Hans Furler (5 June 1904 – 29 June 1975) was a German christian-democrat politician. He was the

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

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

(or, more precisely, precursors of the European Parliament) from 1956 to 1958 and from 1960 to 1962.

Early life

Furler was born in

Lahr Lahr (officially Lahr/Schwarzwald since 30 September 1978) (); gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Lohr) is a town in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany, approximately 50 km north of Freiburg im Breisgau, 40 km southeast of Strasbourg, and 95&nb ...

in the

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...

portion of the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

. After graduating from Lahr grammar school, Furler studied law in Freiburg in Breisgau, Berlin and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. In 1925 he passed his first state examination and in 1928 he earned his doctorate with a thesis on "The Police's emergency measures and the state's obligation to compensate". In December 1928, he passed the assessor's examination and first worked as an advocate in

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City") ...

. Since 1930 he also lectured in patent law. In 1932, he habilitated at Technical University Karlsruhe. In 1940, the University appointed him extraordinary professor for ''

industrial property Industrial property is one of two subsets of intellectual property (the other being copyright), it takes a range of forms, including patents for inventions, industrial designs (aesthetic creations related to the appearance of industrial product ...

and copyright''. From 1945 to 1948, he worked as the lawyer of a paper factory owned by his in-laws. In 1948 he opened a new law firm in Freiburg. After 1950, he lectured at the Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg.

German politics

In 1952, Furler joined the Christian-Democratic Union and was soon elected chairman of the economic council of the party's Baden branch. Furler was a member of the Bundestag from 1953 until 1972, representing the constituency of

Offenburg Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the ad ...

. Until 1957, he was vice chairman of the ''committee for industrial property and copyright'', in 1957 he was briefly chairman of the ''special committee "

common market The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

EURATOM The European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) is an international organisation established by the Euratom Treaty on 25 March 1957 with the original purpose of creating a specialist market for nuclear power in Europe, by developing nucl ...

"''. From 1959 to 1960 he was chairman of the ''committee of foreign affairs''.

European politics

From 1955 to 1973, he also was a member of the precursors to the

, first of the ''Common Assembly'' of the

European Coal and Steel Community The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a European organization created after World War II to regulate the coal and steel industries. It was formally established in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, signed by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembo ...

(1955–1958) and then of the ''European Parliamentary Assembly'' of the

European Communities The European Communities (EC) were three international organizations that were governed by the same set of institutions. These were the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), and the ...

(1958–1973). He served as president of these bodies from 1956 to 1958 and from 1960 to 1962 and as vice president from 1962 to 1973. From 1958 to 1966, he was President of the German Council of the European Movement.

Death

Furler died on 29 June 1975 in

Achern Achern (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Achre) is a town in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 18 km southwest of Baden-Baden and 19 km northeast of Offenburg. Achern is the fourth largest town in the distric ...

Selected works

*''Das polizeiliche Notrecht und die Entschädigungspflicht des Staates'', Diss.jur., Heidelberg 1928 *"Parlamente über den Nationen. Entwicklung, Zustand und Aussichten in Europa", in: ''Die Politische Meinung'', 1957, Heft 11, pp. 17–28. *''Reden und Aufsätze 1953–1957'' (undated) *''Im neuen Europa. Erlebnisse und Erfahrungen im Europäischen Parlament'', Frankfurt/Main 1963

Early life

German politics

European politics

Death

Selected works

Further reading