Peter Georg Schowtka (; 7 January 1945 – 5 August 2022) was a German politician who served as a member of the

Landtag of Saxony The Landtag of Saxony (german: Sächsischer Landtag), also known in English as the Saxon State Parliament, is the legislature of the Free State of Saxony, one of Germany's sixteen states. It is responsible for legislation, control of the govern ...

from 1991 to 2014. Schowtka was an ethnic Sorb.

Early life and education

Schowtka was born on 7 January 1945 in the town of

Wittichenau Wittichenau (German) or Kulow ( Upper Sorbian) is a bilingual town in the district of Bautzen in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Schwarze Elster, 6 km south of Hoyerswerda. This small municipality is situated ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, then part of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Six months after his birth, Schowtka's father was kidnapped by the Soviet occupation force and taken to the

NKVD Special Camp No. 1 The NKVD Special Camp No. 1 (german: Speziallager Nr. 1 Mühlberg) was a special camp operated by the NKVD from 1945 to 1948, during the Soviet occupation of parts of Germany. It was located 4 km to the east of Mühlberg, Brandenburg usi ...

in Mühlberg, where he was killed in 1947. Schowtka was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

of Sorb ethnicity. Schowtka grew up in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. From 1961 to 1964, he received vocational training as a concrete worker. Schowtka 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 1964 until 1969, where he studied

Latin American studies Latin American studies (LAS) is an academic and research field associated with the study of Latin America. The interdisciplinary study is a subfield of area studies, and can be composed of numerous disciplines such as economics, sociology, history ...

. However, Schowtka was denied a diploma due to his "lack of socio-political maturity".

Career

From 1969 until 1990, Schowtka worked as an economist, and he later served as an interpreter for foreigners working in lignite mines in

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. In 1989, Schowtka joined the Christian Democratic Union. He had previously been an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. From 1991 until his death in 2022, Schowtka served as a member of the CDU's executive committee in Saxony. Schowtka helped establish a CDU educational institute for local government in Saxony. He also negotiated a

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

partnership between Wittichenau and the town of

Bad Honnef Bad Honnef () is a spa town in Germany near Bonn in the Rhein-Sieg district, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the border of the neighbouring state Rhineland-Palatinate. To the north it lies on the slopes of the Drachenfels (“Dragon' ...

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 ...

. In 1990, upon German reunification, Schowtka was elected mayor of Wittichenau, the first person freely elected to that office in 57 years. The next year, Schowtka became a member of the

following the resignation of ; Schowtka was to fill the remainder of Sachse's term. In the 1994 Saxony state election, Schowtka was elected via party list for a full term in the Landtag, and he resigned as mayor. In the 1999 Saxony state election, Schowtka was re-elected to represent the ( Lower Silesian

Upper Lusatia Upper Lusatia (german: Oberlausitz ; hsb, Hornja Łužica ; dsb, Górna Łužyca; szl, Gōrnŏ Łużyca; pl, Łużyce Górne or ''Milsko''; cz, Horní Lužice) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the ...

constituency 2). Schowtka was re-elected in 2004 and 2009. He did not run for re-election in the

2014 Saxony state election The 2014 Saxony state election was held on 31 August 2014 to elect the members of the 6th Landtag of Saxony. The incumbent coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President St ...

. While in the state parliament, Schowtka served on several parliamentary committees, including the Home Affairs Committee and the Constitutional, Legal and European Committee. He was also a member of a committee established to investigate the

National Socialist Underground The National Socialist Underground (german: link=no, Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund, ), or NSU (), was a far-right German neo-Nazi terrorist group which was uncovered in November 2011. The NSU is mostly associated with Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böh ...

, a neo-Nazi terrorist group. In 2016, Schowtka received the Saxon Constitutional Medal. Schowtka was married and had one child. He died on 5 August 2022 at the age of 77.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schowtka, Peter Place of death missing 1945 births 2022 deaths 20th-century German politicians 21st-century German politicians Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians German economists German Roman Catholics Mayors of places in Saxony Members of the Landtag of Saxony People from Bautzen (district) Sorbian people University of Rostock alumni