[1] Born in Hannoversch Münden, Hanover, in 1898, Wollweber joined the Imperial Germany's navy, the Kaiserliche Marine, at a young age and served in the submarine department during World War I.

In November 1918, Wollweber participated in the Wilhelmshaven mutiny,[2] a high-profile sailor rebellion in Kiel, and, following the end of the German Revolution, joined the Communist Party of Germany in 1919.

Around this time, it was rumored in the West that he had established a new Wollweber Organization for the USSR, which would be teaching Communist agents in nations in Eastern Europe and along the North Sea the art of sabotage.

While in this position, he was spied on by Walter Gramsch, who foiled several of Wollweber's attempts to smuggle products past the Western embargo into East Germany.

[1][5] Wollweber tried to improve the Stasi's domestic powers in the search of what he saw as Western intelligence infiltration of the GDR but this brought him into conflict with the mainstream in the SED party leadership, in particularly with its head Walter Ulbricht and Erich Honecker.

After 1956, his influence began to wane when he clashed with Walter Ulbricht and Erich Honecker on issues ranging from East Germany’s policies towards Poland to an estimate of the number of anti-Communist groups within GDR.