'Werner Hartmann. Pioneer of microelectronics in the GDR': The physicist Werner Hartmann (born in 1912) was one of those scientists who, after their internment in the Soviet Union, occupied a prominent position in the GDR's innovation system. With his decision to live in the GDR, he exposed himself to permanent surveillance by the Ministry of State Security. Suspicions of cooperating with Western intelligence services have never been proven. An intrigue by heads of department who also worked as unofficial collaborators for the Ministry of State Security led to his humiliating dismissal in 1974. He died a broken man.