View source for Friedrich Ebert Jr.

{{Short description|German politician (1894–1979)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name               = Friedrich Ebert Jr.
| image              = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-83285-0029, Friedrich Ebert.jpg
| caption            = Ebert in 1961
| order             = [[Leadership of East Germany#Heads of state|Chairman]] of the [[State Council of East Germany|State Council]]
| term_label         = Acting
| term_start         = 1 August 1973
| term_end           = 3 October 1973
| predecessor        = [[Walter Ulbricht]]
| successor          = [[Willi Stoph]]
| office1              = [[Volkskammer#Presidents of the People's Chamber|Deputy President of the Volkskammer]]
| president1           = {{ubl|[[Gerald Götting]]|[[Horst Sindermann]]}}
| term_start1          = June 1971
| term_end1            = 4 December 1979
| predecessor1         = [[Hermann Matern]]
| successor1           = Gerald Götting
| office2             = Secretary for [[Departments of the SED Central Committee#State and Legal Affairs|State and Legal Affairs]] of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Secretariat of the Central Committee|Central Committee Secretariat]] of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]]
| 1blankname2         = [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#General Secretaries of the Central Committee of the SED|First Secretary]]
| 1namedata2          = {{ubl|[[Walter Ulbricht]]|[[Erich Honecker]]}}
| term_start2          = 19 June 1971
| term_end2            = 4 December 1979
| predecessor2 = [[Gerhard Grüneberg]]
| successor2           = [[Paul Verner]] {{small|(1980)}}
| office3              = [[List of mayors of Berlin#Lord Mayor of Berlin (1948–1990)|Lord Mayor of East Berlin]]
| deputy3             = {{ubl|[[Arnold Gohr]]|[[Alfred Neumann (East German politician)|Alfred Neumann]]|Waldemar Schmidt|Johanna Blecha|Herbert Fechner}}
| term_start3 = 30 November 1948
| term_end3 = 5 July 1967
| predecessor3 = [[Louise Schroeder]] {{small|(acting)}}
| successor3 = [[Herbert Fechner]]
{{Collapsed infobox section begin |last=yes |Parliamentary constituencies
 |titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office4            = Member of the [[Volkskammer]]
| term_start4        = [[German People's Council#First people's council|18 March 1948]]
| term_end4          = 4 December 1979
| predecessor4       = ''Constituency established''
| successor4         = Günther Skrzypek {{small|(1980)}}
| office5             = Member of the [[Reichstag (Weimar Republic)|Reichstag]] <br /> for [[Potsdam I (electoral district)|Potsdam I]]
| term_start5         = [[1928 German federal election|13 June 1928]]
| term_end5           = 22 June 1933
| predecessor5        = ''Multi-member district''
| successor5          = ''Constituency abolished''{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1894|9|12|df=y}} 
| birth_place         = [[Bremen]], [[Bremen (state)|Free Hanseatic City of Bremen]], [[German Empire]] {{small|(now [[Germany]])}}
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1979|12|4|1894|9|12|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[East Berlin]], [[East Germany]]
| resting_place      = [[Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde]], [[Berlin]], [[Germany]]
| citizenship        = East German
| party              = [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]] {{small|(1913–1946)}}<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] {{small|(1946–1979)}}
| spouse             = {{marriage|Johanna Elisabeth Vollmann|1920|1938|end=died}}
| children           = {{flatlist|
* Friedrich III
* [[:de:Georg Ebert (Ökonom)|Georg]]
}}
| father             = [[Friedrich Ebert]]
| mother             = [[Louise Ebert]]
| occupation         = {{hlist|Politician|Printer|Journalist}}
| allegiance     = {{flag|German Empire}}<br />{{flag|Nazi Germany}}
| branch         = [[Imperial German Army]]<br />[[Wehrmacht]]
| serviceyears   = 1914–1918<br />1939–1940
| rank           = 
| unit           = 
| commands       = 
| battles        = 
{{tree list}}
* [[World War I]]
* [[World War II]]
{{tree list/end}}
| module2            = {{collapsible list
| title              = Central institution membership
| bullets            = on
| 1949–1979: Full member,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Politburo of the Central Committee|Politburo of the Central Committee]]
| 1946–1979: Full member,<br />[[Socialist Unity Party of Germany#Central Committee|Central Committee]]{{refn|group=note|Party Executive Committee until 1950}}
}}
----
{{collapsible list
| title              = Other offices held
| bullets            = on
| 1971–1979: Deputy Chairman,<br />[[State Council of East Germany|State Council]]
| 1960–1979: Member, [[State Council of East Germany|State Council]]
| 1949–1950: Member,<br />[[Chamber of States|Provisional Chamber of States]]
| 1946–1950: Member,<br />[[Landtag of Brandenburg]]
| 1933: Member,<br />[[Prussian State Council]]
| 1927–1933: Member,<br />[[Brandenburg an der Havel]] City Council
}}
}}

