Fritz Kunst

Fritz Kunst
Mayor of Jena
In office 1953–1960
Preceded by	Hans Meier
Succeeded by	Heinz Wessel
Mayor of Greiz
In office 1948–1953
Personal details
Born	(1899-11-12)November 12, 1899 Greiz, German Empire
Died	October 13, 1979(1979-10-13) (aged 79) Jena, German Democratic Republic
Political party	Socialist Unity Party of Germany (1946-) Communist Party of Germany (-1946)
Awards	Patriotic Order of Merit, in Silver (1975) Banner of Labor (1959)

Fritz Kunst (12 November 1899–October 13, 1979) was a German politician of the Communist Party and SED, and mayor of Greiz and Jena.

Life

Born in Greiz, Kunst was a member of the Communist Party (KPD) at its founding in 1918 and was a leader in the labour sport movement (Arbeiter-Turn- und -Sportbewegung). During the Third Reich he was active in the Communist resistance and was arrested several times and tortured by the Gestapo. After the end of the war, within the Soviet Occupation Zone, he became a local leader (Kreisleiter) for the KPD (and from 1946, SED). In 1948, he was elected mayor of his hometown Greiz with the support of the Soviet commandant. From 1953 to 1960, he was mayor of the city of Jena.

Honours

• On 12 November 1969, the city of Jena conferred honorary citizenship upon Kunst. This was rescinded on 20 March 1991.
• The city of Jena also named a street after Kunst, which has since been renamed to Schrödingerstraße.

References

General sources

• Zorn, Monika (1994). Hitlers zweimal getötete Opfer. Westdeutsche Endlösung des Antifaschismus auf dem Gebiet der DDR [Hitler's twice killed victims. West German final solution of anti-fascism in the territory of the GDR] (in German). p. 232. ISBN 978-3894844011.
• Foitzik, Jan (2015). Sowjetische Kommandanturen und deutsche Verwaltung in der SBZ und frühen DDR [Soviet commands and German administration in the Soviet Occupation Zone and early GDR]. Texte und Materialien zur Zeitgeschichte (in German). Vol. 19. De Gruyter. p. 204. doi:10.1515/9783110400724. ISBN 978-3110400724.

Links

• Fritz Kunst in 1945 on the balcony of the Greiz city hall