Georg Ewald

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Georg Ewald

| honorific_suffix =

| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0813-0017, LPG Löwenberg, Besuch durch Georg Ewald.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Ewald (right) in 1972

| order =

| office = Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Food{{efn|name=fn1|as Chairman of the Agricultural Council from 1963 to 1968 and the Council for Agricultural Production and Food Economy from 1968 to 1971}}

|1blankname = {{nowrap|Chairman of the
Council of Ministers}}

|1namedata = {{ubl|Otto Grotewohl|Willi Stoph}}

| term_start = 9 February 1963

| term_end = 14 September 1973

| predecessor = Karl-Heinz Bartsch

| successor = Heinz Kuhrig

| office1 = First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party
in Bezirk Neubrandenburg

|1blankname1 = {{nowrap|Second Secretary}}

|1namedata1 = {{unbulleted list|Hans Gerlach}}

| term_start1 = October 1960

| term_end1 = 16 February 1963

| predecessor1 = Max Steffen

| successor1 = Johannes Chemnitzer

{{Collapsed infobox section begin |last=yes |Volkskammer

|titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes

| office2 = Member of the Volkskammer
for Wolgast, Greifswald, Rügen, Grimmen, Stralsund-Land

| term_start2 = 13 November 1963

| term_end2 = 14 September 1973

| predecessor2 = multi-member district

| successor2 = Guido Thoms{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}

| birth_name = Georg Ewald

| birth_date = {{birth date|1926|10|30|df=y}}

| birth_place = Buchholz, Province of Pomerania, Free State of Prussia, Weimar Republic {{small|(now Gremersdorf-Buchholz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany)}}

| residence =

| occupation = {{hlist|Politician|Party Functionary|Farmworker}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1973|09|14|1926|10|30}}

| death_place = near Gotha, Bezirk Erfurt, East Germany

| spouse =

| children =

| party = Socialist Unity Party
{{small|(1946–1973)}}

| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|

"Karl Marx" Party Academy

}}

| awards = {{hlist|Medal of Merit of the GDR|Patriotic Order of Merit, 2nd class|Banner of Labor}}

| website =

| resting_place = Memorial of the Socialists, Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery

| module2 = {{collapsible list

| title = Central institution membership

| bullets = on

| 1963–1973: Candidate member,
Politburo of the Central Committee

| 1963–1973: Full member,
Central Committee

}}

----

{{collapsible list

| title = Other offices held

| bullets = on

| 1955–1960: First Secretary,
Socialist Unity Party in {{interlanguage link|Kreis Rügen|de}}

| 1954–1955: First Secretary, Socialist Unity Party in {{interlanguage link|Kreis Bad Doberan|de}}

| 1949–1950: Mayor, Buchholz

}}

Georg Ewald (30 October 1926 – 14 September 1973) was a German politician and high-ranking party functionary of the Socialist Unity Party (SED).

In the German Democratic Republic, he briefly served as the First Secretary of the SED in Bezirk Neubrandenburg and, most notably, as the longtime GDR Agriculture Minister and as a candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED.

Ewald died in a car accident in 1973.

Life and career

=Early career=

After attending agricultural school, Ewald worked in his parents' farm until he was drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1943.{{Cite book |last1=Baumgartner |first1=Gabriele |url=https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spezial:ISBN-Suche/3598111762 |title=Biographisches Handbuch der SBZ,DDR: 1945-1990 |last2=Hebig |first2=Dieter |date=1996 |publisher=K. G. Saur |isbn=978-3-598-11130-3 |volume=1 |location=München New Providence Paris [etc] |pages=167 |language=de}}

From 1946 to 1949, Ewald was a farmworker and joined the Free German Youth (FDJ) and the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED) in 1946. In 1949/1950, he was the mayor of his hometown and from 1950 to 1953, he was the district councilor for agriculture, a member of the district council of Stralsund, and a member of the SED district leadership.{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=Ewald, Georg |url=https://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/de/recherche/kataloge-datenbanken/biographische-datenbanken/georg-ewald |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de |series=Wer war wer in der DDR? |publisher=Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship |language=de}}

From 1953 to 1954, Ewald attended the "Karl Marx" Party Academy and then served as First Secretary of the SED in the districts of Bad Doberan and Rügen.

=Bezirk Neubrandenburg SED career=

In October 1960, he succeeded Max Steffen as First Secretary of the Bezirk Neubrandenburg SED leadership.{{Cite web |year=2006 |title=Bezirksleitung Neubrandenburg der SED (1952 - 1990) |url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/sed-fdgb-netzwerk/html/gremien.html?mode=SED&cat=9 |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=www.bundesarchiv.de |publisher=German Federal Archives |language=de}}{{Cite web |year=2017 |title=Sekretariat des Ministers für Staatssicherheit - Sicherstellung von politisch brisantem Schriftgut [= SdM] |url=http://www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de/BStU_MfS_SdM_01-08/index.htm?kid=a466f742-ef7b-4c29-96f9-bef691a554ce |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de |publisher=German Federal Archives |language=de}} Steffen had received a reprimand{{Cite web |year=2006 |editor-last=Gräfe |editor-first=Sylvia |title=11. Tagung des Zentralkomitees vom 15. bis 17. Dezember 1960 |url=http://www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de/dy30tzk/index.htm?kid=cfd42fc1-ead5-4a1a-b620-a182c137483c |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de |publisher=German Federal Archives |language=de |publication-place=Berlin}} and was demoted to First Secretary of the SED in the Lübbenau coal power plant.{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=Steffen, Max |url=https://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/de/recherche/kataloge-datenbanken/biographische-datenbanken/max-steffen |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de |series=Wer war wer in der DDR? |publisher=Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship |language=de}}

From January 1963 (VI. Party Congress) until his death, he was a full member of the Central Committee of the SED and a candidate member of its Politburo,{{Cite web |year=2006 |title=Übersicht über die Mitglieder und Kandidaten des Politbüros des ZK der SED (1949-1989) |url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/sed-fdgb-netzwerk/html/gremien.html?mode=SED&cat=25 |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=www.bundesarchiv.de |publisher=German Federal Archives |language=de}} the de facto highest leadership body in East Germany.

