List of members of the Zentrale of the Communist Party of Germany
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This list provides an alphabetically ordered overview of the members of the Zentrale (literally "Headquarters"), or Central Committee, of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) elected at the Party Congresses (1918–1924). It was not until the 10th Party Congress of the KPD in July 1925 in Berlin that a Central Committee was elected as the governing body instead of the Zentrale (→ List of members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Germany).
1st Party Congress (1918/1919)
The founding Party Congress in Berlin (31 December 1918 – 1 January 1919) elected a Central Committee of twelve people:[1]
2nd Party Congress (1919)
At the second Party Congress in Heidelberg (20 – 24 October 1919) a Central Committee consisting of seven people was elected:
3rd Party Congress (February 1920)
The (illegally assembled) third Party Congress in Karlsruhe (25 – 26 February 1920) elected a Central Committee consisting of seven members and seven deputies:
Members:
- Heinrich Brandler
- Hugo Eberlein
- Paul Frölich
- Ernst Meyer
- Wilhelm Pieck
- August Thalheimer
- Clara Zetkin
Deputies (Candidates):
- Ernst Friesland (alias for Ernst Reuter)
- Arthur Hammer
- Fritz Heckert
- Joseph Koering
- Paul Lange
- Friedrich Schnellbacher
- Jacob Walcher
4th Party Congress (April 1920)
The (illegally assembled) fourth Party Congress in Berlin (14 – 15 April 1920) elected a Central Committee consisting of seven members and seven substitutes:
Members:
Substitutes (Candidates):
- Ernst Friesland
- Paul Frölich
- Fritz Heckert
- Paul Lange
- Friedrich Schnellbacher
- Jacob Walcher
- Rosi Wolfstein
5th Party Congress (November 1920)
The delegates of the fifth Party Congress in Berlin (1 – 3 November 1920) confirmed the previous Zentrale.
6th Party Congress (December 1920)
The sixth Party Congress in Berlin (4 – 7 December 1920) was the unification congress of the KPD and the left wing of the USPD. The delegates elected an executive committee consisting of two chairmen, seven secretaries and five assessors.[2]
Chairmen: Paul Levi (KPD) and Ernst Däumig (former USPD)
Secretaries:
- Heinrich Brandler
- Otto Brass
- Wilhelm Koenen
- Wilhelm Pieck
- Hermann Remmele
- Walter Stoecker
- Clara Zetkin
Assessors:
- Otto Gäbel
- Kurt Geyer
- Fritz Heckert
- Adolph Hoffmann
- August Thalheimer
7th Party Congress (1921)
The seventh Party Congress in Jena (22 – 26 August 1921) elected a Central Committee of 14 members:
8th Party Congress (1923)
The delegates of the eighth Party Congress meeting in Leipzig (28 January – 1 February 1923) elected a Central Committee of 21 members:
- Karl Albin Becker
- Paul Böttcher
- Heinrich Brandler
- Hugo Eberlein
- Arthur Ewert
- Paul Frölich
- Fritz Heckert
- Edwin Hoernle
- August Kleine
- Wilhelm Koenen
- Rudolf Lindau
- Hans Pfeiffer
- Wilhelm Pieck
- Hermann Remmele
- Felix Schmidt
- Georg Schumann
- Walter Stoecker
- August Thalheimer
- Walter Ulbricht
- Jacob Walcher
- Clara Zetkin
At a meeting of the Central Committee on May 17, 1923, four additional members were co-opted:
9th Party Congress (1924)
At the ninth Party Congress in Frankfurt am Main (7 – 10 April 1924) a Central Committee of 15 members was elected: