Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (ˈɡɛɐ̯haɐ̯t fʁɪts kʊʁt ˈʃʁøːdɐ; 7 April 1944) is a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
politicianPolitics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. A member of the
Social Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
(
SPDThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
), he led a
coalition governmentA coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor he served as Premier of Lower Saxony (1990–1998). Following the 2005 federal election, which his party lost, after three weeks of negotiations he stood down as Chancellor in favour of
Angela MerkelAngela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
of the rival
Christian Democratic UnionThe Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
. He is currently the chairman of the board of
Nord Stream AGNord Stream AG is a consortium for construction and operation of the planned Nord Stream submarine pipeline between Vyborg in Russia and Greifswald in Germany, a project initially promoted by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and President Vladimir Putin. The consortium was incorporated in Zug,...
, after having been hired as a global manager by investment bank
RothschildN M Rothschild & Sons is a private investment banking company, belonging to the Rothschild family...
.
Early career
Schröder was born in Mossenberg, today an outlying centre of
BlombergBlomberg is a town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with c. 17,000 inhabitants.-External links:*...
, in what is now
North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
. His father, Fritz Schröder, a lance corporal in the
WehrmachtThe Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
, was killed in action in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in
RomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
on 4 October 1944, a few months after Gerhard's birth. His mother Erika worked as an agricultural laborer so that she could support herself and her two sons.
Schröder completed an
apprenticeshipApprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
in retail sales in a
LemgoLemgo is a city in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of c. 42,000.It was founded in the 12th century by Bernhard II at the crossroad of two merchant routes. Lemgo was a member of the Hanseatic League, a medieval trading association of free cities in several...
hardware shop from 1958 to 1961 and subsequently worked in a
LageLage is a town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany, approximatively 8 km northwest of Detmold. It has c. 36,000 inhabitants. The coat of arms of Lage depicts a farmer's plough...
retail shop and after that as an unskilled construction worker and a sales clerk in
GöttingenGöttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
whilst studying at night school so as to gain a high school diploma. He did not have to do military service because his father had died in the war. In 1966, Schröder secured entrance to a university, passing the
AbiturAbitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...
exam at Westfalen-Kolleg,
BielefeldBielefeld is an independent city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 323,000, it is also the most populous city in the Regierungsbezirk Detmold...
. From 1966 to 1971 he studied law at the University of Göttingen. From 1972 onwards, Schröder served as an assistant at the university. In 1976, he passed his second law examination, and he subsequently worked as a lawyer until 1990.
Among his more controversial cases, Schröder helped founding member of the
Baader-MeinhofThe radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
terrorist group
Horst MahlerHorst Mahler is a former German lawyer and advocate of radical ideologies. He once was an extreme-left militant, a founding member of the Red Army Faction. Subsequently he became a Maoist and later shifted to the extreme-right. He was for a time a member of the National Democratic Party of Germany...
secure an early release from prison and the permission to practice law again in Germany.
Schröder joined the Social Democratic Party in 1963. In 1978 he became the federal chairman of the
Young SocialistsYoung Socialists in the SPD is the youth organization of the Social Democratic Party of Germany .The Jusos see themselves as a socialist and feminist association within the SPD. Generally more left-wing in their approach to current events than their mother party, Jusos tend to criticize leading...
, the youth organisation of the SPD. He spoke for the dissident Bahro, as did President
Jimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
,
Herbert MarcuseHerbert Marcuse was a German Jewish philosopher, sociologist and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory...
and
Wolf BiermannKarl Wolf Biermann is a German singer-songwriter and former East German dissident.-Early life:Biermann's father, who worked on the Hamburg docks, was a German Jew and a member of the German Resistance....
. In 1982 he wrote an article on the idea of a red/green coalition for a book at Olle & Wolter, Berlin, which later appeared in "
Die ZeitDie Zeit is a German nationwide weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism.With a circulation of 488,036 and an estimated readership of slightly above 2 million, it is the most widely read German weekly newspaper...
". SPD and SI Chairman, Chancellor
Willy BrandtWilly Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm , was a German politician, Mayor of West Berlin 1957–1966, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1964–1987....
