[1] Friedrichs was born on 9 March 1892 in Plauen, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire.

He was on the Dresden City Council from 1930 to 1933, when the Nazi Party seized power in Germany.

After World War II, he was appointed as Mayor of Dresden on 10 May 1945 by the Soviet city commander.

There was tension between Friedrichs and the Communist Politician Kurt Fischer, which escalated in 1947 in the form of an open confrontation.

A study conducted in 1999 by the government of Saxony couldn't confirm nor deny the involvement of Fischer in his death.