Günter Rexrodt (; 12 September 194119 August 2004) was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs in the fourth and fifth governments of

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as chancellor of Germany and governed the ''Federal Republic'' from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to ...

from 1993 to 1998. He lived in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Early life and education

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 1960 in Arnstadt,

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

and an extra year in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

, Rexrodt graduated with a

Diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from ) is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

business studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource manageme ...

from the Free University Berlin where he also received his doctorate ("Dr. rer. pol") in 1971.

Career in the public sector

From 1968 to 1979 Rexroth worked for the

chamber of commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

in Berlin. From 1979 to 1982 he worked as a ressort manager at "Office for Economy of the Federal State of Berlin". In 1980, Rexrodt became a member of the FDP. From 1983 to 1987 – under the leadership of Walter Rasch – as well as from 1989 to 1994 – under Carola von Braun – he served as the alternate chair of the party in Berlin. From 1982 to 1985 Rexrodt served as the State Secretary in the State Administration for Economic Affairs under Elmar Pieroth. From

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

he was the State Minister (''

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

'') for Economic Affairs of the federal state of Berlin, which was led by Governing Mayor Eberhard Diepgen.

Career in the private sector

From April 1989 Rexrodt worked for Citibank in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and from January 1990 to August 1991 he was a member of the board of directors at Citibank's Germany business, based in Frankfurt. Already in September 1991, Rexrodt moved to the Treuhand in Germany, where he was a member of the board of directors until January 1993. Reportedly, Chancellor Kohl personally phoned John S. Reed, chairman of Citibank in New York, to ask that Rexrodt be let out of his contract to assume a seat on the board of the Treuhandanstalt. During his time at the Treuhandanstalt, he was in charge of privatizing Eastern Germany's textiles and agricultural sectors. He also disposed of the property of the former

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Mar ...

, including publishers and real estate interests.

Return to politics

Career in national politics

From 1991 Rexrodt was a member of the FDP national leadership under the party's chair Otto Graf Lambsdorff. That same year, he was Lambsdorff's nominee to succeed Helmut Haussmann as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs; however, he eventually lost an internal vote against Jürgen Möllemann. From the

1994 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1994. Africa * 1994 Botswana general election * 1994 Guinea-Bissau general election * 1994 Malawian general election * 1994 Mozambican general election * 1994 Namibian general election * 1994 South Afr ...

, Rexrodt was a member of the German Bundestag. He was returned to the Bundestag from the Berlin list.

Minister for Economic Affairs, 1993–1998

On January 21, 1993, Rexrodt was appointed as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs by Chancellor

, after the resignation of his predecessor Jürgen Möllemann. The appointment was made following a nomination submitted by the FDP; the Free Democratic members of Parliament and the entire national leadership picked him by secret ballot, with 57 out of 97 votes cast. During his time in office, Rexrodt was considered far less influential in formulating economic policy than Minister of Finance Theo Waigel. In 1995, he was rumoured to be replaced amid a cabinet reshuffle but ended up keeping his position due to internal infighting within the FDP. Under Rexrodt's leadership, the government liberalized Germany's highly regulated shop hours in 1996, permitting stores to remain open later, until 8 P.M. on weekdays and part of Saturday afternoons. Also in 1996, Rexrodt resisted U.S. diplomatic efforts to enlist Germany's help in pursuing democratic reform in Cuba, arguing that the Helms–Burton Act's threat of extraterritorial sanctions against non-U.S. firms were the wrong way to promote democratization. In 1997, Rexrodt – jointly with the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

– convened government ministers from about 30 European nations and business leaders for the Bonn Conference on Global Information Networks to define a common strategy for fostering

electronic commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to Commerce, commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling Goods and services, products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on tec ...

in Europe. After the 1998 national elections, Rexrodt joined the Budget Committee and became his parliamentary group's spokesperson on the

annual budget Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), a ...

Return to state politics

From 2000 to 2004, Rexrodt served as chairman of the FDP in Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 state elections, he was the lead candidate of the FDP. Under his leadership, the FDP returned to the State Parliament with a final voting result of 9.9%. When negotiations over a coalition government with the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

and Alliance 90/The Greens failed, he resigned his seat in the State Parliament after only two months in early 2002. From 2001, Rexrodt served as the federal treasurer of the FDP under the leadership of chairman Guido Westerwelle. In this capacity, he was later involved in the investigation of the "flyer affair" surrounding Möllemann. In 2003, Rexrodt announced his intention to resign as chair of the FDP in Berlin the following year. In 2004, he failed to win sufficient support for his plan to lead his party's Berlin campaign for the national elections again.

Other activities

Corporate boards

* WMP EuroCom, Member of the Board (from 2000) * Gerling Group, Member of the Advisory Board * Skandia, Member of the Board of Directors * AWD, Member of the Supervisory Board

Non-profit organizations

* Ghorfa Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, President * Global Panel Foundation, Member of the Supervisory Board

Personal life

Rexrodt's father Wilhelm was managing director of the German Democratic Party until 1933. Wilhelm was after 1945 the co-founder of the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany. Rexrodt was married to Ingrid Hoyermann and had a son from that marriage. During an official trip to South Africa and Zimbabwe in 1996, Rexrodt was infected with

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

and spent three weeks in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

.Arne Delfs (22 January 2004)
Liberales Stehaufmännchen: Schatzmeister Günter Rexrodt
'' Die Welt''. In May 2004 he had to undergo a complicated surgery for

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on the neck and died shortly after from

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

External links

Official Website of the Global Panel Foundation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rexrodt, Gunter 1941 births 2004 deaths Senators of Berlin Members of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin Economy ministers of Germany Members of the Bundestag for Berlin Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002 Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998 Deaths from cancer in Germany Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (Germany)