'''Friedrich''' "'''Fritz'''" '''Ebert Jr.''' (12 September 1894 – 4 December 1979) was a German socialist and later communist politician, the son of Germany's first president [[Friedrich Ebert]]. He was originally a [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democrat]] like his father before him, but is best known for his role in the foundation of [[East Germany]]'s ruling party, the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany]], in which he served in various positions.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenFE>{{cite web|url=http://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/wer-war-wer-in-der-ddr-%2363%3B-1424.html?ID=662|author=Norbert Podewin|author-link=:de:Norbert Podewin|author2=Helmut Müller-Enbergs|author2-link=Helmut Müller-Enbergs|name-list-style=amp|title=Ebert, Friedrich * 12.9.1894, † 4.12.1979: Mitglied des Politbüros des ZK der SED, Oberbürgermeister von Berlin|publisher= Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur: Biographische Datenbanken|access-date= 14 November 2014}}</ref>

==Early life==
Born in Bremen, Ebert underwent an apprenticeship as a printer from 1909 to 1913. In 1910, he joined the [[Jusos|Socialist Workers' Youth]] and in 1913 the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]]. From 1915 to 1918, he fought in the [[World War I|First World War]]. Of his three brothers, Ebert Jr. was the only survivor.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=2 May 1927 |title=Surviving Ebert |url=https://time.com/archive/6897197/foreign-news-surviving-ebert/ |work=TIME Magazine |location=New York City |access-date=29 November 2024}}</ref>

==Weimar Republic==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00052, Friedrich Ebert jun..jpg|thumb|left|Ebert campaigning, 1928]]
In 1920, he married Johanna Elisabeth Vollmann, three years his junior,<ref>{{cite book |last=Vosske |first=Heinz |author-link= |date=1987 |title=Friedrich Ebert: ein Lebensbild |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRRLAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=Johanna+Elisabeth+Vollmann |location=Berlin |publisher=[[:de:Karl Dietz Verlag Berlin|Karl Dietz Verlag Berlin]] |page=33 |isbn=}}</ref> with whom he had two children, Friedrich and Georg. His wife committed suicide in 1938.<ref>Friedrich Ebert, Walter Mühlhausen, Bernd Braun: ''Friedrich Ebert und seine Familie''. p. 30.</ref>

During the [[Weimar Era]], Ebert worked for various social democratic newspapers. From 1919 to 1925 he was an editor for ''[[Vorwärts]]'', from 1923 to 1925 he worked for the ''[[:de:Sozialdemokratischer Pressedienst|Social Democratic Press Service]]'', and from 1925 to 1933 he was an editor for the ''[[:de:Brandenburger Zeitung|Brandenburger Zeitung]]''.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenFE/>

Ebert's career in electoral politics began in 1927 when he was elected to the [[Brandenburg an der Havel]] City Council. In 1930, he became City Council Chairman, and the same year he joined the board of the [[Association of German Cities]] for the [[Province of Brandenburg]]. He was also a member of the SPD district board for Brandenburg-[[Posen–West Prussia|Grenzmark]].<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenFE/> He was elected to the Reichstag in [[1928 German federal election|1928]], representing the [[Potsdam I (electoral district)|Potsdam I]] constituency,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.reichstag-abgeordnetendatenbank.de/selectmaske.html?name=ebert&geschlecht=&ort=&beruforg=&BERUF=&BERUFSFELDER%5B%5D=&KONFESSION%5B%5D=&WP%5B%5D=jahr-trenner1933trenner+und+Wahlperiode-trenner8.WPXtrenner&PARTEI%5B%5D=&schlu=reichstag24&recherche=ja |title=Ebert, Friedrich |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=reichstag-abgeordnetendatenbank.de |publisher=Verhandlungen des Deutschen Reichstags |access-date=29 November 2024 |quote=}}</ref> and in April 1933 joined the [[Prussian State Council]] representing Brandenburg.<ref name="LILLA">[[:de:Joachim Lilla|Joachim Lilla]]: ''Der Preußische Staatsrat 1921–1933. Ein biographisches Handbuch.'' Droste, Düsseldorf 2005, ISBN 3-7700-5271-4, p. 36</ref> He lost all elected positions after the [[Nazi Party|Nazis]] came to power and banned the SPD in June 1933.

