Michael Sladek (1 October 1946 – 24 September 2024) was a German physician and environmentalist. After the

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

, he and his wife, Ursula Sladek, initiated a movement in their hometown

Schönau im Schwarzwald Schönau im Schwarzwald (, ) is a town in the Lörrach (district), district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Black Forest, on the river Wiese (river), Wiese, northeast of Basel, Switzerland, and south of Freibur ...

to become independent of nuclear energy, achieving that goal in 1997.

Life and career

Sladek was born in

Murrhardt Murrhardt () is a town in the Rems-Murr district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located 12 km east of Backnang, and 18 km southwest of Schwäbisch Hall. The source of the Murr is situated in Murrhardt. Local council (Gemeinder ...

on 1 October 1946. He studied medicine at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

and became a physician in general medicine in Schönau in 1977. He and his wife Ursula, a former primary school teacher, had three children; two more children were born in Schönau. After the 1986

, the Sladeks and a small group of others founded the Parents for a Nuclear Free Future group, to research how they could limit the community's dependence on nuclear power. Their first approach was on saving energy and getting others to save energy. They reactivated small hydropower plants in the region. The couple developed the idea of a power system independent of nuclear power plants, generating electric power through distributed mini power plants from renewable sources. After ten years of campaigning and raising awareness, they founded the first German

green power Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the environment, the economy, and so ...

utility, the Elektrizitätswerke Schönau (EWS), in 1994. They took over providing power for the community in 1997. With a system that combined efficiency and power-saving strategies, it became possible to satisfy the power consumption of the community. Schönau was the first community in a Western country that became independent of the national power grid and could decide how its power would be produced. In 2015 he and his wife left the leadership of EWS, succeeded by two of their sons. Sladek became famous as the ("electricity rebel"). He was awarded the 1996 WWF Umweltpreis "Öko-Manager des Jahres" from the German magazine ''

Capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

''. In 1999 he and his wife were awarded the Nuclear-Free Future Award. In January 2004, the Sladeks were awarded the highest order in Germany, the Federal Cross of Merit, for their involvement with the environment. Following a severe illness, Sladek died on 24 September 2024, a week before his 78th birthday.

Honours

* 1999: Nuclear-Free Future Award, together with his wife * 2004:

Federal Cross of Merit The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

, together with his wife * 2007: German Founder Award * 2012: Order of Merit of the State of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, together with his wife

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sladek, Michael 1946 births 2024 deaths Physicians from Baden-Württemberg German environmentalists Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg