Werner Felfe; Member of East Germany’s Politburo

Werner Felfe, a high-ranking Politburo member once considered a likely successor to East German leader Erich Honecker, died Wednesday of a heart attack, the official state-run news agency ADN reported.

Felfe, 60, was one of the youngest members of the 22-member Politburo and 16 years younger than Honecker. He was secretary of agriculture in the Communist government at the time of his death and was primarily responsible for the country’s relatively efficient agricultural sector. He had been a Politburo member since 1976.

A stocky man with silver hair, he was one of a small number of names frequently mentioned in diplomatic and East German circles as a possible successor to Honecker, the 76-year-old party general-secretary and head of state.

Felfe was born in Grossroehrsdorf, about 12 miles northeast of Dresden in what is now East Germany.

He joined the German Communist Party at the age of 17 and became a member of East Germany’s Socialist Unity Party when the nation was formed after World War II.

Felfe had recently spoken in favor of Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s reform plans and told Western visitors that East Germany needed similar reforms.

Western sources in East Berlin, speaking on condition of anonymity, quoted him as saying he believed that East Germany should institute the reforms only after personnel changes in the ruling Politburo.