Robert Tillmanns (April 5, 1896 in

Barmen Barmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal. Barmen, together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the first electric ...

– November 12, 1955 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 ...

) was a German politician. From 1953 to 1955 he was Federal Minister for Special Affairs of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

Life and work

After the

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 1914, Tillmanns took part as a soldier in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He studied political science from 1919 to 1921, earning a doctorate at 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 ...

. From 1922 to 1930 he served as head of economics at the German National Association for Student Services and in 1925 operated under the umbrella of the German National Academic Foundation. From 1931 he worked as a council member in the Prussian Ministry of Culture, from which he was dismissed for political reasons in 1933. He then worked until 1945 in mining industry management in central Germany. After the war he was Secretary General of the Agency of the

Evangelical Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheranism, Lutheran, Continental Reformed church, Reformed (Calvinism, Calvinist) and united and uniting churches, United ( ...

until 1949. Tillmanns was married to since 1925 Naegelsbach Herta (1904-1995) and had three daughters.

Politics

After the Second World War Tillmanns, together with

Jakob Kaiser Jakob Kaiser (8 February 1888 – 7 May 1961) was a German politician and resistance leader during World War II. Jakob Kaiser was born in Hammelburg, Lower Franconia, Kingdom of Bavaria. Following in his father's footsteps, Kaiser began a career ...

and Ernst Lemmer, founded the CDU in Berlin and the Soviet occupation zone. From 1949 to 1952 he was first the deputy chairman and from 26 April 1952 until his death chairman of the CDU in Berlin. From 1950 he was a member of the

National board of the CDU {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The National board of the CDU (german: CDU-Bundesvorstand, literally: CDU federal board) is the highest permanent body of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. The board meets at least 6 ti ...

and the deputy national chairman from 1955. In 1952 he help found the

Evangelical Working Group of the CDU/CSU The Evangelical Working Group of the CDU/CSU (''Evangelischer Arbeitskreis der CDU/CSU'') (EAK) is a specialized agency of the CDU and CSU. The term ''evangelical'' is not to be confused with a more conservative or radical connotation in the Engl ...

, and was its National Chairman since 1954.

Parliamentary membership

From 1946 to 1947 he was member of the state parliament of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. From 1949 until his death he was Berlin's deputy 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 ...

Public offices

After the elections in 1953, Tillmanns was appointed on 20 October the Federal Minister for Special Affairs in the Federal Government led by the Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, and during his tenure was a member of the "Cabinet of Elders" in the Bundestag. He is one of the few federal ministers who have died in office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tillmanns, Robert 1896 births 1955 deaths Members of the Bundestag for Berlin Members of the Bundestag 1953–1957 Members of the Bundestag 1949–1953 Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany