Walter Scheel (born 8 July 1919) 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 (FDP). As of 2009, he is the oldest
German presidentThe President of Germany is Germany's head of state. The position is largely a ceremonial one, with the president acting in accordance with the advice and directives of the legislature...
alive and the second longest-lived German head of state after Emperor Wilhelm I.
Scheel was born in
SolingenSolingen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and with a 2005 population of 162,685 is the second largest city in the Bergisches Land...
(now in
North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia is the westernmost and—in terms of population and economic output—the largest Federal State of Germany. North Rhine-Westphalia has over 18 million inhabitants, contributes about 22% of Germany's gross domestic product and comprises a land area of 34,083 km²...
).
During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he served 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...
, the last years of the war as a radar operator on a Bf 110
night fighterA night fighter is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility.Night fighters came into their own during World War II, made possible with the advent of airborne radar. Prior to that, the main components of air defence at night were searchlights and anti-aircraft...
.
As federal minister of economic cooperation and development (1961-1966), he brought about the downfall of the
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...
government in late 1966, when he took the Free Democratic Party, which he led, out of the coalition government.
In 1969, he enabled his party to form a new coalition with the Social Democrats.
Walter Scheel (born 8 July 1919) 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 (FDP). As of 2009, he is the oldest
German presidentThe President of Germany is Germany's head of state. The position is largely a ceremonial one, with the president acting in accordance with the advice and directives of the legislature...
alive and the second longest-lived German head of state after Emperor Wilhelm I.
Biography
Scheel was born in
SolingenSolingen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and with a 2005 population of 162,685 is the second largest city in the Bergisches Land...
(now in
North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia is the westernmost and—in terms of population and economic output—the largest Federal State of Germany. North Rhine-Westphalia has over 18 million inhabitants, contributes about 22% of Germany's gross domestic product and comprises a land area of 34,083 km²...
).
During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he served 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...
, the last years of the war as a radar operator on a Bf 110
night fighterA night fighter is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility.Night fighters came into their own during World War II, made possible with the advent of airborne radar. Prior to that, the main components of air defence at night were searchlights and anti-aircraft...
.
As federal minister of economic cooperation and development (1961-1966), he brought about the downfall of the
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...
government in late 1966, when he took the Free Democratic Party, which he led, out of the coalition government.
In 1969, he enabled his party to form a new coalition with the Social Democrats. He returned to government as
Foreign MinisterThe Foreign Minister of Germany is the head of the Foreign Office and a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The current office holder is Frank-Walter Steinmeier...
and
Vice ChancellorThe Vice-Chancellor of Germany in Germany is, according to protocol, the second highest position in the cabinet.In case of the chancellor's absence, the vice-chancellor acts in her place, for instance heading cabinet meetings...
. Due to a change in Bonn's foreign policy devised by Scheel together with Chancellor
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....
, the Federal Republic of Germany gave up claims on former territories ceded to Poland, Czechoslovakia and the USSR in 1945 and officially recognized the existence of the
German Democratic RepublicThe German Democratic Republic was a Communist state that originated from the Soviet Zone of occupied Germany and the Soviet sector of occupied Berlin...
(GDR). This caused a massive public debate that led to early elections in 1972 also because some parliamentarians from the conservative wing of Scheel's party threatened to withdraw their support for the SPD/FDP coalition. The coalition was convincingly reelected and the efforts to improve relations with the countries on the other side of the iron curtain continued.
On 7 May 1974,
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....
resigned as Chancellor after one of his personal assistants,
Günter GuillaumeGünter Guillaume , was an intelligence agent of East Germany's secret service, the Stasi.Guillame was born in Berlin. In 1956, he and his wife Christel emigrated to West Germany on Stasi orders to penetrate and spy on West Germany's political system...
, was arrested as a spy for the East German state. Though this had been internally suspected since 1973, Brandt accepted responsibility and resigned. Scheel, as acting chancellor, chaired the government meetings for a little over a week, until
Helmut SchmidtHelmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt is a German Social Democratic politician who served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Prior to becoming chancellor, he had served as Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance. He had also served briefly as Minister of Economics and as acting...
was elected Chancellor.
At that time, Scheel was elected
Federal PresidentThe President of Germany is Germany's head of state. The position is largely a ceremonial one, with the president acting in accordance with the advice and directives of the legislature...
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,...
, a post he held from July 1974 until June 1979. He largely retreated to private life after his term of office expired, though he sometimes appears on political talk shows or events. At the funeral of
Hanns Martin SchleyerHanns-Martin Schleyer was a German manager and employer and industry representative, serving as President of the two influential organizations Confederation of German Employers' Associations and Federation of German Industries...
in October 1977, Scheel gave a speech entitled
shame.
External links