 He obtained a degree in Economics and became a full-time functionary of the country's ruling SED (party) which he had joined in 1946.Between 1962 and 1967 he was Secretary for Economics for the Wismut region leadership.In 1967 he was awarded a doctorate for a dissertation which he had prepared jointly with Günther Lingott entitled "Ways to optimize management of labour collectives through the complex rationalisation of work operations through the development of Best practise and its application as standard practise.