Heinrich Homann (6 March 1911 – 4 May 1994) was a communist politician and former Wehrmacht officer who held a number of offices in the German Democratic Republic.

Heinrich Homann
Chairman of the National Democratic Party of Germany
In office
1972 – December 1989
Preceded byLothar Bolz
Succeeded byGünter Hartmann
Deputy Chairman of the State Council
In office
12 September 1960 – 17 November 1989
Vice President of the Presidium of the People's Chamber
In office
1950–1952
Member of the Volkskammer
In office
1949–1990
Personal details
Born6 March 1911
Bremerhaven, German Empire
Died4 May 1994(1994-05-04) (aged 83)
Berlin, Germany
Political party
Alma materUniversity of Tübingen
University of Jena
University of Göttingen
University of Hamburg
OccupationPolitician
Military service
Allegiance Nazi Germany (until 1943)
 East Germany (from 1949)
Branch/serviceHeer
Years of service1934–1943
RankMajor
ConflictWorld War II

Biography

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Homann speaking to the State Council in 1968

Heinrich Homann was born the son of a shipping company director in Bremerhaven in 1905. He studied law at the universities of Tübingen, Jena, Göttingen, and Hamburg. In 1933 he joined the Nazi Party and the following year entered the military. He eventually rose to the rank of Major in the Heer and fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. In 1943 he was taken prisoner by the Soviets at the Battle of Stalingrad. During his time as a prisoner of war, Homann became a member of the anti-Nazi National Committee for a Free Germany.

After the war, Homann returned to Soviet-occupied Germany and began his work in politics. He joined the National Democratic Party (NDPD), which largely represented former members of the Nazi Party and helped bind them to the state ideology of the German Democratic Republic.[1] He was first elected to the Volkskammer in 1949 and held his seat in the chamber for the remainder of his career. He became a Deputy Chairman in the State Council in 1960 and in 1972 he succeeded Lothar Bolz as Chairman of the NDPD. He was removed from the State Council in November 1989 in the wake of the Peaceful Revolution and expelled from his party the following month.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Christina Morina (19 September 2011). Legacies of Stalingrad: Remembering the Eastern Front in Germany since 1945. Cambridge University Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-139-50170-5.
  2. ^ Reuter, Elke; Müller-Enbergs, Helmut (2010). Wer war wer in der DDR? [Who was Who in the GDR?] (in German). Berlin: Ch. Links. ISBN 9783861535614.