Kurt Georg Kiesinger

Kurt Georg Kiesinger (German: [ˈkʊʁt ˈɡeːɔʁk ˈkiːzɪŋɐ]; 6 April 1904 – 9 March 1988) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany (West Germany) from 1 December 1966 to 21 October 1969. Before he became Chancellor he served as Minister President of Baden-Württemberg from 1958 to 1966 and as President of the Federal Council from 1962 to 1963. He was Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1967 to 1971.

Kurt Georg Kiesinger
Kurt Georg Kiesinger in February 1967
Chancellor of Germany
(West Germany)
In office
1 December 1966 – 21 October 1969
PresidentHeinrich Lübke
Gustav Heinemann
Vice ChancellorWilly Brandt
Preceded byLudwig Erhard
Succeeded byWilly Brandt
Leader of the Christian Democratic Union
In office
23 May 1967 – 5 October 1971
General SecretaryBruno Heck
Preceded byLudwig Erhard
Succeeded byRainer Barzel
Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg
In office
17 December 1958 – 1 December 1966
DeputyHermann Veit
Wolfgang Haußmann
Preceded byGebhard Müller
Succeeded byHans Filbinger
President of the Bundesrat
In office
1 November 1962 – 31 October 1963
Preceded byHans Ehard
Succeeded byGeorg Diederichs
Member of the Bundestag
for Baden-Württemberg
In office
14 December 1976 – 4 November 1980
Member of the Bundestag
for Waldshut
In office
20 October 1969 – 14 December 1976
Preceded byAnton Hilbert
Succeeded byNorbert Nothhelfer
Member of the Bundestag
for Ravensburg – Bodensee
In office
7 September 1949 – 19 February 1959
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byEduard Adorno
Member of the
Landtag of Baden-Württemberg
for Saulgau
In office
12 March 1961 – 9 December 1966
Preceded byChristian Rack
Succeeded byAnton Lutz
Personal details
Born(1904-04-06)6 April 1904
Ebingen, Württemberg, Germany
Died9 March 1988(1988-03-09) (aged 83)
Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Political partyChristian Democratic Union (1946–1988)
Nazi Party (1933–1945)
Spouse(s)
Marie-Luise Schneider
​
​
(m. 1932)​
Children2
Signature

Kiesinger studied law and worked as a lawyer in Berlin from 1935 to 1940. To avoid conscription, he found work at the Foreign Office in 1940, and became deputy head of the Foreign Office's broadcasting department. During his service at the Foreign Office, he was denounced by two colleagues for his anti-Nazi stance. He had nevertheless joined the Nazi Party in 1933, but remained a largely inactive member. In 1946 he became a member of the Christian Democratic Union. He was elected to the Bundestag in 1949, and was a member of the Bundestag until 1958 and again from 1969 to 1980. He left federal politics for eight years (from 1958 to 1966) to serve as Minister President of Baden-Württemberg, and subsequently became Chancellor by forming a grand coalition with Willy Brandt's Social Democratic Party.

Kiesinger was considered an outstanding orator and mediator, and was dubbed "Silver Tongue." He was an author of poetry and various books, and founded the universities of Konstanz and Ulm as Minister President of Baden-Württemberg.

Early life and wartime activities

Born in Ebingen, Kingdom of Württemberg (now Baden-Württemberg), Kiesinger studied law in Berlin and worked as a lawyer in Berlin from 1935 to 1940. As a student, he joined the (non-couleur wearing) Roman Catholic corporations K.St.V. Alamannia Tübingen and Askania-Burgundia Berlin. He became a member of the Nazi Party in February 1933, but remained a largely inactive member.[1] In 1940, he was called to arms but avoided mobilization by finding a job in the Foreign Office's broadcasting department, rising quickly to become deputy head of the department from 1943 to 1945 and the department's liaison with the Propaganda Ministry.[2] After the war, he was interned and spent 18 months in the Ludwigsburg camp before being released as a case of mistaken identity.[3]

During the controversies of 1966, the magazine Der Spiegel unearthed a Memorandum dated 7 November 1944 (six months before the end of the war in Europe) in which two colleagues denounced to SS chief Heinrich Himmler a conspiracy including Kiesinger that was allegedly propagating defeatism. They accused Kiesinger specifically of hampering anti-Jewish actions within his department.

Early political career

Kiesinger joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 1946. From 1946 he gave private lessons to law students, and in 1948 he resumed his practice as a lawyer. In 1947 he also became unpaid secretary-general of CDU in Württemberg-Hohenzollern.

In the federal election in 1949 he was elected to the Bundestag. 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.

Minister President of Baden-Württemberg

Kiesinger became Minister President of the state of Baden-Württemberg on 17 December 1958, an office in which he served until 1 December 1966. As Minister President he founded two universities, the University of Konstanz and the University of Ulm.

Chancellorship
Kurt Georg Kiesinger,
Kanzlergalerie Berlin
President Nixon and Chancellor Kurt Kiesinger waving to the crowd in West Berlin.

