Patrik Köbele (born 1962 in Weil am Rhein) is a German politician and leader of the German Communist Party (DKP).

Patrik Köbele
Leader of the German Communist Party
Assumed office
2013
Preceded byBettina Jürgensen [de]
Member of the Essen City Council
In office
2004–2009
Leader of the Socialist German Workers Youth
In office
1989–1994
Preceded byBirgit Radow [de] and Hans-Georg Eberhard
Succeeded byMichael Götze
Personal details
Born (1948-11-05) November 5, 1948 (age 76)
Weil am Rhein, West Germany
Political partyGerman Communist Party (1978–)

Between 1989 and 1994, Köbele was leader of the Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterjugend (SDAJ), the DKP's youth organization. Between 2004 and 2009, he was member of the city council of Essen.

On 2 March 2013 he was elected leader of the DKP.[1] Köbele won with 91 to 60 votes against former leader Bettina Jürgensen. Köbele has stated the Berlin Wall and Inner German Border both were necessary for East Germany's security.[2]

Privately, Köbele lives in Essen with his two children and works as an IT consultant. He has cited former East German leaders Erich Honecker, Willi Stoph, Hilde Benjamin and Erich Mielke as his childhood heroes. He is close friends with former East German leader Egon Krenz.

Footnotes

edit
  1. ^ – DKP wählte neue Führung. unsere zeit - DKP's newspaper, 8 March 2013. Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "German communists: "Without the Berlin Wall, there would have been war"". In Defense of Communism. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
edit