Otto Gotsche

Otto Gotsche (3 July 1904 – 17 December 1985) was a German political activist (KPD) and writer. After 1945 he moved into mainstream politics.

During the Nazi years he worked effectively in the country's resistance movement. Having survived, he became a leading member of the East German literary establishment. A committed adherent to the country's political path during the 1950s and 1960s, he enjoyed the confidence of Walter Ulbricht, at times employed as an official spokesman for the leader. In 1966 he became a member of the country's powerful Party Central Committee. After Ulbricht lost power in 1971, the public profile of Otto Gotsche quickly faded, and he found himself retiring, one by one, from the various party offices he had acquired. He continued to be officially honoured for his work as a writer till the end, however.