=Agriculture Minister=

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0813-0015, LPG Löwenberg, Besuch durch Georg Ewald.jpg in August 1972]]

In February 1963, the GDR's Ministry of Agriculture was abolished and replaced by the Agricultural Council, later renamed Council for Agricultural Production and Food Economy, its chairman holding ministerial rank.{{Cite web |year=2010 |editor-last=Boissier |editor-first=Doris |editor2-last=Friedrich |editor2-first=Beate |title=1. Organisation, Aufgaben und Entwicklung der zentralen staatlichen Organe der Land- und Forstwirtschaft 1945-1990 |url=http://www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de/dk1/index.htm?kid=EB996125BC8D431EA07A4079BEC75877 |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=www.argus.bstu.bundesarchiv.de |publisher=German Federal Archives |language=de |publication-place=Berlin}}

Karl-Heinz Bartsch, appointed on 7 February, was forced to resign only two days later, on 9 February, after West German media revealed that he had concealed his membership in the Waffen-SS.{{Cite news |date=1963-02-19 |title=Reue statt Treue |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/reue-statt-treue-a-2bcc7f21-0002-0001-0000-000045142363 |access-date=2024-05-19 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=Bartsch, Karl-Heinz |url=https://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/de/recherche/kataloge-datenbanken/biographische-datenbanken/karl-heinz-bartsch |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de |series=Wer war wer in der DDR? |publisher=Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship |language=de}}

Ewald replaced him, additionally becoming a member of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers and a member of the Volkskammer later that year,{{Cite web |date=1963-02-14 |title=Georg Ewald zum Minister berufen |url=https://www.nd-archiv.de/artikel/1468072.georg-ewald-zum-minister-berufen.html |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=www.nd-archiv.de |publisher=Neues Deutschland |language=de}} nominally representing a constituency in northeastern Bezirk Rostock.{{Cite book |url=https://www.gvoon.de/art/dokumente/1967/volkskammer-ddr-5-wahlperiode-1967-1971/pdf/volkskammer-ddr-5-wahlperiode-1967-1971-seite_076.pdf |title=Volkskammer der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik 1967-1971 |publisher=VEB Staatsverlag der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik |year=1967 |pages=76 |language=de |access-date=2024-07-10}} In 1971, the Ministry of Agriculture was reestablished as Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Ewald becoming Minister.

His tenure was marked by further collectivization efforts. During his leadership, he frequently clashed with SED Agriculture Secretary Gerhard Grüneberg, who implemented many ideas aimed at industrializing the collectively managed agriculture in the 1960s. The most significant aspect became the gradual separation of animal and plant production, which was a failure.{{Citation |last=Heinz |first=Michael |title=Gerhard Grüneberg und Georg Ewald - ein ungleiches Führungspaar der SED-Agrarpolitik |date=2013-01-01 |work=Die DDR - eine deutsche Geschichte |pages=219–238 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9783657771950/B9783657771950-s012.xml |access-date=2024-05-19 |publisher=Brill Schöningh |language=de |doi=10.30965/9783657771950_012 |isbn=978-3-657-77195-0|url-access=subscription }}

Ewald was awarded the Medal of Merit of the GDR, and the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver in 1960 and 1964 and the Banner of Labor in 1969.

= Death =

File:Berlin Friedrichsfelde Zentralfriedhof, Gedenkstätte der Sozialisten (Urnenwand) - Ewald.jpg

Ewald died in a car accident on the morning of 14 September 1973, near Gotha.{{Cite web |date=1973-09-15 |title=Genosse Georg Ewald tödlich verunglückt |url=https://www.nd-archiv.de/artikel/1940894.genosse-georg-ewald-toedlich-verunglueckt.html |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=www.nd-archiv.de |publisher=Neues Deutschland |language=de}}{{Cite web |last=Wenzel |first=Matthias |date=2023-09-02 |title=Die "Ministerkurve" erhält ihren Spitznamen |url=https://www.thueringer-allgemeine.de/regionen/gotha/article239337489/Die-Ministerkurve-erhaelt-ihren-Spitznamen.html |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=www.thueringer-allgemeine.de |publisher=Thüringer Allgemeine |language=de}}

Two other SED functionaries, members of the Bezirk Erfurt SED leadership, also died in the accident.

Immediately afterwards, the Stasi confiscated documents relating to his activities as candidate member of the Politburo of the SED Central Committee and his ministerial office from the work rooms.

He was interred at the Memorial of the Socialists at the Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery in Berlin-Lichtenberg.

In Gotha's local vernacular, the stretch of road where Ewald died (a long curve of the B 247 between the A4 motorway exit and the entrance to Gotha) is still known today as Minister's Curve ({{langx|de|Ministerkurve}}).