Günther Beckstein () (born 23 November 1943) is a German

CSU CSU may refer to: * Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card * Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code * Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation * Christian Social Un ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

from

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and was the 17th

Minister President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary system, parliamentary or semi-presidential system, semi-presidential system of government where ...

of Bavaria from 9 October 2007 to 27 October 2008. He is well known for his outspoken views on

law and order In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...

Biography

Beckstein was born in

Hersbruck Hersbruck () is a small town in Middle Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, belonging to the district Nürnberger Land. It is best known for the late-gothic artwork of the Hersbruck altar, the "Hirtenmuseum" and the landscape of Hersbruck Switzerland. Hi ...

. After graduating from High School at the '' Willstätter- Gymnasium'' in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

in 1962, he studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

. He holds a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from Erlangen-Nürnberg University. In 1975, he wrote his dissertation ' (''The Delinquent of Conscience in Criminal Law and Trial Law'') which led to his Ph.D. Between 1971 and 1978, he worked as a lawyer. Beckstein has been married to Marga Beckstein, a teacher, since 1973. They have three children: Ruth, Frank and Martin. Beckstein and his wife are residents of Nürnberg-

Langwasser Langwasser is a part (''Stadtteil'') of Nuremberg in the southeastern area of the city. It was developed as a prototype of the satellite town concept in the 1960s and is primarily a suburban residential area. The name Langwasser (translated as "lon ...

. He is a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and an active church member, who was a member of the synod of the

Evangelical Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheranism, Lutheran, Continental Reformed church, Reformed (Calvinism, Calvinist) and united and uniting churches, United ( ...

from 1993 to 2015.

Political career

Beckstein started his political career as the district chairman 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 ...

Nürnberg-

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian: ; yi, פיורדא, Fiurda) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the t ...

(1973–1978) and then became vice chairman of the CSU district association Nürnberg-Fürth-

Schwabach Schwabach () is a German city of about 40,000 inhabitants near Nuremberg in the centre of the region of Franconia in the north of Bavaria. The city is an autonomous administrative district (''kreisfreie Stadt''). Schwabach is also the name of th ...

. In 1991, he acceded its chairmanship. Beckstein became a member of the Bavarian State Parliament, the ''

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...

'', for the CSU in 1974. In 1987 he ran for Oberbürgermeister (Lord Mayor) of his home town Nürnberg, but lost to his opponent Peter Schönlein (SPD). In 1988, Beckstein became State Secretary at the Bavarian

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

('). In 1993, he became the Interior Minister of Bavaria, succeeding

Edmund Stoiber Edmund Rüdiger Stoiber (born 28 September 1941) is a German politician who served as the 16th Minister President of the States of Germany, state of Bavaria between 1993 and 2007 and chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, Christian So ...

. In 2001, he was elected to the post of Deputy Minister-President of Bavaria. Beckstein won seat in 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 ...

'' in the 2005 German federal elections but did not take up this position, preferring to stay in state politics. After Minister-President Edmund Stoiber had announced on 18 January 2007 to resign from his post in the autumn of 2007, the CSU

fraction came to the arrangement for Beckstein to succeed Stoiber, after a power struggle with

Erwin Huber Erwin Huber (born 26 July 1946) is a German politician. He was chairman of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria from 2007 to 2008. Early life Erwin Huber was born in Reisbach in the district of Dingolfing-Landau, Bavaria. He attended elementa ...

, selecting him with a vast majority. On 9 October, the Bavarian ''Landtag'' elected him as the new Minister-President by a majority of 122 of the 178 votes cast. His rise to the post of Bavarian prime minister was something of a novelty in the state as he is from

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...

—the northern half of Bavaria—and a Protestant. Traditionally, though not exclusively, Bavarian prime ministers have been from Altbayern—the south—and Catholics. On 1 October 2008, following the Bavarian state elections of 28 September, where his party lost its absolute majority of the seats for the first time in 46 years, Beckstein resigned from his post but remained in office until a new Minister-President was elected on 27 October. Beckstein was a CSU delegate to the

Federal Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. Although the convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation, the intention fr ...

for the purpose of electing the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Views

* Beckstein is an outspoken critic of the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a scientology as a business, bu ...

. * He is a staunch supporter of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and has warned in the past of the danger of

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

extremism Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied share ...

and

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. He has received the ''Jerusalem Prize'' of the ' ('' Zionistin Organisation of Germany'') in July 2006 for his efforts. * He has warned repeatedly of the dangers arising from Islamist extremists in Germany and has asked for greater powers for government security departments to deal with those. He was criticized for this by members of the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...

and German

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

. * As the head of the Bavarian government, Beckstein had the final say on whether

Hitler's Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

Mein Kampf (; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germ ...

'' could be published in Germany, since Bavaria holds the copyrights. Beckstein disallowed any form of publication of the book in Germany, fearing it would fuel right-wing extremism. * Beckstein caused controversy in the run-up to

Oktoberfest The Oktoberfest (; bar, Wiesn, Oktobafest) is the world's largest Volksfest, featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival. It is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid- or ...

by declaring that people who drink two

Maß ' (pronounced ) or ' ( Swiss spelling, elsewhere used for dialectal ) is the German word describing the amount of beer in a regulation mug, in modern times exactly . The same word is also often used as an abbreviation for ', the handled drinki ...

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

over several hours are fit to drive.

Other activities

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

, Member of the Regional Advisory Board for Bavaria (since 2011) *

(FAU), Member of the Board of TrusteesBoard of Trustees

(FAU)

References

External links

Günther Beckstein Sworn in as new Bavarian Premier
''

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...

'' article on Günther Beckstein
Website with quotes of Günther Beckstein
(in German)

(in German)

(in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Beckstein, Gunther 1943 births Living people People from Hersbruck Ministers of the Bavaria State Government Members of the Bundestag for Bavaria Ministers-President of Bavaria Members of the Landtag of Bavaria German Lutherans Jurists from Bavaria 21st-century German politicians Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Social Union in Bavaria