Klaus Kilimann (born
Ortelsburg
Szczytno (german: Ortelsburg) is a town in northeastern Poland with 27,970 inhabitants (2004). Szczytno is situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodship (since 1999), but was previously in Olsztyn Voivodship (1975-1998). It is located within the h ...
11 October 1938) is a physicist who became an SPD politician after
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
. Between 1990 and 1993 he served as
Oberbürgermeister of
Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
.
Life
Klaus Kilimann was born in East Prussia. His father was a
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
worker. He began attending primary school in
Ortelsburg
Szczytno (german: Ortelsburg) is a town in northeastern Poland with 27,970 inhabitants (2004). Szczytno is situated in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodship (since 1999), but was previously in Olsztyn Voivodship (1975-1998). It is located within the h ...
, his birthplace, which was at the time in Germany. By the time the
Red army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
arrived in January 1945 most of the population had fled, however, and in 1944 or 1945 Kilimann was among the millions of Germans
forcibly relocated in a westward direction. The family ended up in
Neukloster
Neukloster is a town in the east of the district of Nordwestmecklenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. This town is the administrative center of the bureau Neukloster-Warin, which includes eight more communes.
Neukloster is close to th ...
not far from
Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
in the
Soviet occupation zone
The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...
of what remained of Germany, and it was here that he concluded his primary education and then attended a
secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
till 1956.
[
From 1956 Kilimann attended the ]University of Rostock
The University of Rostock (german: link=no, Universität Rostock) is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continen ...
from where he emerged in 1961 with a degree in Physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
. He then undertook post-graduate studies at Moscow State University
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
till 1963, when he returned to Rostock and took a university post as a research assistant at the Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
department. He transferred to the Physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
department in 1964 which was also the year in which he received his doctorate. He remained at the university as a senior research assistant from 1970 till 1979, having in 1978 produced his Habilitation dissertation on a topic in theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...
. Between 1980 and 1990 he was employed as an associate professor.[ During that period, however, for three years from 1982 he was based in ]Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
, helping to set up a Physics education department at an academy in the capital, Managua
)
, settlement_type = Capital city
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Nicara ...
.[Klaus Kilimann: ''Deutsch-Deutsche Beziehungen im Sandinistischen Nicaragua'', in: Erika Harzer, Willi Volks (Hrsg.): ''Aufbruch nach Nicaragua'', Ch. Links, Berlin, 2009, ]
In October 1989 Klaus Kilimann became a member of New Forum
New Forum (german: Neues Forum) was a political movement in East Germany formed in the months leading up to the collapse of the East German state. It was founded on 9 September 1989 and was the first independent (non- National Front) political ...
in Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
. New Forum was a quasi-political party, sometimes described as a "citizens' initiative", that emerged during the second half of 1989 in the context of growing civil unrest in the country. As a member, Kilimann participated locally in the legal committee set up within the wider context of the Round Table
The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...
discussions that were established in various parts of the country as part of what was now becoming known as East Germany's Peaceful Revolution
The Peaceful Revolution (german: Friedliche Revolution), as a part of the Revolutions of 1989, was the process of sociopolitical change that led to the opening of East Germany's borders with the West, the end of the ruling of the Socialist Unity ...
. In January 1990, having quit New Forum, Kilimann joined the newly (in East Germany) re-formed Social Democratic Party (SDP) which had till October 1989 been effectively muted following the creation in 1946 of the East German Socialist Unity Party. In October 1990, with the formal reunification
A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governm ...
of East and West Germany, the East German SDP and (hitherto West German) SPD merged, which made Kilimann a member of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD).
On 31 May 1990 Klaus Kilimann was elected Lord Mayor of Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
in succession to Christoph Kleemann. He resigned the office three and a half years later on 3 December 1993, following reports on race riots targeting asylum-seekers, fourteen months earlier, in August 1992.[ The reports concluded that local police chiefs and political leaders had permitted tensions to fester and then failed act quickly and decisively when rioting broke out.][ Kilimann himself had been out of town when the riots started and returned from his break only as the violence reached its third night.][ After his resignation Kilimann was unemployed for a period till September 1994.][
From 1994 till his retirement in 2005 Klaus Kilimann worked on a succession of consultancy projects on behalf of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. The consultancy work took him to ]Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
and Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...
.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilimann, Klaus
Mayors of places in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
People from Rostock
Social Democratic Party in the GDR politicians
New Forum politicians
Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians
1938 births
Living people
People from Szczytno
People from East Prussia