Alfred Gomolka (21 July 1942 – 24 March 2020) was a German politician and

member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

for

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

. He also served as the

minister president A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Personal life and death

Gomolka was born in Breslau, Germany (now

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, r ...

, Poland). He had a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

. He was married and had four children. At one point, Gomolka attempted to set up a new radio station. However, he was unable to compete with

Norddeutscher Rundfunk Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; ''Northern German Broadcasting'') is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommer ...

. Gomolka died on 24 March 2020, aged 77.

Career

Gomolka was a member of the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Christian Democratic Union of Germany The Christian Democratic Union of Germany (german: link=no, Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands ; CDU ) is a Christian democratic and liberal conservative political party in Germany. It is the major catch-all party of the centre-right i ...

(CDU). He joined the CDU at a young age, though he was at times unhappy with the party's alliance with the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

(SED). He served on the Greifswald City Council when the area was part of

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

. Following

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

, he served as the first minister president of

from October 1990 until 1992. In 1990, the CDU took 33 of the 66 seats in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament, but was aided by one person transferring from the SED to the CDU and two MPs from the Free Democratic Party (FDP). In 1992, Gomolka was involved in the shipyard crisis, a disagreement between Gomolka and the German Minister for Transport and CDU regional party leader

Günther Krause Günther Krause (born 3 September 1953) is a German engineer, academic, politician and businessman. After the Peaceful Revolution, he entered politics, serving in the Volkskammer and as a senior adviser to Minister-President Lothar de Maizière. ...

over shipyard policies. Gomolka had wanted to rebuild and then privatise German shipbuilding, whereas Krause wanted to immediately sell the shipyards. They also disagreed on how many ships to sell to

Bremer Vulkan Bremer Vulkan AG was a prominent German shipbuilding company located at the Weser river in Bremen-Vegesack. It was founded in 1893 and closed in 1997 because of financial problems and mismanagement. All together Bremer Vulkan built about 1100 ...

. Krause accused Gomolka of incompetence over his handling of the crisis. Krause then overturned Gomolka's shipyard policies. As a result of the crisis, the CDU lost trust in Gomolka, and he left his role as minister president of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He remained as a state MP until 1994 and was replaced by Berndt Seite as minister president. From November 1991 until March 1992, Gomolka also served as the

president of the German 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 ...

, before being replaced by Berndt Seite. From 1994 until 2009, Gomolka was an MEP, representing the CDU. He focused upon improving relations with the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone ...

, and was an advocate for Latvia's entry into the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. He served as the chairman of the EU delegation to the EU-Latvia Joint Parliamentary Committee. After leaving the EU Parliament, he served as leader of the CDU Seniors' Union for northeast Germany until 2015.

Notes

References

External links

* *
CV at the European Parliament website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomolka, Alfred 1942 births 2020 deaths Politicians from Wrocław People from the Province of Silesia MEPs for Germany 2004–2009 University of Greifswald alumni Academic staff of the University of Greifswald Presidents of the German Bundesrat Members of the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Christian Democratic Union of Germany MEPs MEPs for Germany 1994–1999 MEPs for Germany 1999–2004 Ministers-President of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany