Michael Mertes
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Michael Mertes (born 26 March 1953 in
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
) is a German chief officer and author. He was a political advisor to 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 ...
from 1987 to 1998, and he served in the State Government of
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
(NRW) as the state’s representative to the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
federal institutions and to the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
from 2006 to 2010. From June 2011 to July 2014, he was Resident Representative of the
Konrad Adenauer Foundation The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (german: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, KAS) is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's headquarters are located in Sank ...
(KAS) to
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. Mertes is married and has four children.


Early life

As a son of a diplomat, Mertes spent most of his childhood and youth abroad (
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
,
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
). In 1972 he graduated from high school where he had majored in classical languages. After a two-year military service from 1972 to 1974 he studied law at
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
and
Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...
universities as well as at the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...
(with a focus on
Public international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
,
Philosophy of Law Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy that examines the nature of law and law's relationship to other systems of norms, especially ethics and political philosophy. It asks questions like "What is law?", "What are the criteria for legal vali ...
,
Philosophy of science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultim ...
). He completed his law degree at the beginning of 1981 and passed his bar exam in 1983.


Career

In 1981 Mertes worked for Carl Otto Lenz MP as a parliamentary assistant. From 1984 to 1987, he held various positions in the federal administration (Federal Ministry of Defense, Federal Chancellery, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety). In 1987 Chancellor Kohl appointed him as his chief
speechwriter A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches that will be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also be ...
. After the fall of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
Mertes co-authored the „Ten Point Program for German and European Unity” which Kohl presented on 28 November 1989. In 1993 he became Director, Policy Planning, and in 1995 he was appointed Director-General, Policy Planning and Cultural Affairs at the Federal Chancellery. After the change of government from Helmut Kohl to
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 ...
in 1998, Mertes joined the editorial team of the German weekly
Rheinischer Merkur The ''Rheinischer Merkur'' (literally "Rhineland Mercury") was a nationwide conservative German weekly newspaper appearing on Thursdays. It was published in Bonn. Its managing director was Bert Günther Wegener, and the editor in chief from 1994 t ...
and remained the newspaper’s foreign editor and deputy editor-in-chief until the end of 2002. From 2003 to July 2006, he worked as an associate for the political consultancy “dimap consult” which he had co-founded with former colleagues. At the same time, he continued writing as a freelance author for “Rheinischer Merkur”,
Aufbau ''Aufbau'' is a term which was used in publications from 1919 to 1947 in the German language. The term can be translated as "structure", "construction" or as "rebuilding", "reconstruction". Peter Galison advocated its use as a "keyword", in the s ...
(until 2004) and
Project Syndicate Project Syndicate is an international media organization that publishes and syndicates commentary and analysis on a variety of global topics. All opinion pieces are published on the ''Project Syndicate'' website, but are also distributed to a wi ...
. In August 2006 Mertes was appointed State Secretary for Federal, European and International Affairs in the State Government of North Rhine-Westphalia (
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
). In that capacity, he was Plenipotentiary of North Rhine-Westphalia to the Federation (
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 the State’s representative to the European Union (
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
). He left office in 2010 after the change of government from a CDU-led to an
SPD 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 t ...
-led State Government. In 2011 he became head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s Jerusalem office.


Publications

Since the mid-1980s Mertes has continuously published articles and book chapters on European and international affairs,
interreligious dialogue Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...
, and (comparative) government. The newspapers and journals to which he contributed include
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...
,
International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...
,
Neue Zürcher Zeitung The ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (''NZZ''; "New Journal of Zürich") is a Swiss, German-language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zürich. The paper was founded in 1780. It was described as having a reputation as a high-quality ne ...
,
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
and several dailys belonging the
Project Syndicate Project Syndicate is an international media organization that publishes and syndicates commentary and analysis on a variety of global topics. All opinion pieces are published on the ''Project Syndicate'' website, but are also distributed to a wi ...
, as well as
Dædalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, a ...
,
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...
,
Internationale Politik ''Internationale Politik'' (''IP'') is the magazine of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für auswärtige Politik (DGAP, German Society on Foreign Relations). It covers contemporary topics in international affairs under editor-in-chief Martin Bialecki. H ...
, Neprikosnovenny Zapás (Неприкосновенный запас), Obshchaya Tetrad (Общая тетрадъ),
Politique étrangère ''Politique étrangère'' is the oldest French journal dedicated to the study of international relations. Created in 1936 by the French Council on Foreign Relations, this quarterly was taken over and published by the Institut français des relation ...
, Prospect,
The Washington Quarterly ''The Washington Quarterly'' (abbreviated as ''TWQ'') is a magazine of international affairs covering topics and issues concerning global security, diplomatic relations, and policy implications. Founded by prestigious think tank, Center for Strateg ...
, Transit, and the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs. He co-authored and co-edited (with
Steven Muller Steven Muller (November 22, 1927 – January 19, 2013) was the president of the Johns Hopkins University, serving from 1972 to 1990. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, the son of Marianne (née Hartstein) and Werner A. Muller. His father was J ...
and
Heinrich August Winkler Heinrich August Winkler (born 19 December 1938 in Königsberg) is a German historian. With his mother he joined the Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–50), westward flight in 1944, after which he grew up in southern Germany, attending a Gym ...
) “In Search of Germany” (1996), and he is the author of “German Questions – European Answers” (2001). In 2022, he and Vincent Fröhlich published the essay “Der neue Konspirationismus” (The New Conspiracism), exploring how digital platforms and fan communities create and disseminate conspiracy narratives. Mertes also came out with a German translation of William Shakespeare’s sonnets (2006), of selected love poetry, verse letters and religious poems by
John Donne John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's ...
(2017), of a selection of sonnets from
Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...
to
Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame placed him among leading Victorian poets. His prosody – notably his concept of sprung rhythm – established him as an innovato ...
(2018), and of 50 sonnets by
Luis de Góngora Luis de Góngora y Argote (born Luis de Argote y Góngora; ; 11 July 1561 – 24 May 1627) was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet and a Catholic priest. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered the most prominent ...
2021. In July 1989 he published, with his colleague Norbert J. Prill, a much-debated concept for a
multi-speed Europe Multi-speed Europe or two-speed Europe (called also "variable geometry Europe" or " Core Europe" depending on the form it would take in practice) is the idea that different parts of the European Union should integrate at different levels and p ...
which was based on the idea that the
European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
, considering the approaching end of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
, should be prepared to include emerging new democracies from Eastern Europe and neutral countries such as
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
; Mertes and Prill also pleaded for a stronger association of
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
with the EC. During the 1990s
Timothy Garton Ash Timothy Garton Ash CMG FRSA (born 12 July 1955) is a British historian, author and commentator. He is Professor of European Studies at Oxford University. Most of his work has been concerned with the contemporary history of Europe, with a spe ...
, Michael Mertes and
Dominique Moïsi Dominique Moïsi (born 21 October 1946) is a French Political science, political scientist and writer. He was a co-founder and is a senior advisor of the Paris-based Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI), ''Pierre Keller Visiting ...
wrote several „trilateral“ (British-German-French) pleas in favour of a combined eastward entlargement and institutional modernisation of the EU.


Selected involvements

Mertes has been a member of the CDU since 1971, the ''Kuratorium der Freunde und Förderer des Leo Baeck Instituts e.V.'' since 1988, the International Advisory Council of the ''Moscow School of Civic Education'' since 2000, the International Board of Directors of the ''Institute for Human Sciences at Boston University'' 2001-2009, the ''Commission for Contemporary History'' since 2002, and the Drafting Committee for the CDU’s new party platform (Grundsatzprogramm) 2006-2007. In 2006 he received, together with Rabbi Nathan Peter Levinson and Protestant Pastor Johannes Hildebrandt, the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation's ''Roncalli Award'' for interfaith dialogue and understanding.See http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/news/exhibition-quot-ein-visum-furs/.


Selected bibliography


Books

* ''In Search of Germany'' (with
Steven Muller Steven Muller (November 22, 1927 – January 19, 2013) was the president of the Johns Hopkins University, serving from 1972 to 1990. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, the son of Marianne (née Hartstein) and Werner A. Muller. His father was J ...
und
Heinrich August Winkler Heinrich August Winkler (born 19 December 1938 in Königsberg) is a German historian. With his mother he joined the Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–50), westward flight in 1944, after which he grew up in southern Germany, attending a Gym ...
). Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick and London 1996, * ''Немецкие вопросы – европейские ответы (German Questions – European Answers)''. Moscow School of Political Studies, Moscow 2001, * ''Du, meine Rose, bist das All für mich. Die Sonette von William Shakespeare ins Deutsche übertragen und kommentiert von Michael Mertes mit einem Nachwort von Arnold Stadler.'' Franz Schön, Bonn 2006, * ''Schweig endlich still und lass mich lieben!''. Ein John-Donne-Lesebuch. Verlag Franz Schön, Bonn 2017, * ''experimenta sonettologica.'' Verlag Franz Schön, Bonn 2018, * ''Gold und Lilie, Staub und Nacht.'' 50 Sonette von
Luis de Góngora Luis de Góngora y Argote (born Luis de Argote y Góngora; ; 11 July 1561 – 24 May 1627) was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet and a Catholic priest. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered the most prominent ...
ins Deutsche übertragen von Michael Mertes. Verlag Franz Schön, Bonn 2021, *
#Der neue Konspirationismus: Wie digitale Plattformen und Fangemeinschaften Verschwörungserzählungen schaffen und verbreiten
' (with Vincent Fröhlich). Büchner-Verlag, Marburg 2022,


Book chapters and essays


''Germany’s Social and Political Culture: Change Through Consensus?''
In:
Dædalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, a ...
123, 1 (Winter 1994)
''Europe's Map, Compass and Horizon: Where? Why? With Whom?''
(with
Dominique Moïsi Dominique Moïsi (born 21 October 1946) is a French Political science, political scientist and writer. He was a co-founder and is a senior advisor of the Paris-based Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI), ''Pierre Keller Visiting ...
). In:
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...
January/February 1995
''Les questions allemandes au XXe siècle: identité, démocratie, équilibre européen''
In:
Politique étrangère ''Politique étrangère'' is the oldest French journal dedicated to the study of international relations. Created in 1936 by the French Council on Foreign Relations, this quarterly was taken over and published by the Institut français des relation ...
3-4/2000 * ''What Distinguishes Europe?'' In: Krzysztof Michalski (Ed.): ''What Holds Europe Together?''. Central European University Press, Budapest and New York 2006, * ''Eros und Religion bei John Donne.'' In:
Stimmen der Zeit ''Stimmen der Zeit'' ("Voices of the times") is a monthly German magazine published since 1865 by Herder publishers. Its subtitle is ''Zeitschrift für christliche Kultur'', and it publishes articles on Christian culture in the broad sense of the wo ...
3/2018 * ''Rising from the Ashes: The Holocaust and the European Integration Project''. In: Sharon Pardo and Hila Zahavi (Ed.):
The Jewish Contribution to European Integration
'. Lexington Books, Lanham MD 2019,


Notes


External links


Michael Mertes's CV on the website of KAS Israel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mertes, Michael 1953 births Living people Speechwriters