Hans Hermann Matthöfer (25 September 1925 – 14 November 2009) was a German politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD). Between 1974 and 1978 Matthöfer served as secretary of research and technology. In 1978 he took over as federal minister of finance and in 1982 he left that post and served briefly as Federal Minister of Post and Telecommunications. After his party lost power in 1983 he gave up all positions in the German government.

Biography

Born in

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

in 1925, Matthöfer served an apprenticeship in commercial scienceObituary, 28 December 2009
Hans Matthöfer
The Independent, retrieved: 19 January 2010. before being drafted as a soldier in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

between 1943 and 1945. In 1946 he passed his examination as an

interpreter Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...

for the English language. Three years later Matthöfer studied successfully economics and social science at the University of

Frankfurt/Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

as well as

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. In 1953 he received his bachelor of economics. After his return to Germany Matthöfer began work in the department of economics for the workers union

IG Metall IG Metall (; IGM; German: , "Industrial Union of Metalworkers'") is the dominant metalworkers' union in Germany, making it the country's largest union as well as Europe's largest industrial union. Analysts of German labor relations consider i ...

, followed by four years at the

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, and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. After his return to Germany he again worked for the IG Metall and developed a program for the education in companies as well as

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

policy. Between 1987 and 1997 he was president of the BGAG, an investment company owned by the workers union. Matthöfer joined the Social Democratic party of Germany in 1950. Between 1973 and 1984 he belonged to the Social Democratic party's executive board, followed by a position as its treasurer between 1985 and 1987.

Literature

* Werner Abelshauser: ''Nach dem Wirtschaftswunder. Der Gewerkschafter, Politiker und Unternehmer Hans Matthöfer''. Dietz, Bonn 2009, ISBN 978-3-8012-4171-1. * Helmut Schmidt; Walter Hesselbach (Hrsg.): ''Kämpfer ohne Pathos: Festschrift für Hans Matthöfer''. Bonn 1985.

References

External links