Kurt Georg Kiesinger (6 April 1904–9 March 1988) was a conservative
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
politician and Chancellor of
West GermanyWest Germany is a common English name for the period of the Federal Republic of Germany between its' formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when the German Democratic Republic was dissolved and the five states on its territory joined the Federal Republic of Germany,...
from 1 December 1966 until 21 October 1969.
Born in
EbingenEbingen is a town in the large district of Albstadt, district Zollernalbkreis, in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the river Schmiecha, a left-hand tributary of the Danube, south of Tübingen and west of Ulm.- History :...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
, Kiesinger was educated in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
and became a
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver...
. As a student, he joined the (non-
couleurCouleur is the expression used in European Studentenverbindungen for the caps and ribbons worn by members of student societies and German Student Corps, indicating that each society has their own colours which are derived from their individual coat of arms....
wearing)
Roman Catholic corporationThe Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine) is a German academic corporate association with ninety member corporations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland...
s Alamannia Tübingen and Askania-Burgundia Berlin. He was a member of the
National Socialist German Workers PartyThe National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party , was a political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945...
(NSDAP) since 1933.
Kurt Georg Kiesinger (6 April 1904–9 March 1988) was a conservative
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
politician and Chancellor of
West GermanyWest Germany is a common English name for the period of the Federal Republic of Germany between its' formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when the German Democratic Republic was dissolved and the five states on its territory joined the Federal Republic of Germany,...
from 1 December 1966 until 21 October 1969.
Early career and denazification
Born in
EbingenEbingen is a town in the large district of Albstadt, district Zollernalbkreis, in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the river Schmiecha, a left-hand tributary of the Danube, south of Tübingen and west of Ulm.- History :...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
, Kiesinger was educated in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
and became a
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver...
. As a student, he joined the (non-
couleurCouleur is the expression used in European Studentenverbindungen for the caps and ribbons worn by members of student societies and German Student Corps, indicating that each society has their own colours which are derived from their individual coat of arms....
wearing)
Roman Catholic corporationThe Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine) is a German academic corporate association with ninety member corporations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland...
s Alamannia Tübingen and Askania-Burgundia Berlin. He was a member of the
National Socialist German Workers PartyThe National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party , was a political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945...
(NSDAP) since 1933. From 1940 on, Kiesinger worked at the German foreign ministry's radio
propagandaPropaganda is communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience...
department where he was responsible for that ministry's connection with the propaganda ministry. After the war, he was interned and spent several months in the
Ludwigsburg campStalag V-A was a German prisoner of war camp located on the southern outskirts of Ludwigsburg, Germany, during World War II.-Operation:The prison camp had been constructed on the site of a former German military installation, which had once billeted German cavalry troops and their horses...
before being acquitted by the
denazificationDenazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the Nazi regime. It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering impotent the...
courts.
During the controversies of 1966 the magazine
SpiegelSpiegel is German and Dutch for "mirror". More specifically it may refer to:* Der Spiegel , the weekly German magazine** Spiegel scandal, a 1962 German political scandal, named after the Spiegel magazine...
unearthed a Nazi-era protocol of the
RSHAThe RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt was an organization subordinate to Heinrich Himmler in his capacity as Chef der Deutschen Polizei and Reichsführer-SS...
which noted that he was hampering anti-Jewish actions in his department.
Post war rise
By the time the first national elections were held in the Federal Republic in 1949, Kiesinger had joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and won a seat in the
BundestagThe Bundestag is the parliament of Germany. It was established with Germany's constitution of 1949 and is the successor of the earlier Reichstag...
, the West German parliament. In 1951 he became a member of the CDU executive board. During that time, he became known for his rhetorical brilliance, as well as his in-depth knowledge of foreign affairs. However, despite the recognition he enjoyed within the Christian Democrat parliamentary faction, he was passed over during various cabinet reshuffles. Consequently, he decided to switch from federal to state politics: He was appointed Prime Minister (
Ministerpräsident) of the state of
Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine—but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River...
on 17 December 1958, an office in which he served until 1 December 1966.
