Ernst Melsheimer

Ernst Melsheimer (9 April 1897 in Neunkirchen – 25 March 1960 in Berlin) was a German lawyer.

In December 1949 he was appointed as the first State prosecutor of the German Democratic Republic, which at that time was a new country being created out of the Soviet occupation zone of what had till recently been Germany. Melsheimer became (after Hilde Benjamin) the second most important state lawyer in the young country.

Melsheimer was a strong believer in party control of the courts. He was opposed to any Western-style separation of powers between the justice system and the state. He took a hands-on approach to his job, appearing in person as the principal (prosecution) advocate in numerous secret trials and in high-profile show trials during the 1950s. Provided by Wikipedia