Günther Krause (born 3 September 1953) is a German engineer, academic, politician and businessman. After the

Peaceful Revolution The Peaceful Revolution () – also, in German called ' (, "the turning point") – was one of the peaceful revolutions of 1989 at the peak of the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the late 1980s. A process of sociopolitical change that led to, am ...

, he entered politics, serving in the

Volkskammer The Volkskammer (, "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of East Germany. It was the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs were subservient to it. The Volkskammer was initia ...

and as a senior adviser to Minister-President

Lothar de Maizière Lothar de Maizière (; born 2 March 1940) is a German former politician of the Christian Democratic Union. In 1990, he served as the head of the first and only democratically elected government of East Germany, holding this office during the fi ...

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

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

, he was elected to the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

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 and governed the ''Federal Republic'' from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to ...

government. He served as Minister for Special Affairs from 1990 to 1991 and then as Minister of Transport 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 The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal Cabinet of Germany, government of Germany. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Government of Germany, ...

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

was his protégée. As leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...

, 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 (; ) is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. It is capital of the Rostock (district), Rostock district; Rostock itself is a district-free city and regiopolis. It has a population of 28,999 (2020) and is the sevent ...

near

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) 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, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

, 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 and activities

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

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

. In 1982, he began to work at his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

, Wismar Technology University, and was promoted to a professorship in computer science. Then he became the CDU state chairman from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. He served as state secretary and the chief

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller politics or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal govern ...

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 An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

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 as minister of transport on 18 January 1991 in the fourth Kohl cabinet. 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 based in Kirchmöser, a district of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

. Later, Krause was targeted by the judiciary due to his company's insolvency and was sentenced to imprisonment and suspended sentences. He also lived in a luxury mansion without pay for over a year and was involved in other cheating scandals, such as an unreturned kitchen purchase. In 2020, he entered the 14th season of the TV reality show, '' Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!'', the German version of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'', filmed in Australia, but had to withdraw for medical reasons after one day.

Personal life

Krause married twice and has six children, three from his 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 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 Politicians from Halle (Saale) Transport ministers of Germany