Alfons Goppel (1 October 1905 – 24 December 1991) was a German politician of the CSU party and Prime Minister of Bavaria (1962–1978).

Biography

Alfons Goppel was born in Reinhausen (now

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

), one of the nine children of the

baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...

Ludwig Goppel and his wife Barbara. He married Gertrud Wittenbrink in 1935 and they had six sons. Goppel studied law in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

from 1925 to 1929 and, after graduating, moved back to Regensburg, where he became a lawyer. He joined the state

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

s office in 1934 and was posted to Mainburg,

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...

and finally

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; Hessian: ''Aschebersch'', ) is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg, despite being its administrative seat, is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg. Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...

. He joined the conservative

Bavarian People's Party The Bavarian People's Party (German: ; BVP) was a principally Catholic christian democratic political party in Bavaria during the Weimar Republic. After the collapse of the German Empire in 1918, it split away from the federal Centre Party and ...

in 1930 and was a member until the party's self-dissolution in November 1933. He joined the SA (1933) and the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

(1937) in the following years. He took part in the campaigns in France and Russia in the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

during 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 ...

and later became an instructor at the ''Infanterieschule Döberitz'', near Berlin, a training camp of the German army. Returning from the war, he became an official at the city of Aschaffenburg, responsible for housing and refugees. He was elected to the Bavarian ''

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

'' in October 1947 but barred from taking up his seat due to his political past. He, unsuccessfully, campaigned for the ''Landtag'' in 1950 again, became second mayor of Aschaffenburg in 1952 and finally, in 1954, was elected to the ''Landtag'' and permitted to take up his seat. He remained in the Bavarian parliament until 1978, when he gave it up to become a member of the European Parliament. He unsuccessfully ran for mayor of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

in 1956 and became an under secretary in the Bavarian

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

the year after. He was Bavarian Minister of the Interior (1958–1962) and

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

from 11 December 1962 to 7 November 1978, serving as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the Bundesrat in 1972/73. In 1974 he gained the highest election victory for the CSU in Bavarian history with 62.1% of the votes. From 1979 to 1984 he was a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

, as such being part of the first freely elected group of MPs in 1979.Official website of the European Parliament - Alfons Goppel
/ref> He died, aged 86, in Johannesberg, near

. One of his sons, Thomas Goppel, later served amongst others as Minister of Science, Research and the Arts (2003–2008). The ''Alfons-Goppel-Stiftung'' (''Alfons Goppel Foundation''), formed in 1980 and named after him, supports needy children in

third-world The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...

countries.

Honors

* Honorary doctorate of the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

and the St. John's University Minnesota.

References

External links

''Alfons-Goppel-Stiftung'', official website
(in German)

(in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Goppel, Alfons 1905 births 1991 deaths Sturmabteilung personnel People from Regensburg Politicians from the Kingdom of Bavaria Presidents of the German Bundesrat Minister-presidents of Bavaria Ministers of the Bavaria State Government Members of the Landtag of Bavaria Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg Burials at Munich Waldfriedhof