED. Auf dem Weg zum 35. Jahrestag der DDR , Berlin 1984
• 40 Jahre demokratische Bodenreform - 40 Jahre erfolgreiche Agrar- und Bündnispolitik der SED , Berlin 1985
• Alles mit den Menschen - alles für die Menschen. Ausgewählte Reden und Aufsätze , Berlin 1987

• Biography (German)