, who reviewed Olle & Wolter at that time, had just asked for more books on the subject. In 1980 Gerhard Schröder was elected to the German
BundestagThe Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
, and wore a sweater to parliament instead of the traditional suit. He became chairman of the SPD
HanoverHanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
district. In 1985, Schröder met the GDR leader
Erich HoneckerErich Honecker was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic as General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party from 1971 until 1989, serving as Head of State as well from Willi Stoph's relinquishment of that post in 1976....
during a visit to
East BerlinEast Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
.
In 1986, Schröder was elected to the parliament of
Lower SaxonyLower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
and became leader of the SPD group. After the SPD won the state elections in June 1990, he became Premier of Lower Saxony as head of an SPD-
GreensAlliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
coalition; in this position, he also won the 1994 and 1998 state elections.
In federal politics
Following his election as
Minister-PresidentA minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers...
in 1990, Schröder became a member of the board of the federal SPD. In 1997 and 1998 he served as
PresidentIn Germany, the President of the Bundesrat or President of the Federal Council is the chairperson or speaker of the Bundesrat . The presidency of the Bundesrat rotates among the heads of government of each of the states on an annual basis...
of the
BundesratThe German Bundesrat is a legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder of Germany at the federal level...
, but he left office on 27 October, three days before his term expired, when he became Chancellor as head of an SPD-Green coalition. At the 22 September
2002 general electionsThe 15th German federal election, 2002 was conducted on 22 September 2002, to elect members to the Bundestag of Germany.-Issues and campaign:...
, he secured another four-year term, with a narrow nine-seat majority (down from 21).
After the resignation of
Oskar LafontaineOskar Lafontaine is a German politician, former German finance minister, former chairman of the Social Democratic Party and former Minister-President of the state of Saarland. Since 2007 he was co-chairman of The Left...
as SPD Chairman in March, 1999, in protest at Schröder's adoption of a number of what Lafontaine considered "neo-liberal" policies, Schröder took over his rival's office as well. In February, 2004, he resigned as chairman of the SPD.
Franz MünteferingFranz Müntefering is a German politician and industrial manager. He was Chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 18 October 2008 to 13 November 2009, a position he already held from 2004 to 2005...
succeeded him as chairman.
On 22 May 2005, after the SPD lost to the
Christian DemocratsThe Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
(CDU) in
North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
, Gerhard Schröder announced he would call federal elections "as soon as possible". A motion of confidence was subsequently defeated in the
BundestagThe Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
on 1 July 2005 by 151 to 296 (with 148 abstaining), after Schröder urged members not to vote for his government in order to trigger new elections.
The 2005 German federal elections were held on 18 September. After the elections, neither Schröder's SPD-Green coalition nor the alliance between CDU/CSU and the FDP led by
Angela MerkelAngela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
achieved a majority in parliament, but the CDU/CSU had a stronger popular electoral lead by one percentage point. Since the SPD had been trailing the CDU by more than 15 points only weeks before the election, this outcome was a surprise and was mainly attributed to Schröder's charisma and prowess as a campaigner; polls consistently showed that he was much more popular with the German people than Merkel. On election night, both Schröder and Merkel claimed victory and chancellorship, but after initially ruling out a
grand coalitionA grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government...
with Merkel, Schröder and Müntefering entered negotiations with her and the CSU's
Edmund StoiberEdmund Rüdiger Stoiber is a German politician, former minister-president of the state of Bavaria and former chairman of the Christian Social Union...
. On 10 October, it was announced that the parties had agreed to form a grand coalition. Schröder agreed to cede the chancellorship to Merkel, but the SPD would hold the majority of government posts and retain considerable control of government policy. Merkel was elected chancellor on 22 November.
On 11 October, Schröder announced that he would not take a post in the new Cabinet and, in November, he confirmed that he would leave politics as soon as Merkel took office. On 23 November 2005, he resigned his
BundestagThe Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
seat. Subsequently, he joined Ringier AG, the publisher of some of the leading newspapers and magazines in
SwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, as a
ZurichZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
-based political consultant and lobbyist.
