Karl Maron

Karl Maron (1903–1975) was a German politician, who served as the interior minister of East Germany. He also assumed different posts in East Germany's government.

Early life and education Maron was born in Berlin on 27 April 1903 and was educated in Russia.

Career Maron was a metal worker. In 1926, he joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). As a deputy mayor one of his significant tasks was to rename the streets of Berlin. From 1946 to 1950 he was the chief editor of daily Neues Deutschland, which was founded in 1946 by the SED.

He became the chief of the German people’s police or more commonly Volkspolizei in June 1950 when former chief Kurt Fischer died. In February 1953, he publicly argued "the Volkspolizei can never be neutral or unpolitical."

Maron was appointed interior minister on 1 July 1955, replacing Willi Stoph in the post. In this position he was promoted in 1962 to Generaloberst. In 1961, he became a member of the working group formed by the Politburo to develop ways to end refugee flow from East Germany. The other members of the group were then security chief Erich Honecker and Stasi chief Erich Mielke. He was succeeded by Friedrich Dickel as interior minister. From 1958 to 1967 he served as the representative of Volkskammer.

Personal life and death Maron was the step-father of author Monika Maron. Karl Maron married her mother in 1955. He died in 1975.

Legacy A street in East Berlin was named after him, Karl-Maron-Straße, in the 1970s and 1980s.