On the orders of Erich Honecker, he was purged from the Central Committee apparatus on the eve of the Peaceful Revolution for this and for being critical of the SED's leadership.

[2]: 29 f. [4] Uschner joined the children's association of the Free German Youth (FDJ) in 1947 and became a member of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation upon its founding in 1948.

[2]: 29 After completing his Abitur, Uschner became one of the first students of the Institute for International Relations of the German Academy of Political Science and Law "Walter Ulbricht" in Potsdam-Babelsberg,[2]: 30 f. [4] de facto a Marxist-Leninist cadre factory of the ruling SED,[5] graduating in 1959.

[2]: 135 On 15 August 1974,[2]: 45 [6] Uschner was promoted to be second, scientific personal assistant to Hermann Axen, Politburo member and Secretary of the Central Committee responsible for foreign affairs, with the rank of a deputy department head.

[9] Unusually for a personal assistant to a Central Committee Secretary, Uschner was allowed to continue to publish, give speeches and appear on TV,[2]: 55  including in West Germany.

[2]: 55, 69 [8] After being warned repeatedly,[2]: 12, 86 f., 115 f.  Uschner was fired by Hermann Axen on the orders of Erich Honecker on 20 February 1989,[1][2]: 12, 140 [4][9] the Central Committee Secretariat formally removing him two days later.

[2]: 94 Similar to the removal of Herbert Häber, Uschner was transferred to the Institute for Marxist-Leninist Philosophy of the Academy for Social Sciences at the Central Committee of the SED with a 50% pay cut and under constant surveillance of the Stasi.