On 14 November, at the SPD conference in
KarlsruheThe City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, Schröder urged members of the SPD to support the proposed coalition, saying it "carries unmistakably, perhaps primarily, the imprint of the Social Democrats". Many SPD members had previously indicated that they supported the coalition, which would have continued the policies of Schröder's government, but had objected to
Angela MerkelAngela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
replacing him as Chancellor. The conference voted overwhelmingly to approve the deal.
Domestic policies
In its first term, Schröder's government decided to phase out
nuclear powerNuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
, fund
renewable energiesRenewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
, institute
civil unionsSince 1 August 2001, Germany has allowed registered partnerships for same-sex couples. These partnerships initially provided many but not all of the rights of marriage, and currently provide all except joint adoption and full tax benefits...
which enabled same-sex partners to enter into a civil union, and liberalize
naturalizationNaturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....
law. Most voters associated Schröder with the
Agenda 2010The Agenda 2010 is a series of reforms planned and executed by the German government which are aimed at reforming the German social system and labour market. The declared aim of Agenda 2010 is to improve economic growth and thus reduce unemployment....
reform program, which included cuts in the social welfare system (
national health insuranceNational health insurance is health insurance that insures a national population for the costs of health care and usually is instituted as a program of healthcare reform. It is enforced by law. It may be administered by the public sector, the private sector, or a combination of both...
, unemployment payments,
pensionIn general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
s), lowered taxes, and reformed regulations on employment and payment.
After the 2002 election, the SPD steadily lost support in opinion polls. Many increasingly perceived Schröder's
Third WayThe Third Way refers to various political positions which try to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. Third Way approaches are commonly viewed from within the first- and second-way perspectives as...
program to be a dismantling of the German
welfare stateA welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
. Moreover, Germany's high unemployment rate remained a serious problem for the government. Schröder's tax policies were also unpopular; when the satirical radio show The Gerd Show released
Der Steuersong, featuring Schröder's voice (by impressionist
Elmar BrandtElmar Brandt is a German impressionist, best known for his imitations of politicians. He was born in Düsseldorf.His most famous series is The Gerd Show, in which actual events are lampooned using an imitation of former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder...
) lampooning Germany's indirect taxation with the lyrics
"Dog tax, tobacco tax, emissions and environmental tax, did you really think more weren't coming?", it became Germany's 2002 Christmas No. 1 chart hit and sold over a million copies.
The fact that Schröder served on the
VolkswagenVolkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
board (on behalf of being minister-president of Lower Saxony) and tended to prefer pro-car policies led to him being nicknamed the "Auto-Kanzler" (car chancellor).
Foreign policy
Schröder sent forces to
KosovoKosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
and to
AfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
as part of
NATO operations. Until Schröder's Chancellorship, German troops had not taken part in combat actions since
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. With Germany having a long experience with
terrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
itself, Schröder declared solidarity with the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
after the September 11 terrorist attacks. When Schröder left office Germany had 2,000 troops in Afghanistan, the largest contingent from any nation other than the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Britain, France, Canada and after 2 years Afghanistan.
Along with
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
President
Jacques ChiracJacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
and many other world leaders, Schröder spoke out strongly against the
2003 invasion of IraqThe 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
and refused any military assistance in that enterprise. Schröder's stance caused political friction between the U.S. and Germany, in particular because he used this topic for his 2002 election campaign. Schröder's stance set the stage for alleged anti-American statements by members of the SPD. The parliamentary leader of the SPD,
Ludwig StieglerLudwig Stiegler is a German politician.He has been deputy chairman of the SPD's group in the Bundestag since 2002....
, compared U.S. President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
to
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
while Schröder's Minister of Justice,
Herta Däubler-GmelinHerta Däubler-Gmelin is a former German Minister of Justice. Amid controversy, she resigned in 2002 after a remark about George W. Bush.-History:...
, likened Bush's foreign policy to that of
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. Schröder's critics accused him of enhancing, and campaigning on, anti-American sentiments in Germany. Since his 2002 re-election, Schröder and Bush rarely met and their animosity was seen as a widening political gap between the U.S. and Europe. Bush stated in his memoirs that Schröder initially promised to support the Iraq war but changed his mind with the upcoming German elections and public opinion strongly against the invasion, to which Schröder responded saying that Bush was “not telling the truth”.
