Alexander Abusch

Alexander Abusch (14 February 1902 – 27 January 1982)^[1] was a German journalist, non-fiction writer, and politician.

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (December 2009) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Alexander Abusch]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|de|Alexander Abusch}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Quick Facts Minister of Culture of the German Democratic Republic, Preceded by ...

Alexander Abusch
Alexander Abusch in 1966
Minister of Culture of the German Democratic Republic
In office December 1958 – January 1961
Preceded by	Johannes R. Becher
Succeeded by	Hans Bentzien
Personal details
Born	(1902-02-14)14 February 1902 Kraków, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary or Nuremberg, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Died	27 January 1982(1982-01-27) (aged 79) East Berlin, German Democratic Republic
Political party	KPD (1918–1946) SED (1946–1982)
Profession	Journalist, writer, politician

Close

According to one source he was born into a Jewish family in Kraków, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary.^[1] According to another source, he was born in Nuremberg,^[2] where, in the suburb of Gostenhof, he grew up, attended school, served his apprenticeship and had his first full-time job.^[1] His father worked as a coachman and scrap metal dealer, and later opened a hat shop. His mother also worked as a small trader.^[1]

Abusch joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1918. He was editor of several KPD publications. In 1937, he became part of the exiled KPD leadership in Paris, later in Toulouse. In 1941, he moved to Mexico, where he became a member of the Free Germany Movement. Between 1948 and 1950 he was part of the party leadership of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. He worked as a Secret Informer for the Stasi. Between 1958 and 1961 he served as Minister of Culture of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).^[3] It was in his role as Minister of Culture that he ordered the demolition of princely castle of Putbus on Rügen.^[4]

He published under the pen name Ernst Reinhardt.^[1]