The son of a working-class family, Böhme worked as a civil servant in the district of Bernburg after the Second World War.

From 1955 to 1958, he studied at the SED's "Karl Marx" Party Academy in Berlin, graduating with a diploma in social sciences (Dipl.-Ges.-Wiss.).

Party Congress) until its collective resignation in December 1989, Böhme was a full member of the Central Committee of the SED.

Party Congress) until his resignation in November 1989, he was also a full member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED,[4][5][11] the de facto highest leadership body in East Germany, Bezirk Halle being an important center of the chemical industry.

[3][5][9] Böhme additionally was accused of embezzlement and personal enrichment, among other things funneling 45.000 East German mark public money into the construction of a Blankenburg Forest lodge.

[4] Early during the Peaceful Revolution, Herbert Heber, First Secretary of the SED in the Bezirk Halle district of Köthen, wanted to resign amid intense public pressure.

[14][15] Only a day later, the Bezirk Halle SED removed him 64 to 4[15] from the position of First Secretary and installed reformer Roland Claus as his successor.

[16][17] Böhme's removal was a topic of Günter Schabowski's infamous press conference that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.