On 1 August 2004, the 60th anniversary of the 1944
Warsaw UprisingThe Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
, he apologised to Poland for "the immeasurable suffering" of its people during the conflict. He was the first German chancellor to be invited to an anniversary of the uprising.
In addition to a friendly relationship with Jacques Chirac, Schröder cultivated close ties with
RussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n President
Vladimir PutinVladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, in an attempt to strengthen the "strategic partnership" between Berlin and Moscow, including the opening of a gas pipeline from
Russian Andrew Marino-Pipelines over the Baltic Sea exclusively between Russia and Germany (see "Gazprom controversy" below). Schröder was criticized in the media, and subsequently by Angela Merkel, for calling Putin a "flawless democrat" on 22 November 2004, only days before Putin prematurely congratulated Viktor Yanukovich during the
Orange RevolutionThe Orange Revolution was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate aftermath of the run-off vote of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election which was claimed to be marred by massive corruption, voter...
.
Only a few days after his chancellorship, Schröder joined the board of directors of the joint venture. Thus bringing about new speculations about his prior objectivity. In his memoirs "Decisions: My Life in Politics" Schröder still defends his friend and political ally, and states that "it would be wrong to place excessive demands on Russia when it comes to the rate of domestic political reform and democratic development, or to judge it solely on the basis of the Chechnya conflict."
Schröder has criticised some European countries' swift decision to recognise
KosovoKosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
as an independent state after it
declared independenceThe 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence was adopted on 17 February 2008 by individual members of the Assembly of Kosovo acting in personal capacity and not binding to the Assembly itself...
in February 2008. He believes the decision was taken under heavy pressure from the U.S. government and has caused more problems, including the weakening of the so-called pro-EU forces in Serbia.
In August 2008, Schröder laid the blame for the
2008 South Ossetia warThe 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....
squarely on Mikhail Saakashvili and "the West", hinting at American foreknowledge and refusing to criticize any aspect of Russian policy which had thus far come to light.
Personal life
Schröder has been married four times:
- Eva Schubach (married 1968, divorced 1972);
- Anne Taschenmacher (married 1972, divorced 1984);
- Hiltrud Hampel ("Hillu"; married 1984, divorced 1997);
- Doris Köpf (married 1997).
Schröder's four marriages have earned him the nickname "Audi Man", a reference to the four-ring symbol of
AudiAudi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
motorcars. Another nickname is "The Lord of the Rings".
Doris Köpf has a daughter, Klara, born in 1991, from a previous relationship with a television journalist. She lives with the couple. In July 2004, Schröder and Köpf adopted a child named Viktoria from
St. PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
in Russia. In 2006, they adopted another child from St. Petersburg, Gregor.
When not in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Schröder lives in
HanoverHanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
.
Schröder identifies himself as a member of the
Evangelical Church in GermanyThe Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
, but does not appear to be religious. He did not add the optional phrase
So wahr mir Gott helfe ("so help me God") when sworn in as chancellor for his first term in 1998 and accused the deeply religious former US President George W Bush of 'hearing voices.'
Schröder's plans after leaving office as Chancellor and resigning his Bundestag seat include resuming his law practice in Berlin and writing a book. He will also be retained by the Swiss publisher Ringier AG as a consultant. He rents an apartment in Berlin while retaining his primary residence in Hanover. As a former Chancellor, he is entitled to a permanent office, also situated in Berlin. He has also spent time improving his
English languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
skills.
Gazprom
As Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder was a strong advocate of the Nord Stream pipeline project, which aims to supply Russian gas directly to Germany, thereby bypassing transit countries. The agreement to build the pipeline was signed two weeks before the
German parliamentary electionGerman federal elections took place on 18 September 2005 to elect the members of the 16th German Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany. They became necessary after a motion of confidence in Chancellor Gerhard Schröder failed on 1 July...
. On 24 October 2005, just a few weeks before Schröder stepped down as Chancellor, the German government guaranteed to cover 1 billion euros of the Nord Stream project cost, should
GazpromOpen Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...
default on a loan. However, this guarantee had never been used. Soon after stepping down as chancellor, Schröder accepted Gazprom's nomination for the post of the head of the shareholders' committee of
Nord Stream AGNord Stream AG is a consortium for construction and operation of the planned Nord Stream submarine pipeline between Vyborg in Russia and Greifswald in Germany, a project initially promoted by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and President Vladimir Putin. The consortium was incorporated in Zug,...
, raising questions about a potential conflict of interest. German opposition parties expressed concern over the issue, as did the governments of countries over whose territory gas is currently pumped. In an editorial entitled
Gerhard Schroeder's Sellout, the American newspaper
The Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
also expressed sharp criticism, reflecting widening international ramifications of Schröder's new post. Democrat
Tom LantosThomas Peter "Tom" Lantos was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 until his death, representing the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and a portion of southwest San Francisco...
, chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, likened Schröder to a "political prostitute" for his recent behaviour.
In January 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that Schröder would join the board of the oil company
TNK-BPTNK-BP is a major vertically integrated Russian oil company. It is Russia's third largest oil producer and among the ten largest private oil companies in the world. TNK-BP is Russia's third largest oil company in terms of reserves and crude oil production...
, a joint venture between oil major
BPBP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
and Russian partners.
Defamation lawsuit
In April 2002, Schröder sued the DDP press agency for publishing an opinion of
public relationsPublic relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
consultant Sabine Schwind saying that he "would be more credible if he didn't dye his gray hair". The court decided to ban the media from suggesting that he colors his hair. The Chancellor's spokesman said: "This is not a frivolous action taken over whether he does or doesn't dye his hair, but is a serious issue regarding his word." The agency's lawyer said that they could not accept a verdict which "does not coincide with freedom of the press."
Dispute over Estonian war memorial
During a heated dispute between Russia and Estonia in May 2007 over
the removal of a Soviet-era war memorialThe Bronze Night , also known as the April Unrest and April Events refer to the controversy and riots in Estonia surrounding the 2007 relocation of the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn, the Soviet World War II memorial in Tallinn....
from the centre of the Estonian capital
TallinnTallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
to a military cemetery, Schröder defended the Kremlin's reaction. He remarked that Estonia had contradicted "every form of civilised behaviour". Consequently, the Estonian government cancelled a planned visit by Schröder in his function as chairman of Nord Stream AG.
Schröder's first cabinet (27 October 1998 – 22 October 2002)
- Gerhard Schröder (SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
), Chancellor.
- Joschka Fischer
Joseph Martin "Joschka" Fischer is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens. He served as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany in the cabinet of Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2005...
(Greens), Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
- Bodo Hombach
Bodo Hombach , German politician, Member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and now Publishing House Director, was also Head of the Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Tasks in Schröder's first Cabinet from 1998 to 1999. Hombach then changed jobs and became EU Special...
(SPD), Minister for Special Affairs and Chief of the ChancelleryThe German Chancellery is a federal agency serving the executive office of the Chancellor, the head of the German federal government. The chief of the Chancellery holds the rank of either a Secretary of State or a Federal Minister ...
.
- Rudolf Scharping
Rudolf Scharping is a German politician .Scharping studied politics, sociology and law at the University of Bonn. He joined the Social Democratic Party in 1966. He was Member of the Rhineland-Palatine Parliament from 1975 to 1994. From 21 May 1991 to 15 October 1994 he was prime minister of the...
(SPD), Minister of Defence.
- Otto Schily
Otto Georg Schily was Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany from 1998 to 2005, in the cabinet of former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany .-Biography:...
(SPD), Minister of the Interior.
- Oskar Lafontaine
Oskar Lafontaine is a German politician, former German finance minister, former chairman of the Social Democratic Party and former Minister-President of the state of Saarland. Since 2007 he was co-chairman of The Left...
(SPD), Minister of Finance.
- Herta Däubler-Gmelin
Herta Däubler-Gmelin is a former German Minister of Justice. Amid controversy, she resigned in 2002 after a remark about George W. Bush.-History:...
(SPD), Minister of Justice.
- Werner Müller
Werner Müller is a Swiss sprint canoer who competed in the early 1950s. He finished 16th in the K-2 10000 m event at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.-References:*...
, Minister of Economics.
- Walter Riester
Walter Riester is a German politician of the SPD and former Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.Walter Riester joined the SPD in 1966 and since 1998 he has been a member of the party's federal executive board. From 1993 to 1998 he was deputy chairman of the IG Metall...
