Erich Raddatz

Erich Raddatz (28 November 1886 – 16 February 1964) was a Berlin city politician and parliamentarian. He was a founder member of the Communist Party, but was among those excluded from it in 1931 after openly opposing the leadership's adoption of Stalin's "social fascism" doctrine. After the war he returned to the Social Democratic Party with which he had broken over its support for the war back in 1917. He remained active in city politics well into his 70s, by which time he had become known to Berliners as "Papa Raddatz".

Life Provenance and early years Erich Raddatz was born into a Protestant family in Konikow (as the village of Konikowo was known at that time) in the coastal county of Köslin, roughly halfway between Stettin and Danzig. He completed an apprenticeship as a skilled metal worker and, while still relatively young, came to Berlin. He joined the trades union in 1907 and in 1910 became a member of the Social Democratic Party ("Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands" / SPD).

Prussian parliament In 1928 Wilhelm Pieck, already a leading figure in the Communist Party, gave up his seat in the Prussian parliament ("Landtag"), having been elected to the German parliament ("Reichstag") in May's general election. In June 1928 Raddatz was selected to take over the Landtag seat vacated by his party comrade, representing a Potsdam electoral district ("Wahlkreis 3"). In the course party ructions during 1930/31 Raddatz was excluded from the party. He nevertheless continued to sit as a member of the Landtag till the 1932 state election.

The "Group of 60" were immediately excluded from the party, becoming in effect a group of 60 independent Berlin communists. The Berlin city councillor Hermann Letz and Erich Raddatz found themselves the de facto co-leaders of the group. but his popularity in his West Berlin home base seems not to have suffered from his record of sometimes choosing the "wrong" party. By the time of his retirement from his council duties in 1959 he was becoming known by the affectionate soubriquet "Papa Raddatz", or even "Opa {Grandpa} Raddatz". Along with his social affairs portfolio as "Bezirksstadtrat", between 1955 and 1959 he also served as deputy mayor of Neukölln.

Final years Raddatz lived on another five years after his retirement, during which time he served as a "hands-on" regional vice president for the Berlin AWO ("Workers' Welfare") association. Following a serious operation, he died in West Berlin on 16 February 1964.