Max Burghardt (November 27, 1893 – January 22, 1977) was a German actor, director, and president of the Cultural Association of the GDR.

[2] At the beginning of the First World War, Burghardt volunteered for the Imperial German Navy in Kiel, but was rejected.

In the late autumn of 1917, he was transferred to the infantry, where he worked as a telephone operator at regimental headquarters and returned to the Eastern Front.

The growing popularity of the Nazi Party begun to cause problems, especially for his wife, who was exposed to hostility on account of her Jewish heritage.

After the conclusion of the Second World War, Burghardt tried to get permission to run a cabaret stage in Bremen, but was rebuffed by the American occupation authorities.

Burghardt then had an opportunity to head a radio station in Stuttgart, but was prevented from doing so by American occupation authorities on account of his communist sympathies.

Maaß had considerable influence with British occupation authorities and was able to offer Burghardt the directorship of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR) radio station in Cologne.

[2] Burghardt's appointment to the directorship of the Cologne NWDR radio station drew considerable criticism, particularly in conservative circles.

Burghardt's visit to a public rally by Wilhelm Pieck and Otto Grotewohl in Cologne on July 21, 1946, caused tension between him and British occupation authorities.

Eventually, British occupation authorities became increasingly unsettled about the communist sympathies of both Burghardt and Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler.

Weinert hired Burghardt to oversee the postwar reconstruction of the theatre industry in the Soviet occupation zone.

The world premiere of Robespierre took place in Leipzig, directed by Arthur Jopp, with the president of the German Democratic Republic, Wilhelm Pieck, in attendance, accompanied by Otto Grotewohl and Max Opitz.

Other notable performances include: The Maid of Orleans by Schiller, Die Flamme von Paris by Boris Asafyev, Wat Tyler by Alan Bush, Florian Geyer by Gerhart Hauptmann, and the Winterschlacht by Johannes R. Becher.

Paul Dessau's adaption of Friedrich Wolf's poem Die Studentin von Stuttgart was premiered in Leipzig under Burghardt.

These included: Die Matrosen von Cattario, Tai Yang erwacht, Der arme Konrad, and Bürgermeister Anna.

Other notable performances under Burghardt's tenure include: the Neue Odyssee by Robert Hanell, Der Revisor by Werner Egk, Krutnava by Eugon Suchon, Richard Wagner's Götterdämmerung, Werner Egk 's opera Peer Gynt was performed to mark his 60th birthday.

Burghardt ultimately left his position at the State Opera in 1963, with his recommendation for successor, Hans Pischner, holding the role until 1988.