(SPD), Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.
- Karl-Heinz Funke (SPD), Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry.
- Franz Müntefering
Franz Müntefering is a German politician and industrial manager. He was Chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 18 October 2008 to 13 November 2009, a position he already held from 2004 to 2005...
(SPD), Minister of Transport and Construction.
- Christine Bergmann (SPD), Minister of Family, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth.
- Andrea Fischer
Andrea Fischer was a member of the German Bundestag for the German Green Party and from 1998 until 2001 Federal Minister for Health...
(Greens), Minister of Health.
- Edelgard Bulmahn
Edelgard Bulmahn is a German politician from the Social Democratic Party of Germany . Bulmahn entered the German Bundestag after the 1987 elections. She was Federal Minister of Education and Research from 1998 to 2005...
(SPD), Minister of Education and Research.
- Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul
Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul is a German politician and a member of the Social Democratic Party since 1965.-Career:...
(SPD), Minister of Economic Co-operation and Development.
- Jürgen Trittin
Jürgen Trittin is a German Green politician. He was Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety from 1998 to 2005 in Germany.- Life and work :Trittin was born in Bremen...
(Greens), Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Security.
Changes
- 18 March 1999: Lafontaine quits the government, Werner Müller
Werner Müller is a Swiss sprint canoer who competed in the early 1950s. He finished 16th in the K-2 10000 m event at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.-References:*...
fills in as acting Minister of Finance.
- 12 April 1999: Hans Eichel
Hans Eichel , German politician , was Minister of Finance from 1999-2005.-Background:He was brought up in Kassel where he did his Abitur in 1961. He then completed a degree in German, philosophy, political science, history and education at the universities of Marburg and Berlin, graduating in 1970...
(SPD) succeeds Lafontaine as Minister of Finance.
- 31 July 1999: Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Frank-Walter Steinmeier is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , and currently the leader of the opposition in the Bundestag. Steinmeier was a close aide of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, serving as Chief of Staff in the German Chancellery from 1999 to 2005...
(SPD) succeeds Hombach
- 7 October 1999: Reinhard Klimmt
Reinhard Klimmt is a German politician . From 1998 to 1999, he was Premier of Saarland, and 1999–2000, Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs.- Personal life :...
(SPD) succeeds Müntefering as Minister of Transport and Construction.
- 20 November 2000: Kurt Bodewig
Kurt Bodewig is a German politician and member of the SPD.A former Federal Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure , he is a member of the supervisory board of the Global Panel Foundation.- External links :...
(SPD) succeeds Klimmt as Minister of Transport and Construction.
- 18 January 2001: Renate Künast
Renate Künast is a German politician who is chairwoman of the Alliance '90/The Greens Bundestag parliamentary group. She was the Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture from 2001 to 2005...
(Greens) succeeds Funke as Minister of Consumer Protection, Food, and Agriculture. Ulla SchmidtUrsula Schmidt is a German politician. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany .-Party memberships:...
(SPD) succeeds Fischer as Minister of Health.
- 19 July 2002: Peter Struck
Peter Struck was the German Minister of Defence under chancellor Gerhard Schröder from 22 October 2002 until 2005. A lawyer, Struck is a member of the Social Democratic Party.-Education:* 1962: Abitur...
(SPD) succeeds Scharping as Minister of Defence.
- Däubler-Gmelin was dropped from ministerial duties in Schröder's second chancellorship because of comments comparing US President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
to Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
.
Schröder's second cabinet (22 October 2002 – 21 November 2005)
- Gerhard Schröder (SPD), Chancellor.
- Joschka Fischer
Joseph Martin "Joschka" Fischer is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens. He served as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany in the cabinet of Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2005...
(Gr), Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
- Peter Struck
Peter Struck was the German Minister of Defence under chancellor Gerhard Schröder from 22 October 2002 until 2005. A lawyer, Struck is a member of the Social Democratic Party.-Education:* 1962: Abitur...
(SPD), Minister of Defence.
- Otto Schily
Otto Georg Schily was Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany from 1998 to 2005, in the cabinet of former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany .-Biography:...
(SPD), Minister of the Interior.
