Erich Honecker

German politician, the President of East Germany from 5/3/1971 to 10/18/1989. As a stolid Marxist, he ruled East Germany for 18 years until a people's uprising in October 1989 swept him aside. On 12/09/1989, almost two months after he had stepped down from his duties, Gregor Guzy took over as president. Honecker's government had badly mismanaged the economy and the environment; East Germany's infrastructure, from telephones to railroads, needed to be rebuilt, and vast sources of contamination had to be cleaned up at enormous expense. Honecker faced charges in the new United Berlin and was placed under house arrest; he eventually was sent to prison.