File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R0522-177,_Erich_Mielke_(cropped).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Erich Mielke
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OverviewAI-generated
Erich Fritz Emil Mielke was a German politician, minister, and military officer. He served as a general of the army in the International Brigades and held allegiance to the Soviet Union. His political career included membership in the Communist Party of Germany and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. He held citizenship in the German Empire, Weimar Republic, Soviet Union, and German Democratic Republic.
Mielke participated in the Spanish Civil War, World War II, and the Great Purge. He was convicted of murder and detained at Moabit Prison. His awards included the Hero of the Soviet Union, Order of Lenin, Order of the October Revolution, and Order of the Red Banner. He spoke and wrote in German and Russian. Born in Berlin in 1907, he died in Berlin in 2000 and was buried at Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde.
Synthesized by Vinony from 26 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, TMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film & TV
Berlin, Germany
Known for
- Stasi FC — Self (Archive Footage)2025
- Stasi: A State Against Its People — Self (archive footage)2021
- Inside HVA — Self - MfS-Chef (archive footage)2019
- Störung Ost — Chief State Security1996
- Streng vertraulich oder Die innere Verfassung — Self (archive footage)1990
via TMDB
Key facts
- Chairman of the council of ministers
- Otto Grotewohl Willi Stoph Horst Sindermann Willi Stoph
- First deputy
- Otto Walter Bruno Beater
- Preceded by
- Ernst Wollweber
- Succeeded by
- Position abolished , Wolfgang Schwanitz , (as Head of the Office for National Security )
- Minister
- Wilhelm Zaisser Ernst Wollweber
- Born
- Erich Fritz Emil Mielke , ( 1907-12-28 ) 28 December 1907, Wedding , Berlin , Kingdom of Prussia , German Empire (now Germany )
- Died
- 21 May 2000 (2000-05-21) (aged 92), Neu-Hohenschönhausen , Berlin , Germany
- Party
- Socialist Unity Party (1946–1989)
- Other political affiliations
- Communist Party of Germany (1928–1946)
- Spouse
- Gertrud Müller
- Children
- Frank, Ingrid
- Occupation
- Politician Civil servant Freight forwarder
- Allegiance
- East Germany
- Branch service
- National People's Army
- Rank
- Armeegeneral
- Battles wars
- Spanish Civil War , World War II
- Criminal status
- Served prison sentence 7 December 1989 – 9 March 1990; 26 July 1990 – 1 August 1995, released on parole in 1995 due to poor health
- Convictions
- Murder ( 2 counts ), attempted murder
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Emil
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Germany
- Place of birth
- Berlin
- Place of death
- Berlin
- Occupation
- minister
- Political party
- Socialist Unity Party of Germany
- Languages spoken
- Russian
- Native language
- German
- Participant in
- Great Purge
- Conflict
- World War II
- Military branch
- International Brigades
- Military rank
- general of the army
- Image
- Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R0522-177, Erich Mielke.jpg
- Convicted of
- murder
- Significant event
- assassination of Paul Anlauf and Franz Lenck
Show 9 more facts
- Commons category
- Erich Mielke
- date of birth
- 1907-12-28
- date of death
- 2000-05-21
- place of burial
- Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde
- birth name
- Erich Fritz Emil Mielke
- name in native language
- Erich Mielke
- Commons gallery
- Erich Mielke
- place of detention
- Moabit Prison
- allegiance
- Soviet Union
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Erich Fritz Emil Mielke ( German: [ˈeːʁɪç ˈmiːlkə]; 28 December 1907 – 21 May 2000) was a German communist official who served as head of the East German Ministry for State Security (Ministerium für Staatsicherheit – MfS), better known as the Stasi, from 1957 until shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Dubbed "The Master of Fear" (German: der Meister der Angst) by the West German press, Mielke was one of the most powerful, feared, and hated men in East Germany.
A working-class native of the Wedding slum district of Berlin and a second-generation member of the Communist Party of Germany, Mielke was one of two gunmen in the 1931 murders of Berlin Police captains Paul Anlauf and Franz Lenck. After learning that a witness had survived, Mielke escaped arrest by fleeing to the Soviet Union, where the NKVD recruited him. He was one of the key figures in the decimation of Moscow's many German Communist refugees during the Great Purge as well as in the Red Terror; the witch-hunt by the Servicio de Información Militar for both real and imagined members of the anti-Stalinist Left within the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Erich Mielke” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.