Early career

In 1945, Felfe joined the KPD (Communist Party of Germany) and became a member of the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) in 1946 following the forced merger of the SPD (Social Democratic Party) and KPD. In 1946, he joined the newly founded FDJ (Free German Youth).^[2]

In 1950, he became a member of the Flöha District Council.^[3] From 1950, he worked in the SED district administrations of Kamenz and Flöha, as well as in the Saxony state administration until its dissolvement in 1953. He thereafter attended the "Karl Marx" Party Academy for a year. Until 1957, he served as the Second Secretary of the Central Council of the FDJ under Karl Namokel. From 1954 to 1958, he also was a deputy of a Leipzig electoral district and chairman of the Youth Committee of the Volkskammer.^[2]

From 1954 to 1963, he was a candidate member and from 21 January 1963 (VI. Party Congress) to his death, he was a full member of the Central Committee of the SED.^[2]

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Felfe held various positions in local government. From 1957 to 1960, Felfe eventually chaired the Zschopau District executive Council and from March 1960 to September 1963, he chaired the Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt executive Council,^[2][3] formally making him head of government of the Bezirk. However, in all of these positions, he was de facto subservient to the respective local SED leadership.

From 1963 to 1965, he pursued studies at the Industrial Institute of the Dresden University of Technology and obtained a degree in industrial engineering.^[4] Subsequently, he became the deputy head of the Department for Agitation and Propaganda of the Central Committee, first working under Horst Sindermann.^[2]

Bezirk Halle SED career

In 1966, Felfe joined the Bezirk Halle SED led by Sindermann as the Secretary for Agitation and Propaganda. In 1968, he became its Second Secretary after longtime incumbent Gerhard Frost left for university and in 1971, he became the First Secretary, succeeding Sindermann,^[2][3] who joined the Council of Ministers as First Deputy Chairman.

From 1971, he was once again a member of the Volkskammer. Since 1973, he was a candidate member and since 1976 (IX. Party Congress) a full member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED,^[3][4] the de facto highest leadership body in East Germany, Bezirk Halle being an important centre for the chemical industry. He additionally joined the National Defense Council the same year.^[2][5]

Felfe was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in 1974 and the Karl Marx Order in 1978.^[2]

Agriculture Secretary

In April 1981, shortly before the X. Party Congress, SED Agriculture Secretary Gerhard Grüneberg unexpectedly died of a tumour at age 59. Felfe was chosen as his successor, also joining the State Council.^[2][6][5], the GDR's collective head of state. The agriculture portfolio was considered a difficult one.^[4]

Felfe (left of center) and SED First Secretary in Bezirk Dresden Hans Modrow (right) visiting farmers in Crostwitz in August 1987

As Central Committee Secretariat Secretary responsible for Agriculture, he was the most powerful agricultural policymaker in the country^[7] and continued the course correction of his predecessor, eliminating the devastating separation between animal and plant production, reducing bureaucracy, and saving resources.^[7][4] Felfe enjoyed high popularity during his tenure.^[4] In this capacity, he also traveled to socialist countries and, in 1985 and 1987, to West Germany, where he met with Chancellor's Office Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, Minister of Agriculture Ignaz Kiechle, and his predecessor Josef Ertl. He overall became known as a reformer.^[8]

Felfe was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of the GDR and the Hero of Labour title in 1988.^[9]

After publicly warning in 1984 about the 'growing revanchist forces' in West Germany, an article was published on 8 August 1988, in the West German news magazine Der Spiegel, speculating about potential successors to Erich Honecker. The article suggested the autumn of 1989 as the time for the change, presuming that the 40th anniversary of the founding of the GDR would be an appropriate date. Alongside eventual successor Egon Krenz, Siegfried Lorenz, and Günter Schabowski, Felfe was mentioned as a potential candidate for Honecker's succession in the article. Felfe was (approximately) quoted in the article as saying, 'The political perestroika must not stop at the GDR.'^[10][8] This put him into a difficult situation.

Death

Felfe's grave in 2009

Just under a month after the article was published, Felfe surprisingly died at the age of 60 due to acute heart failure,^[7][11][8] according to official reports in East Berlin, according to another source while hunting near Strasburg (Uckermark). His death was attributed to stress from excessive work as well as hypertension and heart disease.^[7]

His urn was interred in the Memorial of the Socialists at the Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery in Berlin-Lichtenberg. He was the last person to whom the Politburo granted a grave site there.

The search for a successor proved to be difficult.^[7] He eventually was succeeded as Agriculture Secretary by Werner Krolikowski in late 1988.^[12]