Rolf Henrich

Rolf Henrich (born 24 February 1944) is a writer and lawyer. In September 1989 he became a co-founder and leading member of the New Forum movement.

His book "The Custodial State. On the Failure of Real-life Socialism" ("Der vormundschaftliche Staat. Vom Versagen des real existierenden Sozialismus") had appeared in April 1989 and was a powerful stimulus along the route to the Citizens' Movement that within a couple of years had led to the end of the German Democratic Republic as a standalone state.

Life

Early years Henrich was born in Magdeburg, roughly equidistant between Hanover and Berlin, and on the eastern side of the border that divided East Germany from West Germany. After successfully completing his school career he went on to study law at the Humboldt University in Berlin. At the age of 20 he joined the country's ruling SED (party) A powerful adumbration of future disenchantment with the East German regime nevertheless came in 1968, in the context of student discussions of the Prague Spring when he was officially reprimanded for "revisionism" and "psychologizing the law", He was also required to change the subject of his dissertation, now addressing the subject "The next tasks of Soviet power" ("Die nächsten Aufgaben der Sowjetmacht"): he nevertheless accomplished his own task, receiving his degree-diploma with a top grade. During this period he also undertook further studies, almost certainly of a political nature, at the regional party academy in Frankfurt (on the River Oder). and he slowly became increasingly disillusioned with the East German regime and its Soviet-style Socialism, He did, however, attract the interest of the Ministry for State Security whose principal office in Eisenhüttenstadt was in the Bergstraße ("Mountain Street"), close to his own office.

Into the limelight Henrich's public profile was greatly raised with the publication in April 1989 of his book "The Custodial State. On the Failure of Real-life Socialism" ("Der vormundschaftliche Staat. Vom Versagen des real existierenden Sozialismus") the publication of which in 1977 had led to its author's arrest and subsequent deportation, but twelve years on Rolf Heinrich was much more analytically pessimistic about the way ahead for Socialism in the German Democratic Republic than Rudolf Bahro had been. Another explanation is that the regime was aware of the scale of the publicity Heinrich's book had already received both within and outside the German Democratic Republic and did not arrest him "for political reasons".

New Forum Early in September 1989, at Grünheide, Rolf Henrich was one of the 30 signatories of the founding proclamation that gave birth to the New Forum movement. By the end of 1989 more than 200,000 had signed the proclamation despite New Forum having been identified by the East German governing party as illegal. By this time, in any event, the Berlin wall had been breached by demonstrators on the eastern side early in November 1989, and when it became clear that the fraternal Soviet troops had no instructions to prevent people from crossing it, the gate was seen to have been left open for a reunification process that now appeared unstoppable.

As part of that process, between December 1989 and March 1990 a Round Table forum was convened to work through the practical steps needed for German reunification. Rolf Henrich participated in the Round Table discussions on behalf of New Forum. Henrich set himself two principal tasks within the process. The hated Ministry for State Security had to be abolished. There had been some suggestion that the institution might be reconfigured as a new "National Security Agency" ("Amt für Nationale Sicherheit"). For Henrich, that would have been a mere re-labeling and as such totally unacceptable. His second task was to help draft and enact a new election law for East Germany, and to set a date for a democratically configured election to take place. On 18 March 1990 the first, and as matters turned out, last, free parliamentary election in the history of the German Democratic Republic was held. After this Rolf Henrich was satisfied that his own contribution to the Round Table exercise had been successfully completed. In November 1989 the de facto ban that seven months earlier had prevented him from working as a lawyer had been revoked and he was by now free to return to work at his lawyer's office in Eisenhüttenstadt.

Career options Henrich later told an interviewer that Manfred Gerlach, who had been the East German head of state between 3 December 1989 and 18 March 1990, had offered him a job as President of the country's Supreme Court, but Henrich turned down that job along with an invitation to take a government post as secretary of state in the Ministry of Justice. Henrich evidently thought he might have independence issues or become a "figleaf" with a high-profile post in the East German judicial-political establishment. To maximize legitimacy, such jobs should go to an "outsider".

There had also been a project involving the Gruner + Jahr publishing conglomerate to set up a pan-regional daily newspaper called "Die Ostdeutsche", based on the model of the highly successful Süddeutsche Zeitung. That project failed because the newspaper market turned out to be overcrowded already.

German reunification formally took place in October 1990 and Rolf Henrich returned to his life as a provincial lawyer in Eisenhüttenstadt. His public profile never entirely vanished, however: he continued to give occasional press interviews and to publish the occasional book. In the courts he has worked as a defense lawyer in controversial cases including those involving former East German border guards charged in connection with shootings at the Berlin Wall.

Awards and honours 2000 German National prize of the German National Foundation (joint winner)