- Hans Eichel
Hans Eichel , German politician , was Minister of Finance from 1999-2005.-Background:He was brought up in Kassel where he did his Abitur in 1961. He then completed a degree in German, philosophy, political science, history and education at the universities of Marburg and Berlin, graduating in 1970...
(SPD), Minister of Finance.
- Brigitte Zypries
Brigitte Zypries is a German politician. She was Federal Minister of Justice of Germany from 2002 to 2009. She is member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany .- Career :...
(SPD), Minister of Justice.
- Wolfgang Clement
Wolfgang Clement is a German politician. Clement was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany . He was Premier of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1998 to 2002 and Federal Minister of Economics and Labour from 2002 to 2005.Wolfgang Clement is an Honorary Member of the...
(SPD), Minister of Economics and Labour.
- Renate Künast
Renate Künast is a German politician who is chairwoman of the Alliance '90/The Greens Bundestag parliamentary group. She was the Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture from 2001 to 2005...
(Gr), Minister of Consumer Protection, Food, and Agriculture.
- Manfred Stolpe
Manfred Stolpe was Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Housing of the Federal Republic of Germany from 2002 until 2005. From 1990 until 2002 he was Premier of the State of Brandenburg.-Biography:...
(SPD), Minister of Transport, Construction, and Eastern Reconstruction.
- Renate Schmidt
thumb|Renate SchmidtRenate Schmidt is a German Social Democratic politician.-Early life:Schmidt grew up in Coburg, Fürth, and Nuremberg. Due to a pregnancy at the age of 17, she was forced to leave school a year before she would have received her Abitur...
(SPD), Minister of Family, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth.
- Ulla Schmidt
Ursula Schmidt is a German politician. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany .-Party memberships:...
(SPD), Minister of Health and Social Affairs.
- Edelgard Bulmahn
Edelgard Bulmahn is a German politician from the Social Democratic Party of Germany . Bulmahn entered the German Bundestag after the 1987 elections. She was Federal Minister of Education and Research from 1998 to 2005...
(SPD), Minister of Education and Research.
- Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul
Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul is a German politician and a member of the Social Democratic Party since 1965.-Career:...
(SPD), Minister of Economic Co-operation and Development.
- Jürgen Trittin
Jürgen Trittin is a German Green politician. He was Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety from 1998 to 2005 in Germany.- Life and work :Trittin was born in Bremen...
(Gr), Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Security.
Awards and honours
- Order of the White Eagle (Poland, 2002)
- Schröder has been awarded honorary doctorates by Tongji University
Tongji University , colloquially known as Tongji , located in Shanghai, has more than 30,000 students and 8,000 staff members . It offers degree programs at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels...
in Shanghai (30 December 2002), St. Petersburg University (June 2003), Marmara UniversityMarmara University is a public university in Turkey. Situated in Istanbul, Marmara University has succeeded in becoming the second largest university in the whole country...
in Istanbul (4 April 2005) and University of Göttingen (14 June 2005).
- honorary citizen of Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
(24 February 2006)
- Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of Queen Jelena
The Grand Order of Queen Jelena , or more fully the Grand Order of Queen Jelena with Sash and Morning Star , is an order of the Republic of Croatia. It was established in 1995...
24 April 2007, "for exceptional merit in the recognition of Croatia and the support of Croatia on the road to the EU".
- Quadriga Prize
Quadriga is an annual German award sponsored by Netzwerk Quadriga gGmbH, a non-profit organization based in Berlin. The award recognizes four people or groups for their commitment to innovation, renewal, and a pioneering spirit through political, economic, and cultural activities.The award consists...
(2007)
- elected a corresponding member of the Department of Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
(28 May 2008)
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania
The Order of the Star of Romania is Romania's highest civil order. It is awarded by the President of Romania...
External links
- Gerhard Schröder's presence on facebook Pictures "Spuren der Macht"
- From Ironmonger's Apprentice to Chancellor, Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle or DW, is Germany's international broadcaster. The service is aimed at the overseas market. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio on 98.7 DZFE in 30 languages . It has a satellite television service , that is available in four languages, and...
, July 2005
- Profile: Gerhard Schroeder, BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, July 2005
- The Modern Chancellor: Taking Stock of Gerhard Schröder, Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
Online, October 14, 2005
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