Eduard Götzl

Eduard Götzl (18 February 1921 – 16 January 1986) was a German-Czech politician and party functionary of the Socialist Unity Party (SED).

He moved to the Soviet occupation zone after the war, where he became a SED functionary. He most notably served as First Secretary of the Bezirk Frankfurt (Oder) SED in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Götzl was however removed from office in August 1961 and only held minor positions afterwards.

Life and career Czechoslovakia Götzl, the son of a worker, attended elementary school in Bečov nad Teplou and vocational school in Karlovy Vary. He trained as a mechanic and worked in that profession afterward. In 1936, he became a member of the Socialist Workers' Youth of Czechoslovakia.

During World War II, Götzl was initially conscripted into military service and then worked as an armaments worker in the aircraft industry from 1943 to 1945. He was replaced by Erich Mückenberger, who had lost his position as SED Agriculture Secretary to Grüneberg in the year prior.

Götzl had to retire from both the Central Committee and Volkskammer, in January 1963 (VI. Party Congress) and November 1963 respectively. He was transferred back to Bezirk Potsdam, serving as First Deputy Chairman of the Bezirk government from September 1961 to August 1963. A major demotion considering Bezirk governments were completely subservient to their respective local SED leadership.

From September 1963 to January 1970, he headed the Workers' and Farmers' Inspection in Bezirk Potsdam. He only rejoined the SED's nomenklatura in February 1970 when he was made First Secretary of the SED in Rathenow district, a mostly rural district in the western part of Bezirk Potsdam. He was relieved of his duties for health reasons in January 1979.

Götzl was married and had two children. He lived as a widower in Potsdam and died at the age of 64. His urn was interred in the New Cemetery in Potsdam.