{"record":{"aliases":[],"appointmentIds":["germany-60fa932595171e"],"appointmentsDataset":"https://chanceries.org/diplomats.json","archivalSources":[],"canonicalUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/germany-gdr-herder-b73f17e6a6/","countrySlug":"germany","entityId":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/germany-gdr-herder-b73f17e6a6/#person","eventIds":[],"expandedParagraphs":["Gerhard Herder entered East German public life through the Free German Youth organization after returning from Soviet captivity. He worked on its international relations, studied at the academy for state and legal studies, and earned a doctorate in law. He joined the Foreign Ministry in 1962 and later directed a policy department.","Herder headed the East German trade representation in Beirut and became ambassador to Lebanon when full diplomatic relations followed. He subsequently worked on disarmament in Geneva and represented East Germany at the United Nations there. In 1983, he succeeded Horst Grunert as ambassador to the United States, with concurrent responsibility for Canada."],"id":"germany:germany-gdr-herder","identifiers":{},"legacyPersonIds":[],"legacyUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplomat-b73f17e6a6d52f860228.html","name":"Gerhard Herder","notes":[],"paragraphSources":[["herder-biolex"],["herder-biolex"]],"profileUrl":"diplomat-b73f17e6a6d52f860228.html","relatedEvents":[{"basis":"reviewed-context","country":"Germany","date":"12 September 1990","description":"The two German states and the four wartime Allied powers signed the Two-Plus-Four Treaty in Moscow. U.S. Secretary of State James Baker joined the six party settlement that established the external framework for German unification and full sovereignty.","id":"germany-1990-two-plus-four","note":"Ruhfus represented the Federal Republic and Herder the separate GDR mission; both are context for the two German states and their 1990 transition.","sourceUrls":["https://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/1990-09-12-zwei-plus-vier-vertrag-202422"],"title":"The settlement that opened the way to unity","url":"Germany.html#history-germany-1990-two-plus-four"}],"relatedPeople":[],"relationships":[],"researchStatus":"reviewed","reviewedOn":"2026-10-28","revision":"af6a7b053c916b10","sources":[{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"2010","id":"herder-biolex","locator":"Wer war wer in der DDR?, fifth edition","publisher":"Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur","title":"Herder, Gerhard","type":"scholarship","url":"https://www.kommunismusgeschichte.de/biolex/article/detail/herder-gerhard"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"Accessed 26 October 2026","id":"mission-d8c4f30f122d530dbd37","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"Gerhard Herder — GDR mission evidence","type":"Mission record","url":"https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/1983-public-papers-president-appendix"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"Accessed 26 October 2026","id":"mission-2d746aa51a790339ed43","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"Gerhard Herder — GDR mission evidence","type":"Mission record","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ambassadors_of_East_Germany_to_the_United_States"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"Accessed 26 October 2026","id":"mission-c5ecd2e8b57a31cfa2af","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"Historical representation: German Democratic Republic","type":"Mission record","url":"https://history.state.gov/countries/german-democratic-republic"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"Accessed 26 October 2026","id":"mission-409aefe5ac26d3eb68fe","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"Historical representation: German Democratic Republic","type":"Mission record","url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_East_Germany.svg"}],"topics":["East Germany","Lebanon","disarmament","United Nations"]},"schemaVersion":1}