Franz Dahlem

Franz Dahlem
Dahlem in 1946
Secretary for Cadre Affairs of the
Party Executive Central Secretariat
In office
23 April 1946 – 24 January 1949
Serving with Erich Gniffke
Chairman
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byWalter Ulbricht
Secretary for Youth of the
Party Executive Central Secretariat
In office
23 April 1946 – 24 January 1949
Serving with Max Fechner
Chairman
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byEdith Baumann
Secretary for Party Organs of the
Party Executive Central Secretariat
In office
23 April 1946 – 24 January 1949
Serving with Erich Gniffke
Chairman
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byKarl Schirdewan (As Secretary of Leading Party Organs and Mass Organizations, 1952)
National Leader of the
Revolutionäre Gewerkschafts Opposition
In office
November 1930 – June 1932
Preceded byFritz Emrich
Succeeded byFritz Schulte
Parliamentary constituencies
Member of the Volkskammer
for Berlin
In office
20 October 1963 – 17 October 1976
Preceded byMulti-member district
Succeeded byMulti-member district
In office
18 March 1948 – 3 February 1954
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byPeter Florin
Member of the Reichstag
for Potsdam II
In office
1 July 1928 – 28 February 1933
Preceded byMulti-member district
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Member of the Landtag of Prussia
for Cologne–Aachen
In office
10 March 1921 – 5 January 1925
Preceded byMulti-member district
Succeeded byMulti-member district
Central Committee Secretariat responsibilities
1949–1952KPD Working Office
1949–1952West Department
Personal details
Born(1892-01-14)14 January 1892
Died17 December 1981(1981-12-17) (aged 89)
PartySPD (1913–1917)
USPD (1917–1920)
KPD (1920–1946)
SED (1946–1981)
Spouse
(m. 1919; died 1974)
Children4, including Robert
Occupation
  • Politician
  • Civil Servant
  • Party Functionary
Awards
Military service
Allegiance German Empire
Spanish Republic
Branch/serviceImperial German Army
International Brigades
Years of service1914–1918
1936–1938
RankCommissar
Battles/wars
Central institution membership

Other offices held
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Franz Dahlem (14 January 1892 – 17 December 1981) was a German communist politician who was a leading official of the Socialist Unity Party (SED). Dahlem helped establish the SED and German Democratic Republic, and held senior positions in the Volkskammer and SED Central Committee.

Dahlem participated in the German revolution of 1918-19 and joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during the Weimar Republic, serving as a KPD member in the Landtag of Prussia from 1921 to 1924 and the Reichstag from 1928 to 1933. Dahlem went into exile in France during the Nazi period and continued KPD activities until the end of the Second World War. Dahlem became well-known and popular in the SED leadership by the early 1950s and was seen by some as a possible rival to Walter Ulbricht. Dahlem was one of several high-ranking SED officials to be removed from power by Ulbricht after the Uprising of 1953. Dahlem was formally rehabilitated by the SED in 1956, serving on the Central Committee from 1957 until his retirement in 1974.