Manfred Kanther (born 26 May 1939 in Schweidnitz,

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

) is a German conservative politician and was

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

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 ...

from 1993 to 1998. He has been a member of the CDU (since 1958).

Life and education

After passing his

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 1958, Kanther studied law in

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

and

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 ...

, finishing in 1966. During his studies, he became a member of the

fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...

''Corps Guestphalia Marburg'' (today called ''Corps Guestphalia et Suevoborussia Marburg''). From 1967 to 1970 Kanther held the position of ''Stadtoberrechtsrat'' in

Plettenberg Plettenberg (; Westphalian: ''Plettmert'') is a town in the Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Plettenberg is located to the west of the Sauerland hills. The highest elevation of the town area is in the ''Ebbegebir ...

. Manfred Kanther is married and has six children.

Political life

Kanther was a member of the

Hessian A Hessian is an inhabitant of the German state of Hesse. Hessian may also refer to: Named from the toponym *Hessian (soldier), eighteenth-century German regiments in service with the British Empire **Hessian (boot), a style of boot **Hessian f ...

state parliament from 1974 to 1993. In July 1993 he resigned from the Hessian Landtag and assumed as Minister of the Interior as the successor of

Rudolf Seiters Rudolf Seiters (born 13 October 1937 in Osnabrück) is a German politician of the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) party. From 1989–1991, he was Federal Minister for Special Affairs and the Head of the Office of the German Chancellery. From ...

. The same year he ordered the prohibition of the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...

(PKK) for attacks against Turkish facilities. During his tenure he had to deal with violence of the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (RAF, ; , ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang (, , active 1970–1998), was a West German far-left Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group founded in 1970. The ...

and opposed the dual citizenship. In 1994, he was elected into the

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 ...

as representative for

Hanau Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ...

ballot. The Government of

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 ...

was narrowly re-elected and he assumed a second term as Minister of the Interior. He was involved in reforms for the policy regarding the asylum seekers and a for foreigners minor to sixteen years old, a compulsory

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

was introduced. He re-entered the Bundestag in 1998 via the CDU's statewide candidate ballot. Manfred Kanther was involved in the 2000 donation scandal of the

CDU and stepped down from the

in January 2000. In April 2005, Kanther was sentenced to 18 months on

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

by the Landgericht Wiesbaden for acting in unfaithfulness. The

Bundesgerichtshof The Federal Court of Justice (german: Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction (''ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit'') in Germany, founded in 1950. It has its seat in Karlsruhe with two panels being situat ...

, however, declared the sentence void in late 2006 and sent the case back to the Landgericht Wiesbaden for further hearings. His sentence was subsequently reduced to a fine of 54,000 €.

References

Members of the Bundestag for Hesse Interior ministers of Germany Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002 Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998 People from Świdnica 1939 births Living people Members of the Landtag of Hesse Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany {{Germany-CDU-politician-stub