Horst Paul August Ehmke (4 February 1927 – 12 March 2017) was a German lawyer, law professor and politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(SPD). He served as Federal Minister of Justice (1969), Chief of Staff at the

German Chancellery The German Chancellery (german: Bundeskanzleramt, , more faithfully translated as ''Federal Chancellery'' or ''Office of the Federal Chancellor'') is an agency serving the executive office of the chancellor of Germany, the head of the federal go ...

and Federal Minister for Special Affairs (1969–1972) and Federal Minister for Research, Technology, and Post (1972–1974).

Life

Ehmke was born in the Free City of Danzig, where he passed his Abitur.'' Der Spiegel'', 4 February 2007
Der flotte Hotte sah sich als kommenden exzellenten Kanzler
/ref> In 1944, at the age of 17, Ehmke was enrolled as a member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

, although when this became public knowledge in 2007 as part of a media investigation of Nazi archives, he stated that he had made no application and was previously unaware of the enrollment. Following the

Expulsion of Germans after World War II Expulsion or expelled may refer to: General * Deportation * Ejection (sports) * Eviction * Exile * Expeller pressing * Expulsion (education) * Expulsion from the United States Congress * Extradition * Forced migration * Ostracism * Persona ...

he came as a refugee to

western Germany The old states of Germany (german: die alten Länder) is a jargon referring to the ten of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) that were part of West Germany and that unified with the eastern German Democratic Republic' ...

. 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 ...

and

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

and

Political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

(U.S.) from 1949 to 1950. In 1952, he promoted as Dr. iur., and in 1956, he passed his final examinations. In these years, he was the assistant of

Adolf Arndt Adolf Arndt (12 March 1904 – 13 February 1974) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and former member of the German Bundestag. Life Born in Königsberg as the son of the Law professor ''Gustav Adolf Arndt'', he moved ...

, member of 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 Common ...

(SPD). From 1956 to 1960, Ehmke became a member of the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

and Berkeley. After passing his Habilitation in 1960, he became

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of public law at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemb ...

, where he became the Dean. From 1963 on, Ehmke was ordinary Professor and held the chair of Law at this university. Since 1974, he was accredited as a lawyer. Ehmke was married and had three children.

Political career

Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F033699-0003, Bonn, Ehmke empfängt Edward Kennedy

Since 1947, Ehmke has been a member of the SPD, where he was a member of the executive board from 1973 to 1991. He was a member of the

from 1969 to 1994 for the state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

. Here, he was deputy whip of the SPD faction from 1977 to 1990. Ehmke was Federal Minister of Justice from to March to October 1969 before becoming Chief of Staff at the

from 1969 to 1972 under Chancellor

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

, being simultaneously the Federal Minister for Special Affairs. After the

1972 West German federal election Federal elections were held in West Germany on 19 November 1972 to elect the members of the 7th Bundestag. In the first snap elections since the resumption of democratic elections in 1949, the Social Democratic Party became the largest party i ...

he moved to become Federal Minister for Research, Technology and Post, until he was replaced in May 1974 by

Hans Matthöfer Hans Hermann Matthöfer (25 September 1925 – 14 November 2009) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Between 1974 and 1978 Matthöfer served as secretary of research and technology. In 1978 he took over as secretary of ...

. Ehmke died on 12 March 2017 at the age of 90.

Writings

* ''Grenzen der Verfassungsänderung'', 1953 * ''Politik der praktischen Vernunft – Aufsätze und Referate'', 1969 * ''Politik als Herausforderung. Reden – Vorträge – Aufsätze 1968–1974'', 1974 * ''Politik als Herausforderung. Reden – Vorträge – Aufsätze 1975–1979'', 1979 * ''Beiträge zur Verfassungstheorie und Verfassungspolitik'', 1981 * ''Mittendrin – Von der Großen Koalition zur Deutschen Einheit'', 1994 After retiring, Ehmke also wrote detective stories revolving around politics: * ''Global Players'', 1998 * ''Der Euro-Coup'', 1999 * ''Himmelsfackeln'', 2001 * ''Privatsache'', 2003 * ''Im Schatten der Gewalt'', 2006

References

External links

Interview about the play Democracy
2005, on Broadway about Willy Brandt {{DEFAULTSORT:Ehmke, Horst 1927 births 2017 deaths Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Justice ministers of Germany Politicians from Gdańsk Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund members University of Göttingen alumni Princeton University alumni University of Freiburg faculty Naturalized citizens of Germany People from the Free City of Danzig Heads of the German Chancellery Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany Nazi Party members