Walter Wallmann (24 September 1932 – 21 September 2013) was a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as the

Mayor of Frankfurt The Mayor of Frankfurt (German: (male) or (female), sometimes translated as "Lord Mayor") is the highest-ranking member of city government in Frankfurt, Germany. The mayor was traditionally elected by the city council. This system was replaced i ...

between 1977 and 1986, and as Minister-president of

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

from 1987 to 1991. In 1966 and 1970, he was elected to the

Landtag of Hesse The Landtag of Hesse () is the unicameral parliament of the State of Hesse in the Federal Republic of Germany. It convenes in the Stadtschloss in Wiesbaden. As a legislature it is responsible for passing laws at the state level and enacting ...

from the CDU party list, before resigning in 1972 upon being elected to Bundestag, and again being elected in 1976. In 1977, Wallmann resigned his Bundestag mandate upon CDU winning a majority in Frankfurt's urban elections to become the Mayor of Frankfurt (at the time, the mayor was not directly elected). Frankfurt had been governed by

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

since the end of World War II, so the election marked a turning point with CDU winning an absolute majority in the city elections. This was largely regarded as backlash to the SPD's urban policies (''Frankfurter Häuserkampf''), primarily directed against land speculation in the city's west end and possible gentrification, also his predecessor

Rudi Arndt Rudi Arndt (1 March 1927 – 14 May 2004) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He served in several positions in the Hesse state government, and as the Mayor of Frankfurt between 1972 and 1977. At different poi ...

(SPD) had been willing to dynamite the rubbish of the World War II ruins of the

Alte Oper Alte Oper (Old Opera) is a concert hall in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. It is located in the inner city, Innenstadt, within the banking district Bankenviertel. Today's Alte Oper was built in 1880 as the city's opera house, which was destr ...

opera house to build a modern office building on the site instead. CDU was also helped by local SPD's party donations' scandal, and Frankfurt suffering from a high crime rate, being dubbed as ''Bankfurt'' and ''Krankfurt'' (''krank'' meaning sick in German) in the media. Between 1986 and 1987 he was the first Federal Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. The ministry was established by chancellor

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as chancellor of Germany and governed the ''Federal Republic'' from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to ...

on 6 June 1986 in response to 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 ...

and formed from departments of the Ministries of the Interior, of Agriculture and of Health. Important state regulations during his tenure were the change of the car tax law for the introduction of low emission cars and the detergent Act of 5 March 1987. He left the Federal Ministry for Environment to become the 5th Minister President of

(1987–1991). As Minister-President he also served as the 39th

President of the Bundesrat In Germany, the president of the Bundesrat or president of the Federal Council (German: ''Bundesratspräsident'') is the chairperson ( speaker) of the Bundesrat (Federal Council). The president is elected by the Bundesrat for a term of one year ...

from May to October 1987. He was a member of the Christian Democratic Union.

References

External links

Biography on the website of Hessian State Chancellery
1932 births 2013 deaths People from Uelzen Presidents of the German Bundesrat Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians Minister-presidents of Hesse Environment ministers of Germany Politicians from the Province of Hanover Mayors of Frankfurt Burials at Frankfurt Main Cemetery Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{Germany-CDU-politician-stub