The Seeheimer Kreis (;
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: "Seeheim Circle") is an official internal grouping in 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 ...
(SPD).
The group describes itself as "undogmatic and pragmatic" and generally takes moderately
liberal economic
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalis ...
positions.
It was founded in September 1974.
[ One of the prominent founding members is ]Gesine Schwan
Gesine Schwan (née ''Schneider'', 22 May 1943) is a German political science professor and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. The party has nominated her twice as a candidate for the federal presidential elections. On 23 May 2004, ...
,[ a former SPD candidate for the German Presidency. , the group's spokespeople are ]Marja-Liisa Völlers
Marja-Liisa Völlers (born 28 September 1984) is a German teacher and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Lower Saxony since 2017.
Political career
In the 2017 Ger ...
, Dirk Wiese, and Uwe Schmidt
Uwe H. Schmidt (born 27 August 1968), also known as Atom™, Atom Heart, or Señor Coconut, is a German composer, musician and producer of electronic music. He is often regarded as the father of electrolatino, electrogospel, and aciton musi ...
. The Circle is named after its long-standing meeting place, Seeheim (Bergstraße), just south of Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
.
History
In the 1950s, a group of conservative or traditional members of the SPD met regularly in an informal group known as the ''Kanalarbeiter'' (Canal Workers). They were considered to be one of the most influential groups within the larger Social Democratic Party.
The most prominent members of the Canal Workers were Egon Franke and Annemarie Renger
Annemarie Renger (née Wildung), (7 October 1919 in Leipzig – 3 March 2008 in Remagen-Oberwinter), was a German politician for the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
From 1972 until 1976 she served as the 5th President of the Bundestag ...
.
Parallel to the development of the Canal Workers, an additional conservative grouping within the SPD was initiated in 1969 by Günther Metzger, known as the Metzger Circle, which soon developed in 1972 into the Arbeitskreis Linke Mitte (Centre Left Work Circle), which can be considered the forerunner of today's Seeheim Circle.
In the course of the late 1960s the Jusos
Working Group of Young Socialists in the SPD (german: Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Jungsozialistinnen und Jungsozialisten in der SPD, Jusos) is a volunteer youth organization of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
As of 2021, there are over ...
, the youth organization of the Social Democrats, the left wing of the SPD increased in influence and numbers.
A meeting in the Dorint-Hotel in Lahnstein
Lahnstein () is a ''verband''-free town of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the Lahn with the Rhine, approximately south of Koblenz. Lahnstein was created in 1969 by the merger of the previou ...
in December 1974 is considered to be the official founding of the Seeheim Circle; however, already in 1973 a group of around 40 Social Democrats met at the invitation of Hans-Jochen Vogel
Hans-Jochen Vogel (3 February 192626 July 2020) was a German lawyer and a politician for the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as Mayor of Munich from 1960 to 1972, winning the 1972 Summer Olympics for the city and Governing Mayor of We ...
to discuss a way to come out of the "theoretical and ideological defensive" posed by the left wing of the party. Other founding members include Richard Löwenthal
Richard Löwenthal (April 15, 1908 – August 9, 1991) was a German journalist and professor who wrote mostly on the problems of democracy, communism, and world politics.
Life
Löwenthal was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Ernst and Anna L ...
and Gesine Schwan. Though the Seeheim Circle ended up not accomplishing their initially stated goal of serving as a provocative ideological counterweight within the Party, they experienced early successes in gaining influence in SPD staffing policy and in pushing through broader Social Democratic Party decisions. The early Seeheimers followed in the footsteps of the Canal Workers, whose motto was "nothing happens without us".
From 1978 to 1984, the group, which was also known as the Lahnstein Circle, met in the Lufthansa Training Center in Seeheim on the Bergstraße, the origin of the name "Seeheimers."
Between 1974 and 1982, Chancellor Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982.
Before becoming Cha ...
included several Seeheimers in his Cabinet, who had supported him during the debates in the party about the industrial use of nuclear energy and the NATO Double-Track Decision
The NATO Double-Track Decision was the decision by NATO from December 12, 1979 to offer the Warsaw Pact a mutual limitation of medium-range ballistic missiles and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. It was combined with a threat by NATO to d ...
. After the end of the Helmut Schmidt Era, the Kanalarbeiter, who had represented the interests of traditional, non-intellectual union workers, definitively merged with the Seeheim Circle, which in contrast was considered to be "intellectual." During conflicts during the 1980s within the Social Democrats about the direction of the party, the Seeheim Circle opposed the alliance between the Social Democrats and Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...
. The Seeheimers also distinguished themselves during this period from other currents within the SPD by supporting reunification with East Germany as a political goal. After reunification with East Germany in 1990, the Seeheimers added two prominent Social Democrats from the former GDR to their ranks, Stephan Hilsberg and Markus Meckel
Markus Meckel (born 18 August 1952) is a German theologian and politician. He was the penultimate foreign minister of the GDR and a member of the German Bundestag.
Early life
Markus Meckel was born on 18 August 1952 in Müncheberg, Brandenburg. ...
. During the 1998–2005 chancellorship of Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ...
, the Seeheimers supported his changes to social services.
Personnel
The Circle is led by Siemtje Möller, Dirk Wiese, and Dagmar Ziegler. Other leading members of the Seeheimer are Doris Barnett
Doris Barnett (born 22 May 1953) is a German politician and member of the SPD.
She represented Ludwigshafen/Frankenthal from 1998 to 2005. she contested the same seat in 2009, 2013 and 2017, failing to win but being elected on the party list. ...
, Fritz-Rudolf Körper, Edgar Franke, Sport Committee Chairwoman Dagmar Freitag, Carsten Schneider
Carsten Schneider (born 23 January 1976) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party who has been serving as a member of the German Parliament since 1998. Since 2021, he has also been serving as Parliamentary State Secretary for East Ge ...
, who belong to a group known as the Sprecherkreis. Members of the advisory board for the Seeheimer include Sigmar Gabriel
Sigmar Hartmut Gabriel (born 12 September 1959) is a German politician who was the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2018 and the vice-chancellor of Germany from 2013 to 2018. He was Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...
and Ulla Schmidt. Previous members have included Rolf Schwanitz
Rolf Schwanitz (born Gera 2 April 1959) is a German national politician.
From 1998 till 2005 he served under Federal Chancellor Schröder as a Minister of State in the Federal Chancellery. He was then, from 2005 till 2009, Parliamentary St ...
, Thomas Oppermann
Thomas Ludwig Albert Oppermann (27 April 195425 October 2020) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). From October 2017 until his death he served as Vice President of the Bundestag. In his earlier career, he serv ...
and Wolfgang Tiefensee
Wolfgang Tiefensee (born 4 January 1955) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He was the Federal Minister for Transport, Building and Urban Development in the grand coalition cabinet led by Angela Merkel between 2005 and ...
.[
]
Political views
The Seeheim Circle focuses on pragmatic solutions in social policy, financial policy, and economic policy. The party strives to align social welfare with financial possibilities, a commitment to give and take in social welfare, a reduction of the national debt, the necessity of reforms through pragmatic handling, and an open minded relationship to globalization. Moreover, the Seeheim Circle views demographic change as a central policy field and is ready to take social policy in directions which could lie outside of Social Democratic tradition. However, this readiness for innovation would not contradict the Party Program of the Social Democrats.
References
{{reflist
1974 establishments in West Germany
Social Democratic Party of Germany
Political party factions in Germany
Economic liberalism