Stefan Doernberg

Stefan Doernberg (21 June 1924 – 3 May 2010^[1]) was a German writer,^[2] secondary school teacher and Researcher of Contemporary History as well as the final director of International Relations Institute for the Academy of the State and Jurisprudence (ASR in German) for the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). He was the East German ambassador to Finland from 1981 to 1987.^[3]

Stefan Doernberg
Doernberg in 1980
Ambassador of the German Democratic Republic to Finland
In office 1981–1987
Preceded by	Joachim Mitdank [de]
Succeeded by	Rolf Böttcher
Personal details
Born	(1924-06-21)June 21, 1924 Berlin, Weimar Republic
Died	May 3, 2010(2010-05-03) (aged 85) Berlin, Germany
Political party	The Left (2007–) Party of Democratic Socialism (1989–2007) Socialist Unity Party of Germany (1946–1989)
Alma mater	Moscow State University
Awards	Patriotic Order of Merit, in gold (1984) Patriotic Order of Merit, in silver (1966) Patriotic Order of Merit, in bronze (1964)
Military Service
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Years of service	1941–1945
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	8th Guards Army
Battles / wars	Second World War Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa
Awards	Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1985)

Early life

Doernberg was born the son of an official of the KPD. In 1935, he and his parents emigrated to the Soviet Union where he attended the Karl Liebknecht School. In 1939, he joined the KJVD and received his Abitur in Moscow.

On the day of Operation Barbarossa, he joined the Red Army. He was temporarily interned in a work camp in the Urals because of his German origins but he returned from his stay there to the front after schooling in the Comintern. As a Lieutenant in the 8th Guards Army he participated in the battles in Ukraine, Poland, and Berlin.