Chancellorship and last years
In 1966 following the collapse of the existing CDU/CSU-FDP coalition Kiesinger was elected to replace
Ludwig ErhardLudwig Wilhelm Erhard was a German politician and Chancellor of West Germany from 1963 until 1966. He is notable for his leading role in German postwar economic reform and economic recovery, particularly in his role as Minister of Economics under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer after 1949.- Life and...
as Chancellor, heading a new CDU/CSU-
SPDThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is Germany's oldest political party. The party governed at the federal level in a grand coalition with the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union until conceding defeat in the federal election of September 2009...
alliance. The government formed by Kiesinger remained in power for nearly three years with the SPD leader
Willy BrandtWilly Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm , was a German politician, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1964–1987....
as Deputy Federal Chancellor and Foreign Minister. Kiesinger reduced tensions with the Soviet bloc nations establishing diplomatic relations with
CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
,
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
and
YugoslaviaThe Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the second half of World War II until it was formally dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro,...
but he opposed any major conciliatory moves.
One of his low points as chancellor was in 1968 when activist
Beate KlarsfeldSerge and Beate Klarsfeld are French- Romanian activists known for engaging in Holocaust documentation and anti-Nazi activism....
publicly slapped him in the face during the 1968 Christian Democrat convention, while calling him a
NaziNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
. She did so in French but - whilst being dragged out of the room by two ushers - repeated her words in German saying
"Kiesinger! Nazi! Abtreten!" ("Kiesinger! Nazi! Step down!") Kiesinger, holding his left cheek and being close to tears, did not respond. Up to his death he refused to comment on the incident. Other prominent critics included the writers
Heinrich BöllHeinrich Theodor Böll was one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers. Böll was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize in 1967 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1972.- Biography :...
and
Günter GrassGünter Wilhelm Grass is a Nobel Prize-winning German author and playwright.He was born in the Free City of Danzig...
, who wrote a 1966 open letter urging him not to accept the chancellorship, and the philosopher
Karl JaspersKarl Theodor Jaspers was a German psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jaspers turned to philosophical inquiry and attempted to discover an innovative philosophical system...
, already a resident of Switzerland, who surrendered his German passport in protest.
After the election of 1969, the SPD preferred to form a coalition with the FDP, ending the uninterrupted post-war reign of the CDU chancellors. Kiesinger was succeeded as Chancellor by
Willy BrandtWilly Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm , was a German politician, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1964–1987....
. Kiesinger continued to head the CDU/CSU in opposition until July 1971 and remained a member of the Bundestag until 1980. Of his memoirs only part one (
Dark and Bright Years) was completed, covering the years up to 1958. He died in
TübingenTübingen, a traditional university town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, is situated 30 km southwest of Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-History:...
. After a requiem mass in
StuttgartStuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
's St. Eberhard church, his funeral procession was followed by protesters (mainly students) who wanted his entire legacy remembered - even after his death - especially his former membership in the NSDAP.
Kiesinger's Ministry
1 December 1966 - 21 October 1969
- Kurt Georg Kiesinger (CDU
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany....
) - Chancellor
- Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm , was a German politician, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1964–1987....
(SPDThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is Germany's oldest political party. The party governed at the federal level in a grand coalition with the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union until conceding defeat in the federal election of September 2009...
) - Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Schröder was a West German politician and member of the Christian Democratic Union Party....
(CDU) - Minister of Defense
- Paul Lücke (CDU) - Minister of the Interior
- Franz Josef Strauß
Franz Josef Strauss was a German politician. He was the leader of the Christian Social Union, a one-time member of the federal cabinet, and long-time minister-president of the state of Bavaria....
(CSUThe Christian Social Union in Bavaria is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It was founded as a continuation of the Weimar-era Catholic Bavarian People's Party. It operates only in the state of Bavaria, while its sister party, the Christian Democratic Union ,...
) - Minister of Finance
- Gustav Heinemann
Gustav Walter Heinemann,
GCB was a German politician. He was Minister of Interior Affairs from 1949 to 1950, Minister of Justice from 1966 to 1969 and President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1969 to 1974...
(SPD) - Minister of Justice
- Karl Schiller
Karl August Fritz Schiller was a German scientist and politician of the Social Democratic Party . From 1966 to 1972, he was Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and from 1971 to 1972 Federal Minister of Finance...
