Kai-Uwe von Hassel (21 April 1913 – 8 May 1997) was a German politician from

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

associated with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as

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 ...

from 1954 to 1963, as Federal Minister of Defence from 1963 to 1966, and as Federal Minister for Displaced Persons, Refugees and War Victims from 1966 to 1969. From 1969 to 1972 he was the 4th

President of the Bundestag The president of the Bundestag (german: Präsident des Deutschen Bundestages or ) presides over the sessions of the Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany, with functions similar to that of a speaker in other countries. In the German orde ...

Life and career

Hassel was born in Gare, German East Africa (now in Lushoto,

Tanga Region Tanga Region (''Mkoa wa Tanga'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Burundi. The regional capital is the mu ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

), where his father Theodor von Hassel (1868–1935) had served as a ''

Schutztruppe (, Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the consisted of volunteer European commissioned ...

'' officer. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the Hassel family was banished from Tanganyika by the British mandate administration and settled in

Glücksburg Glücksburg (; da, Lyksborg) is a small town northeast of Flensburg in the district Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and is the northernmost town in Germany. It is situated on the south side of the Flensborg Fjord, an inlet ...

, Schleswig-Holstein. Hassel took his '' Abitur'' school-leaving exam in 1933, trained as an agribusiness merchant, and returned to the

Tanganyika Territory Tanganyika was a colonial territory in East Africa which was administered by the United Kingdom in various guises from 1916 to 1961. It was initially administered under a military occupation regime. From 20 July 1922, it was formalised into a L ...

in 1935. At the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he was interned in Dar es Salaam by the British authorities and was again banished to Germany. Drafted into the ''

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

'' armed forces, he served as an interpreter for the '' Abwehr'' military intelligence organisation under Admiral

Wilhelm Canaris Wilhelm Franz Canaris (1 January 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a German admiral and the chief of the ''Abwehr'' (the German military-intelligence service) from 1935 to 1944. Canaris was initially a supporter of Adolf Hitler, and the Nazi re ...

and was decorated with the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...

(2nd Class). Konrad Adenauer - 9

After the war, Hassel joined the newly established Christian Democrat party in the Flensburg district and from 1947 served as mayor of Glücksburg. In 1950 he became a member of the Schleswig-Holstein legislature, and at the 1953 federal election a member of the German ''Bundestag''. On 11 October 1954 Hassel assumed the office of a Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein. From 1955–1956, he was

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 ...

. He was closely associated with Ludwig Erhard's two Chancellorships, serving as Minister of Defense from 9 January 1963 to 1 December 1966. In 1963 he secretly asked the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

to supply the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

with

chemical weapon A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...

s. He then served in Kurt Georg Kiesinger's cabinet from 1 December 1966 to 21 October 1969 as Minister of Displaced Persons, Refugees, and War Victims. His son Joachim von Hassel, a naval aviator and '' Oberleutnant zur See'', was killed in a

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic air superiority fighter which was extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of fi ...

crash on 10 March 1970. Following his service in the government, Hassel was

president of the Bundestag The president of the Bundestag (german: Präsident des Deutschen Bundestages or ) presides over the sessions of the Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany, with functions similar to that of a speaker in other countries. In the German orde ...

from 5 February 1969 to 13 December 1972, having been elected when the previous president,

Eugen Gerstenmaier Eugen Karl Albrecht Gerstenmaier (25 August 1906 – 13 March 1986, in Oberwinter) was a German Evangelical theologian, resistance fighter in the Third Reich, and a CDU politician. From 1954 to 1969, he served as President of the Bundestag. With ...

, resigned during a financial scandal. He died aged 84, when he suffered a heart attack during the Charlemagne Award ceremony in the Aachen city hall in 1997.

References

Sources

* Michael F. Feldkamp (ed.), ''Der Bundestagspräsident. Amt – Funktion – Person.'' 16. Wahlperiode, München 2007,

External links

Entry at the Federal Ministry of Defence website

Von Hassels ''Afrika Korps'' in Tanzania

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassel, Kai-Uwe Von 1913 births 1997 deaths Colonial people of German East Africa Tanzanian people of German descent People from Lushoto District Presidents of the German Bundesrat Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians Members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein People of former German colonies Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Defence ministers of Germany Presidents of the Bundestag Ministers-President of Schleswig-Holstein German military personnel of World War II Members of the Bundestag 1976–1980 Members of the Bundestag 1972–1976 Members of the Bundestag 1969–1972 Members of the Bundestag 1965–1969 Members of the Bundestag 1953–1957 MEPs for Germany 1979–1984 Members of the European Parliament for Germany