Rudolf Steinwand

Rudolf Steinwand (4 August 1906 – 10 November 1982) was a German politician (KPD, SED). Uncompromising in his political stance, he spent many of the twelve Hitler Years in prisons or concentration camps.

After 1949 he became a junior government minister in the German Democratic Republic.

Life Rudolf Steinwand was born in Boppard on the left bank of the Rhine Gorge. He came from a family of teachers. His own education was interrupted when he was exiled from the French occupation zone in connection with a civil passive disobedience campaign: he was obliged to defer his school final exams till 1928. Further progress towards qualifying as a teacher proved impossible due to lack of funds. He made a start on studying for a degree in Philology at Bonn, but the costs proved unsustainable. In 1930 he joined the German Communist Party. There was at this stage nothing illegal about Communist Party membership, but he was nevertheless arrested for his own illegal political activism. The politically committed friends came to be described as a small "political circle": they used to listen to foreign radio broadcasts and discuss the news. War had returned towards the end of 1939 and this sort of conduct was banned. Steinwand's own connections with the "Circle" were abruptly terminated in September/October 1941 when he was conscripted into the army. Before the end of 1941, reportedly because they had been denounced by someone, members of the "Circle" had been arrested and the Hoevels had been sentenced to death. Steinwand was also arrested and placed in a military prison. At some stage, however, he was released from prison and sent back to the army to fight on the Russian front. Following the new country's foundation, between 1950 and 1954 he sat as a member of the National Legislative Assembly (Volkskammer).

Awards and honours 1955: Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze 1966: Patriotic Order of Merit in silver 1971: Patriotic Order of Merit in gold 1976: Patriotic Order of Merit gold clasp 1981: Star of People's Friendship in silver