Lothar Ahrendt
{{Short description|East German minister of Interior (born 1936)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox Minister
| image =
| imagesize =
|office = Minister of the Interior of East Germany
|1blankname = {{nowrap|Chairman of the
Council of Ministers}}
|1namedata = Hans Modrow
|term_start = 18 November 1989
|term_end = 12 April 1990
|predecessor = Friedrich Dickel
|successor = Peter-Michael Diestel
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1936|3|13|df=y}}
| birth_place = Erfurt, Province of Saxony, Nazi Germany
| death_date =
| death_place =
| restingplace =
| party = Socialist Unity Party (1990–2001)
| alma_mater =
| spouse =
| nationality = German
| children = }}
Lothar Ahrendt (born 13 March 1936) is one of the former interior ministers of the German Democratic Republic.
Biography
Ahrendt was born on 13 March 1936 in Erfurt.{{cite web|title=Ahrendt, Lothar |url=https://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/de/recherche/kataloge-datenbanken/biographische-datenbanken/lothar-ahrendt|publisher=Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung|language=German}} He was trained as a car mechanic.
Ahrendt was a member of Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) which he joined in 1957. He served as deputy interior minister until 18 November 1989, when he was appointed minister of interior, replacing Friedrich Dickel in the post. Ahrendt was part of interim and "reform-minded" cabinet formed by Prime Minister Hans Modrow.{{cite book|title=Policing a Socialist Society: The German Democratic Republic|year=1992|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=New York|author=Nancy Travis Wolfe|isbn=978-0-3132-6530-3}}{{cite news|title=East Germany Approves "Reform-minded" Cabinet
|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19891119&id=v1ceAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tMcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1419,3244962
|access-date=12 September 2012|newspaper=Times Daily|date=19 November 1989|agency=AP|location=West Berlin}}
Unlike previous East German interior ministers, Ahrendt was not the chief of the German People's Police (Deutsche Volkspolizei).{{cite web|title=Deutsche Volkspolizei|publisher=Axis History|access-date=5 September 2012|url=http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=5990}} as for the first time since the DDR's establishment these two offices were divided. However, in February 1990, he was appointed to the post as an acting chief.{{cite news|title=Das Ende der Volkspolizei – Chronologie des Zerfalls|access-date=23 January 2022 |url=https://www.cilip.de/1990/12/27/das-ende-der-volkspolizei-chronologie-des-zerfalls/|work=CILIP|date=27 December 1990|language=de}} In mid-January 1990, the Ministry of Interior declared that by 25 January all weapons from former secret police agents, including 124,000 pistols, 76,000 submachine guns, about 3,500 grenade-launchers and 342 anti-aircraft guns, would be retrieved.{{cite news|title=E. German Reveals Secret-Police Levels -- 1 In 80 Worked for or Aided Stasi|access-date=5 September 2012|newspaper=The Seattle Times|date=16 January 1990
|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19900116/1051108/e-german-reveals-secret-police-levels----1-in-80-worked-for-or-aided-stasi|agency=AP|location=East Berlin}}
Ahrendt's term ended on 12 April 1990. Peter-Michael Diestel succeeded him as interior minister.{{cite news|title=Karriere für Alt-Kader|url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/karriere-fuer-alt-kader-a-7303b1d4-0002-0001-0000-000013501036|access-date=14 March 2022|work=Der Spiegel|date=19 August 1990|language=German}} Ahrendt was also dismissed from the post as the acting chief of the German People's Police in August 1990.
References
{{Reflist|33em}}
External links
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=Friedrich Dickel}}
{{s-ttl|title=Minister of Interior|years=1989 – 1990}}
{{s-aft|after=Peter-Michael Diestel}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Interior Ministers of Germany|state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahrendt, Lothar}}
Category:20th-century German politicians
Category:Candidate members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Category:Government ministers of East Germany
Category:Politicians from Erfurt
Category:Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze