Rudolf Seiters (born 13 October 1937 in

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

) is a German

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

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 The Federal Chancellery (, ) is a Germany, German Federal agency (Germany), federal agency serving the executive office of the chancellor of Germany, the head of the Government of Germany, federal government, currently Friedrich Merz. The Chancel ...

. From 1991–1993, he was the

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 ...

. From 1998–2002, he was the

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of the German

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 ...

, or Parliament. Since 2003, he has been the president of the

German Red Cross The German Red Cross (GRC) ( ; DRK) is the national Red Cross Society in Germany. During the Nazi era, the German Red Cross was under the control of the Nazi Party and played a role in supporting the regime's policies, including the exclusion ...

Life and jobs

After graduating from the Gymnasium Carolinium in Osnabrück in 1959, Seiters graduated from the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

with a degree in

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

, finishing his first examinations (roughly equivalent to

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

) in 1963, and his second examination (

professional degree A professional degree, formerly known in the US as a first professional degree, is a degree that prepares someone to work in a particular profession, practice, or industry sector often meeting the academic requirements for licensure or accreditatio ...

) in 1967. From 1968 to 1969, he was a legal assistant in the office of the Osnabrück Department of the Economy and Social Housing. Since November 2003, he has been the president of the German Red Cross. He is married with three daughters and lives in

Papenburg Papenburg (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Papenbörg'') is a city in the district of Emsland, Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. It is known for its large shipyard, the Meyer-Werft, which specializes in building cruise liners. Ge ...

. In 2000, he was given an honorary doctorate from the

Bundeswehr University Munich image:Eingangsbereich der Universität der Bundeswehr München.jpg, Entrance to the university University of the Bundeswehr Munich (, UniBw München) is one of two research universities in Germany at federal level that both were founded in 1973 a ...

Party

Since 1958, he has been a member of the CDU. From 1963 until 1965, he was the Borough-president of the Osnabrück-

Emsland Landkreis Emsland () is a districts of Germany, district in Lower Saxony, Germany named after the river Ems (river), Ems. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Leer (district), Leer, Cloppenburg (district), Cloppenbur ...

chapter of the CDU youth organization Junge Union. Then, from 1965 to 1968, he was the president of the state chapter in

Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

and 1968–1971 of the newly founded

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

chapter. From 1967–1971, he was furthermore a member of the Federal Executive Board of the Junge Union and then from 1971–1973 a member of the Federal Managing Board of the CDU itself. From 1972 to 1998, he was deputy secretary of the CDU in Lower Saxony and from 1992–1998 also a member of the CDU National Executive Committee.

As a representative

From 1969–2002, Seiters was a member of the German Parliament, the

. Ih the years 1971–1976 and 1982–1984, he served as an executive officer (''Geschäftsführer'') of the CDU/ CSU parliamentary fraction. From 1984 to 1989, he was the party fraction's Head Executive Officer. After 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 ...

, he became the deputy chair of the fraction, a position he retained until 1998 when he became Vice President of the Bundestag.

Prague embassy negotiations

In 1989, thousands of East Germans took refuge the Prague embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany. Rudolf Seiters successfully negotiated with the East German government (DDR) the passage of the embassy refugees to the Federal Republic of Germany.

Cabinet posts

Seiters was named on 21 April 1989 as the Federal Minister for Special Affairs and the head of the Office of the

. On 26 November 1991, he was appointed the Minister of the Interior. On 27 June 1993, in a German Police raid in the train station of the

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. ...

ian town of Bad Kleinen, both the wanted terrorist 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 ( ), was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998, considered a terrorist organisat ...

(RAF), Wolfgang Grams, and a

GSG 9 , formerly , is the police tactical unit of the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei). The unit is responsible for combatting terrorism and violent crime, including organized crime. In addition to its headquarters location in Sankt Augustin-H ...

agent, Michael Newrzella, lost their lives. Seiters took responsibility for the raid and stepped down on 4 July 1993.

Cabinets

Seiters was a member of the Cabinet Kohl III and the Cabinet Kohl IV.

Awards

* In 2008 Dr. Seiters received the Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt Human Rights Award endowed by Alexandra Hildebrandt. The award is given annually in recognition of extraordinary, non-violent commitment to human rights.

References

External links

Photo and short biography in German
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seiters, Rudolf 1937 births Living people German Red Cross personnel Government ministers of Germany Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Heads of the German Chancellery Interior ministers of Germany Members of the Bundestag for Lower Saxony Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002 Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998 Politicians from Osnabrück Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany Vice presidents of the Bundestag