Ebert was also active in the [[Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold]], serving as chairman of the Brandenburg state group in 1928.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bild.bundesarchiv.de/dba/de/search/?query=Bild+102-05975 |title=Brandenburg, Friedrich Ebert jun. auf Reichstbanner-Gautag |last=Pahl |first=Georg |date=May 1928 |website=bundesarchiv.de |publisher=Bundesarchiv |access-date=29 November 2024 |quote=}}</ref>

On 21 February 1933, three weeks after the appointment of [[Adolf Hitler]] as [[Chancellor of Germany#Chancellor of the German Reich|Chancellor of Germany]], Ebert published an open letter to [[Paul von Hindenburg]].<ref>{{ANNO|nwt|26|02|1933|6|Deutschlands Erniedrigung|HERVORHEBUNG=Kann&#32;Hindenburg&#32;schweigen?}}</ref> In it he pointed out to the [[Reich President]], among other things,

{{blockquote|"...that he had fought and bled for three years under Hindenburg's command. Two of his brothers had fallen in front of [[Bitola|Monastir]] and on the [[Chemin des Dames]]. In response to Hitler's claim that fourteen years of Marxism had ruined Germany, Ebert's son recalls the letter that Hindenburg wrote to his father on December 8, 1918, in which he addressed Ebert as a loyal German man with whom he had allied himself to save the people from impending collapse. Finally, Friedrich Ebert asks why nothing was being done to save his father's honor and why his deceased colleagues, [[Gustav Stresemann|Stresemann]] and [[Hermann Müller (politician, born 1876)|Hermann Müller]], had also remained defenseless, before whose coffins Hindenburg had bowed his aged head in reverence."|source=Article in the [[Oesterreichische Volks-Zeitung|Kleine Volks-Zeitung]], 22 February 1933<ref>{{ANNO|ovz|22|02|1933|2|Der Wahlkampf in Deutschland|HERVORHEBUNG=Eberts&#32;Sohn&#32;an&#32;Hmdenburg}}</ref>}}

==Nazi Germany==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R88978, KZ Oranienburg, SA-Männer vor SPD-Häftlingen.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Ebert (fifth from right) with several other political prisoners at [[Oranienburg concentration camp]], 1933]]
In July 1933, Ebert was arrested for illegal political activity and detained for eight months in various [[concentration camp]]s, including [[Oranienburg concentration camp|Oranienburg]] and [[Börgermoor]]. In 1939, he was conscripted into the [[Wehrmacht]], serving for nine months. After he was discharged in 1940, Ebert was forced to work in the packaging and shipping department of the [[:de:Reichsverlagsamt|Reich Publishing Office]]. Until 1945, he was under constant police surveillance.<ref name="LILLA"/>

==East Germany==
After the demise of the Third Reich, Ebert served as editor-in-chief of ''[[:de:Der Märker (1945–1946)|Der Märker]]'' and was elected chairman of the SPD in the Prussian province of [[Province of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]]. Being the son of a former president made Ebert one of the foremost political leaders in East Germany. His role in this period can be compared with that of [[Jan Masaryk]] in post-war [[Czechoslovakia]]. Ebert was courted by the leaders of the [[Communist Party of Germany]] (KPD), who were aiming for unification of the much larger SPD with the smaller KPD. They used his father's role in the [[German Revolution of 1918–19]], and the ensuing split in the German socialist movement, to blackmail Ebert into supporting the unification.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenFE/>

[[File:Fotothek df pk 0000204 017.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Ebert (middle) alongside [[Wilhelm Pieck]] (left) and [[Otto Grotewohl]] (right) leaving the 1st Parliament of the [[Free German Youth]] in Brandenburg, 1946]]

In 1946, the unification of the two parties' branches in the Soviet Occupation Zone was carried out under Soviet pressure. After the creation of the new party, the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany]] (SED), Ebert was elected to the [[Central Committee]] and from 1949 was also a member of the [[Politburo]]. He was one of the few members from the SPD half of the merger with a prominent role in the merged party. The few recalcitrant members of the SPD half were pushed out soon after the merger, leaving the SED as a renamed and enlarged KPD. He served as President of the [[Landtag of Brandenburg]] from 1946 to 1949.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenFE/>

