He joined the communist movement at a young age and went into exile during Adolf Hitler's rule.

At an early age, Verner joined the communist children's organization Jungspartakusbund (Young Spartacus League).

In 1934 he shifted to Paris, where he became editor-in-chief of Junge Garde (now published in exile), a position he held until the spring of 1935.

During 1946 he was a co-founder, together with Hermann Axen and Erich Honecker, of the Free German Youth ("Freie Deutsche Jugend" / FDJ),[2][3] In 1958 Verner became a candidate member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) politburo.

In March 1959 Verner became First Secretary of the Berlin district organization of SED, a powerful institution in the GDR.

[4] For most of the 1970s and early 1980s, he was the second-ranking member of the SED hierarchy, and de facto the second most powerful man in the country after party leader Erich Honecker.