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Manfred Rommel (born December 24, 1928) is a
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 (
CDUThe Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany....
), who was Oberbürgermeister (Lord Mayor) of Stuttgart from 1974 until 1996. He is one of the most popular local politicians of the CDU.
Rommel was born in Stuttgart, the only son of WWII Field Marshall
Erwin Johannes Eugen RommelErwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , was perhaps the most famous German Field Marshal of World War II....
and Lucia Maria Mollin. At the age of 14, he entered service in the
LuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1933 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956.Schweizer Luftwaffe is also the name of the Swiss Air...
, serving at an anti-aircraft battery.
right
Manfred Rommel (born December 24, 1928) is a
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 (
CDUThe Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany....
), who was Oberbürgermeister (Lord Mayor) of Stuttgart from 1974 until 1996. He is one of the most popular local politicians of the CDU.
Rommel was born in Stuttgart, the only son of WWII Field Marshall
Erwin Johannes Eugen RommelErwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , was perhaps the most famous German Field Marshal of World War II....
and Lucia Maria Mollin. At the age of 14, he entered service in the
LuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1933 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956.Schweizer Luftwaffe is also the name of the Swiss Air...
, serving at an anti-aircraft battery. Later, Manfred considered joining the Waffen SS, but his father opposed it. After his father was forced to commit suicide for his alleged complicity in the
July 20 PlotThe 20 July plot of 1944 was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, inside his "Wolf's Lair" field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The plot was the culmination of the efforts of the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi regime...
, he deserted from the
WehrmachtWehrmacht was the name of the unified armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe ....
and surrendered to
General de Lattre de TassignyJean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny was a French military hero of World War II and commander in the Indochina War.-Early life:...
's French First Army.
Rommel collaborated with Basil Liddell-Hart in the edition of
The Rommel Papers, a collection of diaries, letters and notes that his father wrote during and after his military campaigns. In 1947, he took his
AbiturAbitur is a designation used in Germany and Finland for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling...
in
Biberach an der RißBiberach is a town in the south of Germany, Biberach district capital in the free state of Baden-Württemberg. To distinguish it from the other Biberachs it is called Biberach an der Riß after the small river Riß which flows through the city .The marketplace with its patrician buildings, its...
and went on to study law at the
University of TübingenEberhard Karls University, Tübingen is a public university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of Germany's oldest universities, internationally noted in medicine, natural sciences and the humanities...
. In 1956, he started his career by becoming a high ranking civil servant and later state secretary in the state-government 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...
.
In 1974, Rommel succeeded Arnulf Klett as Oberbürgermeister of Stuttgart by winning 58.5% of the votes in the second round of elections, defeating
Peter ConradiPeter Conradi is an author and journalist who should not be confused with Peter J. Conradi, another author with a similar name.He is the author of: The Red Ripper: Inside the Mind of Russia's Most Brutal Serial Killer ; Mad Vlad: Vladimir Zhirinovksy and the New Russian Nationalism; Hitler's Piano...
of the
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...
. He was re-elected after the first round of elections in 1982 with 69.8% and in 1990 with 71.7% of the votes. As the mayor of Stuttgart, he was also known for his effort to give the
Red Army FactionThe Red Army Faction , shortened to RAF and in its early stages commonly known as Baader-Meinhof Group or Gang, was one of postwar West Germany's most violent and prominent groups who advocated communist-inspired terrorism...
terrorists who had committed suicide at the Stuttgart-
Stammheim prisonStammheim Prison is a prison in Stuttgart, Baden Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the northern boundaries of Stuttgart in the city district of Stuttgart-Stammheim - right between fields and apartment blocks on the fringes of Stammheim...
a proper burial, despite the concern that the graves would become a pilgrimage point for radical leftists.
While Oberbürgermeister, he entered a much publicized friendship with U.S. Army Major General George S. Patton IV, the son of his father's World War II adversary,
George S. PattonGeorge Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer most famous for his leadership commanding corps and armies as a general in World War II...
, who was assigned to the nearby U.S. military headquarters. In addition to relationship between their fathers, Rommel and Patton had a common birthday of December 24. He was also friends of nearly 30 years with
David Montgomery, 2nd Viscount Montgomery of AlameinDavid Bernard Montgomery, 2nd Viscount Montgomery of Alamein CMG, CBE is a British politician, businessman, and promoter of good relations with South America. He is the son of the famous World War II field marshal, Bernard Law Montgomery....
son of his father's other great adversary
Field Marshal MontgomeryField Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC , often referred to as "Monty", was an Anglo-Irish British Army officer...
.
In a 1996 celebration at the Württemberg State Theatre, Manfred Rommel received the highest German civil distinction, the
BundesverdienstkreuzThe Federal Cross of Merit , officially the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany , is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. This Federal Order of Merit has existed since September 7, 1951...
. In his speech, Helmut Kohl put particular emphasis on the good relations that were kept and build upon between France and Germany during Rommel's tenure as Oberbürgermeister of Stuttgart. A few days after this distinction was given to Rommel, the city of Stuttgart offered him the Honorary Citizen Award.
Having retired from politics in 1996, Rommel is still in demand as an author and speaker, despite suffering from
Parkinson's diseaseParkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that often impairs the sufferer's motor skills, speech, and other functions....
. Occasionally, he writes articles for the
Stuttgarter Zeitung. He has a daughter named Catherine.
Honours
- Theodor-Heuss-Medaille (1978)
- Orden des Großoffiziers im Orden von Oranien-Nassau (1982)
- Ehrensenator der Fachhochschule für Technik Stuttgart (1982)
- Honorary doctorate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis (1983)
- General Lucius D. Clay-Medaille (1984)
- President of the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gesellschaft (1984 - 1990)
- Chevalier of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic (1985)
- Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
(1990)
- Honorary doctorate of the University of Maryland (1992)
- Honorary citizen of Stuttgart (1996)
- Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern und Schulterband des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (1996)
- Honorary doctorate of the University of Wales (1996)
- Dolf Sternberger-Preis (1998)
- Honorary citizen of the University of Stuttgart (2005)
- Verdienstmedaille des Landes Baden-Württemberg
- Heinz Herbert Karry-Preis
- Honorary citizen of Cairo
Cairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab World. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a center of the region's political and cultural life...