Henning Scherf (born 31 October 1938 in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

) is a German lawyer and politician 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 ...

party who served as

President of the Senate and Mayor of Bremen The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, which is one of the states of Germany, is governed by the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. The Senate is chaired by the President of the Senate, who is the head of government of the city-state. The P ...

from 4 July 1995 to 8 November 2005.

Education

After studying law and social sciences from 1958 until 1962 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

Scherf worked for a Protestant students association (Evangelisches Studentenwerk) until 1964. In 1968 he received his law doctorate from

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

Political career

Scherf has been a member of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany 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 the ...

since 1963. Scherf went into politics after practicing as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

in Bremen, and was elected to the Bremer Bürgerschaft (

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

) in 1971. From 1978 until 2005 he was a member of Bremen Senate (government) in various functions, including Senator for Finances, Senator for Youth and Social Issues, Senator for Health and Sport, Mayor, Senator for Education and Sciences and Senator of Law and Constitution. In 1995 Scherf was elected

. He was also the head of the "Vermittlungsausschuss" (negotiations-committee) which resolves conflicts concerning legislation between " Bundesrat" and "

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 ...

", the two houses of the

German parliament 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 ...

at the

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

level. Scherf has been re-elected twice due to his popularity in Bremen. He is well known for his warm and friendly character despite his looks (he is 2 m tall). His diplomatic skills, especially in forging compromises and running negotiations, are considered legendary, not only by members of his own party. For some time Scherf was urged by the people to run for the German Presidency ( Bundespräsident) which he declined because of family reasons.

Other activities

Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) is located in Rostock, Germany. It was founded in 1996 by James Vaupel and moved into new buildings in Rostock in 2002. It is one of approximately 80 institutes of the Max Planck Society. ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees * Gustav Heinemann Civic Award of the SPD, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Board of Trustees
Gustav Heinemann Civic Award of the SPD.

Personal life

Henning Scherf married his wife Luise in 1960. The couple has three children and nine grandchildren. He is well known for going to work by bicycle and refusing to accept a car and a driver provided by the city. He also has the habit of only drinking warm water with his meals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scherf, Henning 1938 births Living people Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Mayors of Bremen Members of the Bürgerschaft of Bremen Jurists from Bremen (state) Christian Peace Conference members University of Hamburg alumni