East Germany
In 1945 Hager returned to Berlin. Until 1946 he first worked as forestry worker and welder, and later as a journalist for the magazine "Freie Tribüne".
Upon his return, he was deputy chief editor of the "Forward" and graduated 1948, a lecturer in the course of the Parteihochschule "Karl Marx" Kleinmachnow and in 1949 he became a full professor for philosophy at the Humboldt University in Berlin.
1946 he joined the SED, became head of the party Training Division, 1949 Head of the Propaganda Department. 1950 candidate, 1952 Head of the Science Division of the Code of SED, 1954 member and 1955 secretary of the Central Committee of the SED, in this capacity is responsible for science, popular education and culture. 1959 he was a candidate and 1963 Member of the Politburo of the CC of SED and the Ideologischen committee of the Politburo. He was 1958 member of the Public Chamber and 1967 chairman of the Public Education Committee. He was also 1976-1989 Member of the Council of State and 1979-1989 member of the National Defense Council. In SED-Politbüro was Hager as "Chefideologe" and the supreme cultural responsible.
In speeches and writings Hager denied the existence of a single German cultural nation and a common German history. 1987, in an interview with the German magazine Stern about the reforms of Gorbachev in the former Soviet Union Hager gave the answer:Would you, if your neighbor repapers his apartment, feel like you should also repaper your apartment?. This rejection of the policy of glasnost and perestroika of the Soviet military power has met an angry reception both in the party base, as well as in the population of the GDR. Wolf Biermann titled Hager - probably out of this occasion, in his song "The Ballad of the corrupt old men" scornfully as "Professor Tapeten-Kutte". In a spontaneous encounter with GDR-journalists - when they came into his residence, the "Wachobjekt Wandlitz", for the first time - Hager said, he was placed there against his will at the climax of the Cold War. It had "the decisions of the party bent," said Hager in the presence of his wife. Wandlitz, which after 1989 became the epitome of the duplicity of DDR-Oberen made a name for himself had he described as its seventh internment camp, in which he had come.
In November 1989 Hager was removed from his functions, and in 1990 expelled from the SED- PDS.
Hager won numerous awards. He received 1956 Hans-Beimler-Medaille, 1962 Banner of Labor, 1964 Vaterländischer Verdienstorden, 1969 entitled hero of the work, as well as 1972, 1977 and 1982 Karl-Marx-Orden.
His daughter Nina Hager, joined somewhat in the footsteps of her father. She is vice chairman of the German Communist Party (DKP), a member of the National Executive and there are other positions.
His grave is located on the Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde.
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hager, Kurt |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | German politician |
| Date of birth | 1912 |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | 1998 |
| Place of death | |
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