Hermann Pöschel

Hermann Pöschel (28 September 1919 – 30 December 2007) was a politician and an important official in the German Democratic Republic's ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED / Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands).

Between 1967 and 1989 he was a member of the Party Central Committee. After that he became, in 1961, head of the Central Committee Department for Research and Technological Development. It was a function he would retain till 1989, his 28-year tenure was the second longest achieved by any of the thirteen departmental heads reporting in to the Central Committee.

In 1963 Pöschel's own name appeared on the candidate list for membership of the Party Central Committee.

On 26 May 1981 Pöschel was appointed a member of the influential Cadre Commission of the Party Central Committee. The Commission, which dealt with personnel decisions, comprised a handful of departmental chiefs along with the First Secretary, Erich Honecker, himself.

Awards and honours 1962 Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze 1963 Banner of Labor 1964 Patriotic Order of Merit in silver 1969 Banner of Labor (Unusually, he won it twice. ) 1975 Patriotic Order of Merit in gold 1975 Battle Order "For services to The People and The Fatherland" 1979 Patriotic Order of Merit gold clasp 1981 Battle Order "For services to The People and The Fatherland" (again) 1984 Order of Karl Marx 1989 Patriotic Order of Merit in gold (again)