Werner Gustav Schulz (22 January 1950 – 9 November 2022) was a German politician of

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 ...

. Trained in food technology at the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

, he worked as a research assistant. He was an activist for peace ecology and human rights in several oppositional groups from the 1970s. He lost his university job in 1980 when he protested against the

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. In the

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 ...

, he was in 1989 a founding member of the

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 ...

, representing the group at the

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. He was elected to the first freely elected

Volkskammer __NOTOC__ The Volkskammer (, ''People's Chamber'') was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic (colloquially known as East Germany). The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house ...

. After German reunification, he was a member of the German

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 ...

from 1990 to 2005, and a

member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) from 2009 to 2014.

Early life and career

Schulz was born in

Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...

, then part of

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 ...

, on 22 January 1950. He grew up there, the son of an independent haulage contractor and former professional officer from a social-democratic dominated family. From 1964 to 1968, he attended the . His father recommended him not to join the Young Pioneers. Schulz received a degree in food technology at the

in 1974. From 1974 he worked as a research assistant at the university. He was dismissed in 1980 because he protested against the

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. He then worked as a research assistant at the Institut für Sekundärrohstoffwirtschaft, dealing with recycling technology. From 1988, he directed the department ''Umwelthygiene'' of the Kreishygieneinspektion Berlin-Lichtenberg.

Political career

Schulz was active from the beginning in the Protestant church movements for peace, ecology and human rights. He was an activist in several oppositional groups from the 1970s, and a member of the Friedenskreis Pankow from 1982. During the

, he was a founding member of the

in 1989, representing the group at the

and contributing to its constitution. Schulz became a member of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

in Germany, elected to the first freely elected

in 1990, where he served from March to October 1990 as speaker of his party. After the reunification of Germany, he was a member of the

until 2005, as his party's CEO in parliament (''Parlamentarischer Geschäftsführer'') from the beginning and its economic speaker from 1998. In April 1998, Schulz ran for mayor of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. With 8.2 percent of the vote, he came fourth in the first round of voting. Schulz did not run in the second round; instead

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 ...

of the SPD was elected. When

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

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 ...

engineered the loss of a

no-confidence vote A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

in Parliament and asked President

Horst Köhler Horst Köhler (; born 22 February 1943) is a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU (of which he is ...

to allow an early vote in 2005, Schulz and

Jelena Hoffmann Jelena, also written Yelena and Elena, is a Slavic given name. It is a Slavicized form of the Greek name Helen, which is of uncertain origin. Diminutives of the name include Jelica, Jelka, Jele, Jela, Lena, Lenotschka, Jeca, Lenka, and Alena. Not ...

of Schröder's Social Democrats filed a complaint before the

Federal Constitutional Court The Federal Constitutional Court (german: link=no, Bundesverfassungsgericht ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inc ...

against the dissolution of parliament.Court hears complaints about Schröder's election moves
''

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'', 10 August 2005. His speech was honoured as the Speech of the Year by the seminar of rhetoric of the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

, with the jury saying that he used his limited time for a concise analysis and personal confession, although it was not immediately successful. Schulz was vice president of the council of the

Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship The Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship (german: Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur, alternatively translated as "(Federal) Foundation for the Study of Communist Dictatorship in East Germany") is a governmen ...

from 2003 to 2008, and a member of the board of the

Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag The German Evangelical Church Assembly (German ''Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag'', DEKT) is an assembly of lay members of the Evangelical Church in Germany, that organises biennial events of faith, culture and political discussion. History ...

from 2003 to 2009. In 2009, he was a founding member, together with

Christian Führer Christian (5 March 1943 – 30 June 2014) was a Protestant pastor and one of the leading figures and organisers of the 1989 Monday demonstrations in East Germany which finally led to German reunification and the end of the GDR in 1990. Lif ...

and Friedrich Schorlemmer, and a member of the board of the ''Stiftung Friedliche Revolution'' (Foundation Peaceful Revolution) in Leipzig. In a political come-back, Schulz became a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

in 2009. He served until 2014, as vice chair of the delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, as a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and as a member of the parliament's delegation to the

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from 2012 to 2014, among others.

Personal life

Schulz was married and the couple had two children. The family lived in the Boitzenburger Land in Brandenburg, where he founded a support association for his church parish. Schulz died from a heart attack in Berlin on 9 November 2022, at age 72. He had been scheduled to speak at a memorial event at

Schloss Bellevue Bellevue Palace (german: Schloss Bellevue, ), located in Berlin's Tiergarten district, has been the official residence of the President of Germany since 1994. The schloss is situated on the banks of the Spree river, near the Berlin Victory Col ...

where he collapsed.

Recognition

Schulz was awarded the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

in 2015; President

Joachim Gauck Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician and civil rights activist who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in E ...

honoured him and others who had worked towards a united Germany on

German Unity Day German Unity Day (german: Tag der Deutschen Einheit) is the National Day of Germany, celebrated on 3 October as a public holiday. It commemorates German reunification in 1990 when the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) joined the Federal R ...

. In 2022, he was awarded the . Ex-President Gauck described Schulz as "a tireless fighter for a policy based on democratic values".

Publications

* *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schulz, Werner 1950 births 2022 deaths Alliance 90/The Greens MEPs German civil rights activists Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag for Alliance 90/The Greens Members of the Bundestag for Berlin Members of the Bundestag for Saxony Members of the European Parliament for Germany MEPs for Germany 2009–2014 Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from Zwickau