Johannes Robert Becher

Born in Munich in 1891, Johannes Robert Becher was a German poet, novelist, and political writer whose early work was linked with Expressionism. Over time he became increasingly committed to revolutionary politics, joining the Communist Party of Germany and writing with a strong sense of social and political purpose.

After the Nazi rise to power, he lived in exile for years before returning to Germany after World War II. In the German Democratic Republic, he took on a major public role as a cultural official and served as minister of culture from 1954 until 1958.

Becher's legacy is a mix of literature and politics: he was an important writer of the first half of the 20th century, and in 1949 he wrote the words to the national anthem of East Germany. He died in East Berlin in 1958.