After the end of Allied cooperation and the breakup of the administration of Berlin in 1948, Ebert became [[List of mayors of Berlin#Lord Mayor of Berlin (1948–1990)|Lord Mayor]] of [[East Berlin]]; he remained mayor until 1967. During this time he devoted himself to rebuilding the destroyed city, campaigning for the restoration of the [[Brandenburg Gate]], the [[Rotes Rathaus]], the [[Zeughaus]], and the [[Berlin State Opera]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.berlin.de/rbmskzl/politik/senat/buergermeistergalerie/artikel.4560.php |title=Die Ost-Berliner Oberbürgermeister 1948-1990 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=berlin.de |publisher=State of Berlin |access-date=29 November 2024 |quote=}}</ref>

During the [[Flag of East Germany#Symbolism and design|East German flag debate]], it was Ebert's suggestion to use the black-red-gold tricolour instead of the black-white-red of the [[National Committee for a Free Germany|NKFD]] and the former [[German Empire]].<ref name="DDRconst">{{cite web |url=http://www.documentarchiv.de/ddr/verfddr1949.html |title=Constitution of the German Democratic Republic |work=documentArchiv.de |date=7 October 1949 |access-date=24 February 2008 |language=de |archive-date=30 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130042244/http://www.documentarchiv.de/ddr/verfddr1949.html |url-status=live }} See Article 2.</ref> He justified his proposal as follows:

{{blockquote|“I am of the opinion that there is no better symbol of German unity, one that is more deeply rooted in German history, than the old imperial colours of black, red and gold. At all times, the fighters for German unity, for a happy future for the country and the people, have gathered around this banner. Its cloth covered the bodies of those who gave their lives for Germany's unity and freedom in the fight against the feudal, despotic monarchy of Prussia. This hour demands that we resume the great tradition of German history and unfurl the banner of German unity over the entire country. In doing so, we will also achieve the revolutionary result of the battles of 1848.”|source=Friedrich Ebert Jr., May 1949<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.reichsbanner.de/reichsbanner-heute/mitteilungen/2020/ehemalige-reichsbanner-kameraden-in-der-ddr |title=Ehemalige Reichsbanner-Kameraden in der DDR |last=Bünck |first=Marlon |date=25 March 2020 |website=reichsbanner.de |publisher=Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold, Bund aktiver Demokraten |access-date=29 November 2024 |quote=}}</ref>}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L1130-0307, Auszeichnung für Mitglieder des DDR-Olympiateams.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Ebert presenting the [[Patriotic Order of Merit]] to Olympic gold medalist [[Klaus Köste]], 1972]]

He was a member of the [[Deutscher Volksrat]], a preliminary parliament that drew up the first constitution of the GDR, and after 1949, he also became a member of the [[Volkskammer|People's Chamber]], the parliament of the GDR. Between 1949 and 1971, Ebert served as the chamber's deputy president. In 1971, he was elected chairman of the SED faction in the People's Chamber. From 1960, he was also a member of the Council of State and from 1971 its deputy chairman. As such, he was acting head of state in 1973 after [[Walter Ulbricht]]'s death until the election of [[Willi Stoph]].<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenFE/>

Ebert lived in [[Majakowskiring]], [[Pankow]], East Berlin. He was decorated with the [[Order of Karl Marx]], the [[Patriotic Order of Merit]], [[Star of People's Friendship]] and the [[Banner of Labor]]. After his resignation as mayor, the magistrate of East Berlin awarded him honorary citizenship, which was declared null and void in 1992.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{reflist|group=note}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Friedrich Ebert junior|Friedrich Ebert Jr.}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/004446}}
{{Head of State of the German Democratic Republic}}
{{EastBerlinMayors}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ebert junior, Friedrich}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:Politicians from Bremen (city)]]
[[Category:Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians]]
[[Category:Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany]]
[[Category:Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic]]
[[Category:Heads of state of East Germany]]
[[Category:Members of the State Council of East Germany]]
[[Category:Members of the Provisional Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 1st Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 2nd Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 3rd Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 4th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 5th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 6th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the 7th Volkskammer]]
[[Category:Members of the Landtag of Brandenburg]]
[[Category:Mayors of East Berlin]]
[[Category:Children of presidents]]
[[Category:German military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Banner of Labor]]
[[Category:People from Pankow]]
[[Category:Börgermoor concentration camp survivors]]