(SPD) - Minister of Economics
- Hans Katzer (CDU) - Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
- Hermann Höcherl
Hermann Höcherl was a German politician of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria . After first being elected to the Bundestag in 1961, he was Minister of the Interior until 1965 and then Minister for Food, Agricultur and Forests until 1969....
(CSU) - Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry
- Georg Leber
Georg Leber, born in Obertiefenbach, near Limburg an der Lahn, is a German politician in the Social Democratic Party of Germany .After serving in the Luftwaffe in World War 2, he joined the SPD in 1947...
(SPD) - Minister of Transport
- Lauritz Lauritzen
Lauritz Lauritzen was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ....
(SPD) - Minister of Construction
- Bruno Heck
Bruno Heck was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union .Heck was born into a poor Swabian catholic family. He studied philosophy and theology at the University of Tübingen. From 1957 to 1976 Heck was a member of the German Bundestag.Heck was Minister of Family Affairs and Youth from...
(CDU) - Minister of Family and Youth
- Käte Strobel
Käte Strobel was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany .Born in Nuremberg, from 1923 to 1938 Käte Müller worked in the office of agricultural organisations in Bavaria. In 1928, she married Hans Strobel, who in 1934 was arrested for planning high treason against the Nazis...
(SPD) - Minister of Health
- Gerhard Stoltenberg
Gerhard Stoltenberg was a German politician and minister in the cabinets of Ludwig Erhard, Kurt Georg Kiesinger and Helmut Kohl. Moreover, He served as minister-president of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein from 1971 to 1982...
(CDU) - Minister of Scientific Research
- Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski
Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski was a German Social Democrat politician....
(SPD) - Minister of Economic Cooperation
- Werner Dollinger
Dr. Werner Dollinger was a German politician and economist. Born in Neustadt an der Aisch, he helped found the Christian Socialist Union Party in 1946. Dollinger was a member of the Bundestag , minister for the Treasury , minister of postal services and telecommunication and minister of transport...
(CSU) - Minister of Posts and Communications
- Kai-Uwe von Hassel
Kai-Uwe von Hassel was a German politician from Schleswig-Holstein associated with the CDU party.Hassel was born in Gare, German East Africa ....
(CDU) - Minister of Displaced Persons, Refugees, and War Victims
- Herbert Wehner
Herbert Richard Wehner was a German politician.Herbert Wehner was born in Dresden. His father was active in his labor union and a member of the Social Democratic Party . More radical than his father, Wehner joined the German Communist Party in 1927. He was elected to the state legislature of...
(SPD) - Minister of All-German Affairs
- Carlo Schmid
Carlo Schmid was a German academic and politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany .Schmid is one of the most important authors of both the German Basic Law as well as the Godesberg Program of the SPD...
(SPD) - Minister of Bundesrat and State Affairs
- Kurt Schmücker
Kurt Schmücker was a German politician, member of Christian Democratic Union.Kurt Schmücker was born on November 10, 1919 in Löningen, Lower Saxony....
(CDU) - Minister of Federal Treasure
Changes
- 2 April 1968 - Ernst Benda
Ernst Benda was a German legal scholar, politician and judge. He served as the 4th president of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany from 1971 to 1983. Benda briefly served as Minister of the Interior of Germany .Ernst Benda was born in Berlin, the son of an Engineer. After school he served...
(CDU) succeeds Lücke as Minister of the Interior.
- 16 October 1968 - Aenne Brauksiepe (CDU) succeeds Heck as Minister of Family and Youth. Erhard Eppler
Erhard Eppler is a German Social Democratic politician and founder of the GTZ.On 16 October 1968 he replaced Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski as Minister of Economic Cooperation until 17 May 1974....
(SPD) succeeds Wischnewski as Minister of Economic Cooperation.
- 7 February 1969 - Heinrich Windelen (CDU) succeeds Hassel as Minister of Displaced Persons, Refugees, and War Victims.
Literature
- Gassert, Philipp. Kurt Georg Kiesinger 1904-1988. Kanzler zwischen den Zeiten DVA, München 2006.
Links