August Bach

August Bach (30 August 1897 – 23 March 1966) was a German politician who led the Christian Democratic Union in East Germany from 1958 to 1966.^[1]

August Bach
Bach in 1960
Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union
In office 1958–1966
Preceded by	Otto Nuschke
Succeeded by	Gerald Götting
President of the Länderkammer
In office 5 March 1955 – 8 December 1958
Preceded by	Reinhold Lobedanz [de]
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Member of the Volkskammer
In office 1949–1966
Member of the Landtag of Thuringia
In office 1950–1952
Personal details
Born	(1897-08-30)30 August 1897 Rheydt, German Empire
Died	23 March 1966(1966-03-23) (aged 68) East Berlin, German Democratic Republic
Political party	Christian Democratic Union (East Germany) (1945-)
Alma mater	University of Berlin
Profession	Journalist
Military service
Allegiance	German Empire
Years of service	1916-1918
Battles/wars	First World War

August Bach was born in Rheydt. From 1915 to 1918 he served in German army. After the War he studied History at the University of Berlin. He worked as a journalist during the Weimar Republic and he was a member of the liberal German Democratic Party. From 1922 to 1944 he was the editor of the Berliner Monatshefte.

After World War II, Bach was the co-founder of East German Christian Democratic Union in Thüringen and was elected in the provincial executive of the CDUD of Thüringen. In 1947 he joined the Society for German-Soviet Russian Friendship (DSF) and he served as the vice-chairman of the DSF-Thüringen (1949). Later he was a member of the Presidium of the DSF.

From May 1950 Bach was the editor of the Thüringen Daily and member of the CDU Executive Commission and the CDU Political Commission. From 1955 to 1958 he served as chairman of the Länderkammer (the upper house of Parliament). A loyal supporter of the Communist SED regime, he helped push out those CDU members not willing to do the Communists' bidding, and led its formal transformation into a loyal partner of the SED in 1952.

After the death of Otto Nuschke, Bach was elected Chairman of the CDUD (as it was now known) in 1958. From 1958 to 1963 he was Vice-President of the Volkskammer and from 1963 to his death he served as member of the Presidium of the Volkskammer.