Horst Bittner

Horst Bittner (14 June 1927 – 16 April 2013) was an East German politician (SED) and diplomat. Between 1965 and 1974 he served as the East German ambassador to the Soviet Union in succession to Rudolf Dölling.

Life Horst Bittner was born into a working-class family in Taucha, an industrial town on the northeast side of Leipzig. On leaving school he trained and then worked as a printer. He grew up during the Second World War which ended formally in May 1945. By that time the region had been taken over by the American army. However, the division of postwar Germany had already been pre-agreed by the victorious war leaders and in July 1945 the Americans withdrew: the region became part of the Soviet administered occupation zone. Bittner immediately involved himself in the "Anti-fascist Youth" movement in his home region. In 1946 he joined the newly formed Socialist Unity Party ("Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands" / SED). He enrolled at the Workers' and Farmers' faculty in Leipzig, later switching to the city's university where he studied, and in 1949 obtained his degree, in social sciences. It was considered normal in East Germany for the country's most important ambassadorial posts to be held not by long standing career diplomats but by men who had built their careers and contacts inside the country's political establishment. Returning to Berlin, between 1974 and 1984 Bittner held a senior post in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. His last important posting, between 1984 and 1989, was as Commercial Counsellor at the East German embassy in Prague. Other sources indicate he was a candidate member between 1971 and 1976.

Awards and honours 1965 Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze 1970 Patriotic Order of Merit in silver 1974 Order of Friendship of Peoples (Soviet honour) 1987 Verdienter Mitarbeiter des Handels der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (for service to East German trade and commerce)