Gerhard Stoltenberg (29 September 1928 – 23 November 2001) was a German politician of the
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and
minister in the cabinets of
Ludwig Erhard
Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (; 4 February 1897 – 5 May 1977) was a German politician affiliated with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and chancellor of West Germany from 1963 until 1966. He is known for leading the West German postwar economic ...
,
Kurt Georg Kiesinger
Kurt Georg Kiesinger (; 6 April 1904 – 9 March 1988) was a German politician who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1 December 1966 to 21 October 1969. Before he became Chancellor he served as Minister President of Baden-Württemberg ...
and
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...
. He served as
Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein
The Minister-Presidents of Schleswig-Holstein since 1946 have been:
List
Political party:
See also
*Schleswig-Holstein
*List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein
*Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Ministers-President Of Schles ...
from 1971 to 1982 and as
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of the
Bundesrat from 1977 to 1978.
Life
Early life and career
Stoltenberg was born in
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
in northern Germany. In 1944 he became a navy assistant (''HJ-Marinehelfer''), a
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
auxiliary in the
Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
. After the war, when he was no longer a
prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...
, he completed his ''
Abitur
''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...
'' in 1949. Stoltenberg began studying history, sociology and philosophy at the
University of Kiel
Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...
. In 1954 he graduated as a
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...
and worked as an academic in Kiel. In 1960 he became a professor (''
Privatdozent
''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...
''). In the years 1965 and from 1969 to 1970, Stoltenberg was the director of
Friedrich Krupp
Friedrich Carl Krupp (Essen, 17 July 1787 – Essen, 8 October 1826) was a German steel manufacturer and founder of the Krupp family commercial empire that is now subsumed into ThyssenKrupp AG.
Biography
After the death of his father, he was bro ...
GmbH in
Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
.
Political career
Since 1947 Stoltenberg had been member of the CDU. In the years 1955 to 1961, he was federal leader of the
Junge Union
The Junge Union Deutschlands (''Young Union of Germany'') or JU is the joint
youth organisation of the two conservative German political parties, CDU and CSU. Membership is limited to individuals between 14 and 35 years of age.
Junge Union clai ...
, the youth' organisation of the CDU. From 1955 Stoltenberg had different positions in the CDU. From 1971 until 1989, he was chairman of the CDU in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. Moreover, Stoltenberg served as vice chairman of the federal CDU since 1969.
Stoltenberg was member of the state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein from 1954 to 1957, and from 1971 to 1982. From 1957 to 1971, and from 1983 until 1998, Stoltenberg also served as a member of the federal German legislature, the
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
. As a junior member of parliament and member of the budget committee, he was the first to introduce to the 1959 federal budget a flat grant of
DM 5,000,000 for political education (training of party activists) to be transferred to federal party headquarters.
Gerhard Stoltenberg looked destined for West Germany's highest office as he made a brilliant start to his political career. On 24 May 1971, Stoltenberg was elected minister-president of the state of Schleswig-Holstein and remained in this position until 1982.
In 1982, he became federal minister of finance under chancellor
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...
. He left this position when he was appointed minister of defence from 1989 on, replacing
Rupert Scholz.
He resigned from this position on 31 March 1992.
Stoltenberg died in
Bad Godesberg
Bad Godesberg ( ksh, Bad Jodesbersch) is a borough ('' Stadtbezirk'') of Bonn, southern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. From 1949 to 1999, while Bonn was the capital of West Germany, most foreign embassies were in Bad Godesberg. Some buildings ar ...
in 2001.
Biography at BmVg.de
/ref>
Personal life
Stoltenberg was married and had two children. He was a member of the Lutheran church
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
.
See also
*List of Minister-Presidents of Schleswig-Holstein
The Minister-Presidents of Schleswig-Holstein since 1946 have been:
List
Political party:
See also
*Schleswig-Holstein
* List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein
*Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Ministers-President Of Schle ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoltenberg, Gerhard
1928 births
2001 deaths
Defence ministers of Germany
Finance ministers of Germany
German Lutherans
Kriegsmarine personnel of World War II
Members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein
Ministers-President of Schleswig-Holstein
Presidents of the German Bundesrat
Members of the Bundestag for Schleswig-Holstein
Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998
Members of the Bundestag 1990–1994
Members of the Bundestag 1987–1990
Members of the Bundestag 1983–1987
Members of the Bundestag 1969–1972
Members of the Bundestag 1965–1969
Members of the Bundestag 1961–1965
Members of the Bundestag 1957–1961
Politicians from Kiel
People from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein
Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
University of Kiel alumni
Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany
20th-century Lutherans
Hitler Youth members
Child soldiers in World War II
German prisoners of war in World War II