Background
Herbst was born in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and was almost 35 by the time (as officially identified) of German reunification.
Herbst was born in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and was almost 35 by the time (as officially identified) of German reunification.
Between 1977 and 1982 he studied Historical Sciences at Berlin"s Humboldt University.
His career has been divided between authorship and museum work. He has written extensively on aspects of the German Democratic Republic and since 2001 has worked for the (recently renovated) The German Resistance Memorial Center in Berlin. After obtaining his degree he worked as a research assistant at the Museum for German History (Museum für Deutsche Geschichte) in Berlin.
The museum celebrated the nation"s history through the Marxist prism, as something driven by class struggle.
In the context of the changes of 1989/90 the East German government decided to close it during 1990. Herbst moved on to work for the Berlin Historical Commission, now being transformed under the leadership of Wolfram Fischer.
In 1998 he took a job at the Centre for European Social Research at Mannheim University. Since 2001 has worked for the The German Resistance Memorial Center in Berlin, currently as the Exhibitions Organiser.
As Editor with Gerd-Rüdiger Stephan, Jürgen Winkler: Die SED: Geschichte – Organisation – Politik.
Ein Handbuch. Berlin 1997. with Gerd-Rüdiger Stephan und anderen: Die Parteien und Organisationen der Deutsche Demokratische Republik. Ein Handbuch. Berlin 2002. with Helmut Müller-Enbergs und anderen: Wer war wer in der Deutsche Demokratische Republik? 5.
Auflage 2010. with Mario Niemann: SED-Kader: Die mittlere Ebene.
Biographisches Lexikon der Sekretäre der Landesund Bezirksleitungen, der Ministerpräsidenten und der Vorsitzenden der Räte der Bezirke 1946 bis 1989. Paderborn/München/Wien/Zürich 2010.