# Georg Dertinger

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German politician (1902–1968)

Georg Dertinger Foreign Minister of the GDR In office 11 October 1949 – 15 January 1953 Preceded by new office Succeeded by Anton Ackermann Personal details Born (1902-12-25)25 December 1902 Berlin, German Empire Died 21 January 1968(1968-01-21) (aged 65) Leipzig, East Germany Party CDU Profession Journalist

**Georg Dertinger** (25 December 1902 – 21 January 1968) was a German politician.

He was born in [Berlin](/source/Berlin) into a middle-class [Protestant](/source/Protestantism_in_Germany) family. Dertinger briefly studied law and economics. After his study he became a journalist and later editor for the *Magdeburger Volkszeitung* and the nationalistic newspaper *[Der Stahlhelm](/source/Der_Stahlhelm%2C_Bund_der_Frontsoldaten)*. He broke with the Stahlhelm because of its rigid right-wing philosophy. He sympathized with the [German National People's Party](/source/German_National_People's_Party), a [right-wing nationalist](/source/Conservative_Revolution) party.

Dertinger later became a member of the political circle around Chancellor [Franz von Papen](/source/Franz_von_Papen). He accompanied Papen to [Rome](/source/Rome) as a journalist, a representative for the Hamburger Nachrichten, for the signature of the *[Reichskonkordat](/source/Reichskonkordat)* between [Nazi Germany](/source/Nazi_Germany) and the [Holy See](/source/Holy_See), shortly after [Adolf Hitler](/source/Adolf_Hitler)'s [rise to power](/source/Adolf_Hitler's_rise_to_power).

In 1934 Dertinger returned to [Berlin](/source/Berlin) and became publisher of Dienst aus Deutschland, a news agency that provided news to foreign newspapers.

After [World War II](/source/World_War_II) Dertinger co-founded the [Christian Democratic Union](/source/Christian_Democratic_Union_(East_Germany)) (CDU) in the [Soviet occupation zone of Germany](/source/Soviet_occupation_zone_of_Germany). From 1946 to 1949 he was General Secretary of the East-German CDU and from 1949 to 1953 Vice-Chairman of the party. He supported the official line of co-operation with the [Socialist Unity Party](/source/Socialist_Unity_Party_of_Germany) and opposed the more independent-minded party chairman [Jakob Kaiser](/source/Jakob_Kaiser), whom he had deposed in December 1947.

Dertinger also joined the [Cultural Association of the DDR](/source/Cultural_Association_of_the_DDR) *(Kulturbund)* and was a member of the Cultural Association's Presidential Council.

On 11 October 1949 he became [East Germany](/source/East_Germany)'s first Minister of Foreign Affairs in [Otto Grotewohl](/source/Otto_Grotewohl)'s cabinet [1] However, he tended to be only a figurehead to secure CDU participation in the SED-dominated [National Front](/source/National_Front_of_the_German_Democratic_Republic) and most important decisions would be made by his eventual successor [Anton Ackermann](/source/Anton_Ackermann).[2] In 1950 he signed the [Oder-Neisse Treaty](/source/Treaty_of_Zgorzelec) with [Poland](/source/Poland), that arranged the [borderline](/source/Oder%E2%80%93Neisse_line) between East Germany and the [Polish People's Republic](/source/Polish_People's_Republic).

On 15 January 1953 Dertinger was arrested due to his allegedly harmful activities against East Germany[3] and in 1954 he was tried on a [show trial](/source/Show_trial) for espionage, found guilty and sentenced to hard labor (15 years). In 1964 he was given [amnesty](/source/Amnesty). The years before his death he worked for the [Roman Catholic](/source/Roman_Catholic_Church) St. Benno publishing house.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [rulers.org](http://www.rulers.org/egergovt.html)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Naimark, Norman M. *The Russians In Germany: a History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945-1949.* E-book, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Wilfried Loth (1998). [*Stalin's Unwanted Child The Soviet Union, the German Question and the Founding of the GDR*](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26400-1). London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 148. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/978-1-349-26400-1](https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-1-349-26400-1). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-349-26400-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-349-26400-1).

## External links

- [An article on Dertringer (in German)](http://www.zeit.de/2003/09/A-Dertinger)

v t e Foreign ministers of Germany German Empire (1871–1918) Thile Balan B. E. von Bülow Radowitz Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst Limburg-Stirum Busch Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg Bismarck Marschall B. von Bülow Richthofen Tschirschky-Bögendorff Schoen Kiderlen-Waechter Jagow Zimmermann Kühlmann Hintze Solf Brockdorff-Rantzau Weimar Republic (1918–33) Brockdorff-Rantzau Müller Köster Simons Rosen Wirth Rathenau Rosenberg Stresemann Curtius Brüning Neurath Nazi Germany (1933–45) Neurath Ribbentrop Seyss-Inquart Schwerin von Krosigk German Democratic Republic1 (1949–90) Dertinger Ackermann Bolz Winzer O. Fischer Meckel de Maizière Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present) Adenauer von Brentano Schröder Brandt Scheel Genscher Schmidt Genscher Kinkel J. Fischer Steinmeier Westerwelle Steinmeier Gabriel Maas Baerbock Wadephul 1 East Germany

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