Franz Dahlem

Franz Dahlem
Franz Dahlem
	Dahlem in 1946
Secretary for Cadre Affairs of the; Party Executive of the Socialist Unity Party
	In office; 23 April 1946 – 24 January 1949 Serving with Erich Gniffke
Chairman	Wilhelm Pieck; Otto Grotewohl;
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Walter Ulbricht
Secretary for Youth of the; Party Executive of the Socialist Unity Party
	In office; 23 April 1946 – 24 January 1949 Serving with Max Fechner
Chairman	Wilhelm Pieck; Otto Grotewohl;
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Anton Ackermann
National Leader of the; Revolutionäre Gewerkschafts Opposition
	In office; November 1930 – June 1932
Preceded by	Fritz Emrich
Succeeded by	Fritz Schulte
Preceded by
Parliamentary constituencies
Member of the Volkskammer; for Berlin
	In office; 20 October 1963 – 17 October 1976
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Multi-member district
	In office; 18 March 1948 – 3 February 1954
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Peter Florin
Member of the Reichstag ; for Potsdam II
	In office; 1 July 1928 – 28 February 1933
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Member of the Landtag of Prussia; for Cologne–Aachen
	In office; 10 March 1921 – 5 January 1925
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Multi-member district
Central Committee Secretariat responsibilities
1949–1952	KPD Working Office
1949–1952	West Department
Personal details
Born	14 January 1892; Rohrbach bei Bitsch, Elsaß-Lothringen, German Empire
Died	17 December 1981 (aged 89); East Berlin, East Germany
Political party	SED (1946–1981); KPD (1920–1946); USPD (1917–1920); SPD (1913–1917)
Spouse	Käthe Weber (m. 1919; died 1974)
Children	4
Occupation	Politician; Civil Servant; Party Functionary;
Awards	Hans Beimler Medal; Order of Karl Marx; Patriotic Order of Merit; Star of People's Friendship;
Military service
Allegiance	German Empire; Spanish Republic
Branch/service	Imperial German Army; International Brigades
Years of service	1914–1918; 1936–1938
Rank	Commissar
Battles/wars	World War I Eastern Front; ; Spanish Civil War;
	Central institution membership 1949–1953: Full member,; Politburo of the Central Committee ; 1946–1953; 1957–1981: Full member,; Central Committee ; 1929–1946: Full member,; KPD Politburo ; 1928–1929: Candidate member,; KPD Politburo ; 1927–1946: Full member,; KPD Central Committee ; Other offices held 1967–1974: Deputy Minister, Ministry of Higher and Technical Education ; 1929–1930: Member,; Prussian State Council ; 1928–1929: Deputy Member,; Prussian State Council ; 1919–1923: Member,; Cologne City Council ;

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.