Rupert Scholz (born 23 May 1937) is a German politician of the
Christian Democratic Union.
Early life and education
Scholz was born 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 ...
and received his
Abitur
''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...
in 1957. He studied law and economic at the
Free University of Berlin
The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...
the
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...
. He completed his first ''
Staatsexamen
The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, teachers, pharmacists, food chemists, psychotherapists and jurists (i.e., lawyers, judges, public ...
'' in 1961, received his doctorate in 1966 with
Peter Lerche
Peter Lerche (January 12, 1928 – March 14, 2016) was a German jurist. Between 1964 and 1996 he held a chair for constitutional law at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. His research interests also included media law.
Born in Leitmer ...
as ''Doktorvater'' in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
with the work ''Das Wesen und die Entwicklung der gemeindlichen öffentlichen Einrichtungen'', completed his second ''Staatsexamen'' in 1967 and habilitated in 1971 in Munich with the work ''Die Koalitionsfreiheit als Verfassungsproblem''. In 1972 he became a law professor at the Free University of Berlin. In 1978 he accepted the chair of state, administrative and finance law at the University of Munich. He retired from the post in 2005.
Political career
From 1981 to 1983, Scholz was Senator for Justice under Berlin Governing Mayor
Richard von Weizsäcker
Richard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker (; 15 April 1920 – 31 January 2015) was a German politician ( CDU), who served as President of Germany from 1984 to 1994. Born into the aristocratic Weizsäcker family, who were part of the German nobilit ...
and Senator for Federal Affairs under Weizsäcker and his successor
Eberhard Diepgen
Eberhard Diepgen (born 13 November 1941) is a German lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of West Berlin from 1984 to 1989 and again as Mayor of (united) Berlin, from 1991 until 2001, as member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
E ...
from 1982 to 1988.
[ Scholz joined the ]Christian Democratic Union of Germany
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany (german: link=no, Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands ; CDU ) is a Christian democratic and liberal conservative political party in Germany. It is the major catch-all party of the centre-right ...
(CDU) in 1983. From 1985 to 1988 he was a member of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
The Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin (House of Deputies) () is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of Berlin, Germany according to the city-state's constitution. In 1993 the parliament moved from Rathaus Schöneberg to its present house on Niederkirchne ...
. From 1990 to 2002 he was a 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 Commons ...
'' and Chairman of the CDU/CSU
CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties (german: Unionsparteien, ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian-democratic political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Soc ...
parliamentary group from 1994 to 1998. From 1998 to 2002 he was chairman of the Legal Committee. From 1998 to 2001 he was Deputy State Chairman of the CDU Berlin. In the 2002 German federal election
Federal elections were held in Germany on 22 September 2002 to elect the members of the 15th Bundestag. Incumbent Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's centre-left "red-green" governing coalition retained a narrow majority, and the Social Democratic Pa ...
he was passed over in his constituency (Berlin-Tempelhof) by his party against his will.
Defence Minister
On 18 May 1988, Scholz was appointed Federal Minister of Defence in the cabinet of Chancellor Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...
. Gerhard Stoltenberg
Gerhard Stoltenberg (29 September 1928 – 23 November 2001) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and minister in the cabinets of Ludwig Erhard, Kurt Georg Kiesinger and Helmut Kohl. He served as Minister-President o ...
succeeded him in the post in the cabinet reshuffle in 1989.
In 2007, Scholz stated that Germany should strive to become a nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
.[Tagesspiegel]
Ex-Minister: Atomwaffen für Deutschland
27 January 2007
References
1937 births
Living people
Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Defence ministers of Germany
Members of the Bundestag for Berlin
Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002
Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998
Senators of Berlin
Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany
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