In 1966 following the collapse of the existing CDU/CSU-FDP coalition, Kiesinger was elected to replace Ludwig Erhard as Chancellor, heading a new CDU/CSU-SPD alliance. The government formed by Kiesinger remained in power for nearly three years with the SPD leader Willy Brandt as Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister. Kiesinger reduced tensions with the Soviet bloc nations establishing diplomatic relations with Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia but he opposed any major conciliatory moves. A number of progressive reforms were also realised during Kiesinger's time as Chancellor. Pension coverage was extended in 1967 via the abolition of the income-ceiling for compulsory membership. In education, student grants were introduced, together with a university building programme, while a constitutional reform of 1969 empowered the federal government to be involved with the Länder in educational planning through joint planning commission. Vocational training legislation was also introduced, while a reorganisation of unemployment insurance promoted retraining schemes, counselling and advice services and job creation places. In addition, under the “Lohnfortzahlunggesetz” of 1969, employers had to pay all employees’ wages for the first 6 weeks of sickness.[4] In August 1969,[5] the Landabgaberente (a higher special pension for farmers willing to cede farms that were unprofitable according to certain criteria) was introduced.[6]

The historian Tony Judt has observed that Kiesinger's chancellorship, like the presidency of Heinrich Lübke, showed the "a glaring contradiction in the Bonn Republic's self-image" in view of their previous Nazi allegiances.[7] One of his low points as Chancellor was in 1968 when Nazi-hunter Beate Klarsfeld, who campaigned with her husband Serge Klarsfeld against Nazi criminals, publicly slapped him in the face during the 1968 Christian Democrat convention, while calling him a Nazi. She did so in French and – 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, did not respond. Up to his death he refused to comment on the incident and in other opportunities he denied explicitly that he had been opportunistic by joining the NSDAP in 1933 (although he admitted to joining the German Foreign Ministry to dodge his 1940 draft by the Wehrmacht). Other prominent critics included the writers Heinrich Böll and Günter Grass (in 1966, Grass had written an open letter urging Kiesinger not to accept the chancellorship).

Later years

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 Brandt. 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 Tübingen on 9 March 1988, four weeks before his 84th birthday. After a requiem mass in Stuttgart's St. Eberhard Church, his funeral procession was followed by protesters (mainly students) who wanted his former membership in the Nazi Party remembered.

Kiesinger's Cabinet

1 December 1966 – 21 October 1969

Changes

References
  1. Kurt Georg Kiesinger
  2. Jeffrey Herf, "Judenhass aus dem Äther. NS-Propaganda für die Arabische Welt während des Zweiten Weltkriegs", in Naziverbrechen. Täter, Taten, Bewältigungsversuche, edited by Martin Cüppers et al., Darmstadt 2013, pp. 45-61, here p. 49.
  3. Munzinger-Online, s.v.Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Accessed 2010-10-16
  4. The Federal Republic of Germany: The End of an era edited by Eva Kolinsky
  5. Agricultural policy in Germany. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 1974-01-01. ISBN 9789264112834.
  6. Flora, Peter (1986-01-01). Growth to Limits: The Western European Welfare States Since World War II. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110111330.
  7. Judt, Tony (2005). Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945. New York: Penguin. p. 811. ISBN 9780143037750.

Further reading
  • Philipp Gassert: Kurt Georg Kiesinger 1904–1988. Kanzler zwischen den Zeiten. DVA, München 2006, ISBN 3-421-05824-5 (Rezension Daniela Münkler und Benjamin Obermüller, rezensionen.ch, 19. Juli 2006, S. 31).
  • Michael F. Feldkamp: Katholischer Studentenverein Askania-Burgundia im Kartellverband Katholischer Deutscher Studentenvereine (KV) zu Berlin 1853–2003. (PDF) Eine Festschrift herausgegeben von der K.St.V. Askania-Burgundia, Berlin 2006.
  • Otto Rundel: Kurt Georg Kiesinger. Sein Leben und sein politisches Wirken. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-17-019341-4.
  • Günter Buchstab, Philipp Gassert, Peter Thaddäus Lang (Hrsg.): Kurt Georg Kiesinger 1904–1988. Von Ebingen ins Kanzleramt. Herder, Freiburg 2005, im Auftrag der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, ISBN 3-451-23006-2.
  • Reinhard Schmoeckel, Bruno Kaiser: Die vergessene Regierung. Die große Koalition 1966–1969 und ihre langfristigen Wirkungen. Bouvier Verlag, Bonn 2005, ISBN 3-416-02246-7.
  • Maria Keipert (Red.): Biographisches Handbuch des deutschen Auswärtigen Dienstes 1871–1945. Herausgegeben vom Auswärtigen Amt, Historischer Dienst. Band 2: Gerhard Keiper, Martin Kröger: G–K. Schöningh, Paderborn u. a. 2005, ISBN 3-506-71841-X.
  • Albrecht Ernst: Kurt Georg Kiesinger 1904–1988. Rechtslehrer, Ministerpräsident, Bundeskanzler. Begleitbuch zur Wanderausstellung des Hauptstaatsarchivs Stuttgart, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-00-013719-X.
  • Joachim Samuel Eichhorn: Durch alle Klippen hindurch zum Erfolg: Die Regierungspraxis der ersten Großen Koalition (1966–1969) (Studien zur Zeitgeschichte, Band 79); München 2009.
Bundestag
Bundestag established Member of the Bundestag
for Ravensburg – Bodensee
1949–1959		 Succeeded by
Eduard Adorno
Preceded by
Anton Hilbert		 Member of the Bundestag
for Waldshut
1969–1976		 Succeeded by
Norbert Nothhelfer
Party-list proportional representation Member of the Bundestag
for Baden-Württemberg
1976–1980		 Party-list proportional representation
Party political offices
Preceded by
Ludwig Erhard		 Leader of the Christian Democratic Union
1967–1971		 Succeeded by
Rainer Barzel
Preceded by
Rainer Barzel		 Acting Bundestag Leader of the CDU/CSU Group
1973		 Succeeded by
Karl Carstens
Political offices
Preceded by
Gebhard Müller		 Minister President of Baden-Württemberg
1958–1966		 Succeeded by
Hans Filbinger
Preceded by
Ludwig Erhard		 Chancellor of West Germany
1966–1969		 Succeeded by
Willy Brandt
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