Günther Krause (born 3 September 1953) is a German engineer, academic, politician and businessman. After the Peaceful Revolution, he entered politics, serving in the

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 w ...

and as a senior adviser to Minister-President

Lothar de Maizière Lothar de Maizière (; born 2 March 1940) is a German Christian Democratic politician. In 1990, he served as the only premier of the German Democratic Republic to be democratically elected freely and fairly by the people. He was also the last l ...

. In that role, he was a co-signatory to the Unification Treaty. After German reunification, he was elected to 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 Common ...

and served in various roles in the

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 ...

government. He first served as minister for special affairs from 1990 to 1991 and then as

minister of transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

from 1991 to 1993. He resigned from the office due to numerous scandals. Legal problems and scandals followed after his career in politics, earning him the nickname ''Sause-Krause''. Former Chancellor of Germany

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

was his protégée. As leader of the CDU in

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

, he helped her garner the nomination in her constituency. Merkel succeeded him as leader after he resigned.

Early life and education

Krause is a native of

Güstrow Güstrow (; la, Gustrovium) is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is capital of the Rostock district; Rostock itself is a district-free city and regiopolis. It has a population of 28,999 (2020) and is the seventh largest town in M ...

near

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...

, East Germany. He was born on 3 September 1953 in Halle. He received a PhD in engineering from Wismar University of Technology, Business and Design in 1987.

Career

Krause joined the Christian Democratic Union of East Germany in 1975. He worked as an engineer on computerized planning in housing 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, ...

. In 1982, he began to work at his alma mater, Wismar Technology University, and was promoted to the professorship in computer science. Then he became the CDU state chairman from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. He served as state secretary and the chief

unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; ...

negotiator for East Germany's only freely elected government headed by Lothar de Maizière. Krause was also his senior advisor. The Unification Treaty was signed by West German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble and Krause on 31 August 1990. Following the reunification of West and East Germany Krause served at the Bundestag and in its committee on research and technology. He was appointed minister of transport on 18 January 1991 in the fourth cabinet of Helmut Kohl. He was the most prominent eastern German politician in the government and one of the three ministers from East Germany in addition to Angela Merkel (CDU; Minister for Women and Youth) and Rainer Ortleb ( FDP; Minister of Education). Krause resigned from the office on 6 May 1993 after his alleged involvement in scandals, and was replaced by Matthias Wissmann, another CDU member, in the post. Krause was the eighth minister to quit the Kohl cabinet in the past 13 months. In 1993, Krause resigned from politics and public office and began to deal with business. As of 2010, he headed a company on information, advice and project development that is based in Kirchmöser, a district of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

Personal life

Krause married twice and has six children, three from the previous marriage. He lives in Admannshagen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with his second wife.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krause, Gunther 20th-century German engineers 21st-century German engineers 1953 births Living people Christian Democratic Union (East Germany) politicians Academic staff of Hochschule Wismar Businesspeople from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Engineers from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! participants Members of the 10th Volkskammer Members of the Bundestag for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Members of the Bundestag 1990–1994 Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany People from Halle (Saale) Transport ministers of Germany