Herbert Schirmer

Herbert Schirmer (born 8 July 1945) is a former German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

He served as the GDR's last Minister of Culture in the cabinet of Lothar de Maizière.

Life and career Early career Schirmer completed an apprenticeship as a machinist and stoker in 1966. He then underwent vocational training as a bookseller. He worked in this profession in Dresden in 1974/75. Between 1976 and 1978, he worked as an employee in the Bezirk Dresden Cabinet for Cultural Affairs and, from 1977, served as the editor-in-chief of the Kultur-Report Dresden.

After completing a distance learning program in journalism at the Karl Marx University's Journalism Section, nicknamed "Red Monastery" due to the strict ideological control of the SED, he worked as the department head for public relations and international exhibitions at the publishing house Verlag der Kunst until 1986.

In the first free elections in the GDR, Schirmer was elected to the Volkskammer in March 1990 for Bezirk Frankfurt (Oder),

As Minister of Culture, Schirmer focused on democratizing and decentralizing cultural policy, previously tightly controlled by the SED.

He worked to dismantle old structures and replace them with public bodies, recognizing that post-reunification, cultural matters would be managed by the states. This restructuring controversially involved reducing state subsidies and reorganizing fees for cultural services.

Schirmer also aimed to preserve East German cultural achievements, which were often dismissed as politically motivated due to the legacy of the SED's paternalism. Through tough negotiations, he sought to protect institutions, especially in the field of high culture, while ensuring the continued existence of cultural infrastructure.

Reunified Germany After German reunification, Schirmer retired from politics, having already stepped down as chairman of the Brandenburg CDU in August 1990, and returned to the arts and cultural sector. After leaving the CDU in February 1991, Schirmer joined the SPD in June 1992, serving as a member of their national cultural forum. He left the SPD in November 1998, shortly after Gerhard Schröder became Chancellor.

From May 1991 to 1998, he was the director of the museum at Wasserburg Beeskow, where he established the Collection and Documentation Center Art of the GDR. Afterward, he worked for Inpetho Medienproduktion GmbH in Cottbus.

He now lives as a journalist in Lieberose and is the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Stiftung Neue Kultur.